Sun Devils stifled by Bruins’ defensive prowess

In front of a raucous crowd on their home floor and riding a four-game win streak, all the momentum was in Arizona State’s (15-4, 6-2 Pac-12 ) favor to upend UCLA (17-2, 8-0) for the second year in a row. Tyger Campbell, though, would have none of it as the senior poured in 22 points to help the Bruins overcome a determined Sun Devil squad 74-62.

While the final score would indicate a comfortable Bruins win, the first 35 minutes were anything but enjoyable for the visiting bench, as Arizona State gave UCLA all they could handle on the offensive and defensive end. Until the Bruins’ 16-2 run over the final six minutes, the largest lead taken by either team was a whole six points. With the pressure mounting, UCLA’s experience in the situation is what ultimately set the two teams apart.

“You play teams like this that have been to final fours and won so many games, they know how to turn it up a little bit down the stretch,” Bobby Hurley said postgame. “I think we went toe-to-toe with them, but they’re experienced and winning habits; you could see that taking over late in the game.

“To have a lot of guys that come there and have experience in games like this, they knew what to do at the end of the game,” DJ Horne said.

Having played nine NCAA Tournament games in the last two years, Mick Cronin’s players don’t get fazed as easily as an upstart team like the Sun Devils. Every time Arizona State threw a punch at the opponent, Tyger Campbell was there to counter. While the two teams waged a defensive war on the hardwood in the first half, Campbell was the general in charge of the Bruins’ offensive effort in the front 20. With 13 of his 22 points coming in the first half, Campbell was responsible for half of UCLA’s scoring output prior to halftime.

Despite Campbell’s big start, UCLA struggled at times on offense, where they turned the ball over ten times, the highest mark in a half for the Bruins this season. Momentum was already leaning towards the Sun Devils before Desmond Cambridge sunk a half-court shot to give ASU a halftime lead of 35-30.

“That was a big momentum play for us going into the half,” Horne said.

Even with the first-half defensive effort and a major offensive exclamation point, the seasoned Bruins rubbed it right off of their shoulders. Out of the break, UCLA put up eight unanswered points on the Sun Devils in just over a minute to erase the halftime lead.

“The way we started the half can’t happen,” Hurley said.

Following UCLA’s mouth punch, Arizona State returned the haymaker to sender to retake the lead before the game once again bogged down into a see-saw affair, with the lead changing hands 14 times on the night. Without one of their best offensive players in Amari Bailey, Tyger Campbell did what leaders do and stepped up on both ends to keep the Bruins alive, scoring nine second-half points while holding his most common matchup of Frankie Collins to three. With their starting point guard lagging, ASU’s answer to the superb senior was not found from the usual Cambridge brother or DJ Horne. Instead, freshman sensation Austin Nunez once again shined on the big stage with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, along with excellent defense on the UCLA guard.

“I wanted to take on the challenge,” Nunez said of his matchup with Campbell. “He’s an older player whose been playing at a high level and been in positions where I wanna be.”

“In these big games, he’s proven that he belongs,” Hurley said of his player. “He was very efficient and made some big shots. His defense on Campbell, I thought, was better than anyone throughout the game. He played both ends very well.”

While Nunez helped tame the tiger, Campbell simply couldn’t be stopped throughout the entire game. His 22 points matched a season-high and were vital in having the game knotted up at 57 at the under-eight timeout. Campbell and David Singleton were responsible for 39 of those scores before finishing with 43 on the night together.

Down the stretch, the Bruins gave the Sun Devils a taste of their own medicine and turned up their own defensive efforts. With Adem Bona not giving Warren Washington any room down low, ASU was forced to take more shots from outside the paint than they were used to. Unlike similar situations against Colorado and Creighton, there was no huge shot to put the Sun Devils over the top, as the Sun Devils managed just four points in the final eight minutes. ASU was affected by the turnover bug, with nine of their 18 coming in the second half.

“They cover the court very well,” Hurley said of the Bruins' defense. “We’ve shown we can take care of the ball at a better clip. They’re a very good defensive team.”

“There were plays that we could’ve made offensively that could’ve helped us down the stretch for a better outcome,” Nunez said.

While the cold temperatures outside reached the home bench, Jaime Jaquez, who had two points for the game’s first 35 minutes, put up seven in a 16-2 run to end the game, burying Sparky. For everything, the Bruins topped ASU within the final few minutes; Hurley and the players knew just how in this game they were against such a quality team.

“That’s not a 12-point loss; whatever that number is doesn’t mean anything to me,” Hurley said postgame. “We gave our best shot tonight. Everyone fought their ass off to try to win this game. There are some disappointed guys in the locker room.”

“We can’t hang our heads,” Horne said. “That was the number 5 team in the nation. To play a good team like that and take them to the wire, we have a lot of positives to look back on.”

Despite the loss, the valley’s interest in Sun Devil basketball was renewed on Thursday night, with ASU students breaking the single-game record for student attendance at over 5,000. The east end of Desert Financial Arena was filled to the rafters, and they made themselves heard loud and proud to their team on the court, alongside a season-high for single home game attendance of 13,363.

“It was an unbelievable environment,” Hurley said. “I got chills coming out for that game seeing what the crowd looked like. I’ve played in a lot of big games as a player and coach, and you get goosebumps coming out to a crowd like that. It was fantastic.”

“The atmosphere was crazy,” Nunez said. “Being a freshman, I came to a couple of games last year; it was not like this at all. It was great to see everybody come out.”

While fighting valiantly in defeat in front of their faithful, there will be no rest for the weary as the Sun Devils will have to turn around in 48 hours and welcome a hot USC team to Tempe, a program Bobby Hurley hasn’t beaten since February of 2020.

“Just to get them refocused for a team that is gonna be hungry coming in here,” Hurley said. “Now it’s about damage control, building them back up, getting them ready to do the same thing Saturday night.”

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