Arizona State shoots the lights out in lopsided win over Oregon
Jan 12, 2023, 8:56 PM | Updated: Jan 13, 2023, 8:23 am
Arizona State guard Desmond Cambridge Jr. (Twitter screenshot/@SunDevilHoops)
(Twitter screenshot/@SunDevilHoops)
The Arizona State Sun Devils seemingly could not miss in Thursday night’s 90-73 win over the Oregon Ducks (9-8, 3-3 in Pac-12) in Eugene.
ASU (14-3) is now 5-1 in conference play for the first time since 1980-81 and the win gives Bobby Hurley and Co. their third Quad-1 win on the season.
The Sun Devils finished the night shooting 52% from the field on 33-of-63 attempts, including going 13-for-29 from three-point range (45%) and 11-of-14 from the free throw line for a 79% clip.
“We were just clicking on offense. Desmond (Cambridge Jr.) hit some shots early and we were spreading the wealth to different guys,” Hurley told reporters postgame. “We were making shots and making plays and assisted baskets and it was coming in the half court and in transition.
“Our defense was rock solid again and it has to be on the road obviously. We just had a little bit of a poor stretch at the end of the first half and they switched to a 1-3-1 and it took us a little bit of time to adjust to that because we haven’t seen much of that this year.”
Arizona State was once again led by the Cambridge brothers, as Desmond was the game’s leading scorer with 21 points while Devan added 14 more.
“Yeah, absolutely. You can’t even describe it,” Desmond said if he feeds off Devan when having so much success on the court together. “When I play well, I feel like we both have energy.”
ASU also got contributions from guards D.J. Horne — who scored 15 on 5-of-9 from deep — and Austin Nunez, who finished with nine off the bench.
Compare that to head coach Dana Altman’s Oregon squad, which only shot 42% from the floor, 8-for-23 from three (35%) and 88% from the charity stripe (15-of-17).
The Ducks were led by guard Will Richardson’s 16 points — including hitting 4-of-8 from deep — to go along with three assists, three rebounds and four steals.
“I think it has managed to keep us in games when we’re not playing our best and on nights like this when we’re really going on offense, we’re really tough to deal with,” Hurley said.
“But certainly when you defend with the energy like we do and our athleticism and our depth, I think all those things help us become a really good defensive team.”
LOOSE BALLS
Following No. 7 UCLA’s (15-2, 6-0) win over Utah (12-6, 5-2) on Thursday night, Arizona State moves up to second place in the Pac-12 standings, with the first-placed Bruins coming to Tempe next week.
“This was a big game. We’re playing Oregon and we’re having a great season,” Hurley said. “And so that just takes it up a notch when you’re able to come in here and play the way we did. I think it kind of sends a message about what we’re about.”
UP NEXT
ASU finishes off the Pacific Northwest road trip against Oregon State (7-9, 1-4) in Corvallis on Saturday at 2 p.m. on Arizona Sports 98.7, the Arizona Sports app and ArizonaSports.com.
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