It is officially the most wonderful time of the year, and Arizona State is soaring to begin December with an arduous 68-64 win over Stanford at home.

The Sun Devils (8-1, 2-0 Pac-12) held the lead for most of the contest, creating open space and hitting home with a good shot selection in the first half. However, they were ultimately challenged by a resurgent Cardinal offense. Arizona State struggled with turnover issues and lost offensive momentum after halftime, and Stanford capitalized off fast breaks to reclaim a one-point lead down the stretch.

Then everything clicked back into place for Arizona State.

A suffocating defense in the paint kept the Sun Devils battling. Freshman guard Austin Nunez came up with a punchout steal on a driving Michael O’Connell. Desmond Cambridge Jr. pounded down the court and took the ball all the way to the rim, hooking the ball off the glass and in. The crowd got behind the Sun Devils, and then things started to swell in their favor.

On the next possession, Cambridge pulled up and floated a basket from just inside the three-point arc. D.J. Horne followed up with a similar shot but scanned a cutting Warren Washington as he took flight. The two connected for an easy lay-in, and point guard Frankie Collins hauled in a dish from Washington over his left shoulder for a seamless layup soon after.

For most of the night, Collins acted as a mailman and led Arizona State with five assists. But with the Sun Devils scrabbling for traction with under a minute on the clock, it was the Michigan transfer’s turn to drive home the dagger. Collins danced with Stanford’s zone defense at the top of the key, rounded toward the wing, and stepped back for a fadeaway three-point shot that hammered home a nine-point lead.

It was not the prettiest of outcomes, but coach Bobby Hurley said it was hard to be upset about a hard-fought victory in league play.

“We kind of grinded that game out,” Hurley said in a postgame press conference.

“In the first half, we kind of lost our way and had some poor turnovers. In the second half, we just weren’t working to get open. They were stealing it and laying it in, so we were giving away points from our offense and putting even more pressure on [us]. So our defense was actually a lot better than the numbers even say because the offense, unfortunately, didn’t play well at times.

“I liked how sometimes you can lose a lead, and then enormous game pressure, and you can never recover, but the guys did and made some good plays out there to close it out.”

The Sun Devils finished with 11 steals but gave the ball away 17 times. Cambridge finished with a team-leading 19 points, with his brother Devan Cambridge finishing second with 12 points. Washington grabbed ten boards and played 31 minutes, with Hurley prioritizing the forward’s length against Stanford’s tall players. Washington also notched two blocks and was praised by Hurley for diving at a loose ball in the first period.

“It’s actually pretty funny because every time there’s a loose ball in practice, you mishandle in a drill, and everybody just dives on it,” Washington said. “It’s just a good habit that we like to do every day, and I feel like it carries over to the games.”

“The pressure was great tonight; the intensity of how we guarded them was good,” Hurley said. “Don’t have any issues with our defense. It’s our bread and butter, and we got to play with that type of energy.”

Arizona State blitzed Stanford with a full-court press and unwavering vitality, forcing tough perimeter shots and stifling any penetration into the paint. At one point in the first half, Stanford had missed its last ten field goals. Hurley kept a rapid substitution flowing, digging into his depth and allowing the defense to remain active and unrelenting. At end of the night, the stat sheet showed the visitors shooting just 35.9 percent from the floor and 22.2 percent from beyond the arc.

The plan worked, and the players liked the havoc they can create off a fresh recharge.

“It lets us exert a lot of energy really quickly,” Desmond Cambridge said. “It lets us guard people full-court and just disrupt their offense. I feel like Stanford and Colorado, they had a slower offense like to move the ball and get back-cuts. If you let teams like that stay comfortable, they’ll pick you apart. But that’s why I feel like that’s our identity; we really ruffle feathers, really energized, and we are gonna make you work for everything on offense.”

Hurley said that even when Stanford mounted its 13-point comeback, he never felt panicked that the team would fail to keep its head and prevail. Washington said Arizona State is following the blueprint Hurley laid out for them and that balance, as well as maintaining a free mind headed into each game, are key to stacking wins. When it came time to dig deep, Washington understood his role and how to weather the storm through “the game of runs.”

“Situations like that are perfect for us because we have to learn to build and work on stuff that we need to work on,” Washington said. “I felt like it was a good learning experience for us.”

Hurley mentioned that Marcus Bagley has “stepped away” from the team but will continue to support the outspoken forward. Bagley re-affirmed the status of his health on several occasions on Twitter and recently revealed his lack of playing time was a result of comments he directed at Hurley out of frustration after the NAU game. Bagley was suspended after the tweet and has since deleted his account.

Meanwhile, the Sun Devils move to 8-1 and a perfect 2-0 record (their best opening mark in league play since 2012-13) to start Pac-12 play. Washington believes the team’s chemistry has allowed them to achieve its strong start.

“A lot of guys are out here trying to get stats and all that, but we’re out here to get wins,” Washington said.

Arizona State will look to continue its six-game winning streak as they take to the road against Southern Methodist on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.

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