Curtain of Distraction or Zona Zoo? The debate rages on Twitter
Feb 19, 2016, 8:00 AM
The Arizona-Arizona State rivalry is a heated one, if you haven’t noticed.
Just two games into Bobby Hurley’s tenure as ASU’s head coach, it’s clear the basketball version of the Duel in the Desert is only going to build steam — even after a season sweep by the Wildcats and a historically one-sided result between the two teams.
On Thursday, a day after the Wildcats had beaten the Sun Devils 99-61 in McKale Center, the Arizona athletic department rubbed salt in ASU’s wounds with a single tweet.
Some distracting facts.@ZonaZooOfficial 2nd Half FT Defense > @942Crew 2nd Half FT Defense
cc: @TheSunDevils pic.twitter.com/ofqP0iWsD1
— Arizona Athletics (@AZATHLETICS) February 18, 2016
The jab, of course, refers to ASU’s Curtain of Distraction in the student section that has probably, likely helped the Sun Devils’ opponents shoot 70 percent on free throws while facing it this season.
McKale Center’s crowd and the Zona Zoo student section apparently does a good job getting into the heads of visitors as well. Beyond the the straight percentages, Arizona’s statistics also point out another fact: The Sun Devils in 15 home games have allowed 13.3 free throws per second half leading to 9.4 makes, many more than the Wildcats allowing 9.5 free throws per second half and 6.3 made opponent free throws in 16 home games.
The numbers can’t sidestep a solid comeback. ASU’s 942 Crew had just that.
The following is a message from the Curtain of Distraction:@AZATHLETICS pic.twitter.com/6ZE5wfuQ9F
— 942 Crew (@942Crew) February 19, 2016
Michael Phelps would be proud.
It’s always fun to see the schools themselves fan the flames of an intense rivalry. Expect both Sun Devils and Wildcats to remember these two tweets when they next meet on the hardwood.
