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Arizona State Continues To Dance After Sun Devils Beat Denver In The First Four Round

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Basketball

Sun Devil Men's Basketball will dance on to Denver after a 98-73 victory in the First Four over the Nevada Wolfpack.
 
Arizona State (23-12, 11-9 Pac-12) had one of the most historic shooting performances in both program and NCAA Tournament First Four/Opening Round history. It's 98 points are the most ever in this stage of March Madness and the Maroon and Gold shot its highest percentage - 35-55/.636% - from floor in the eight years that Head Coach Bobby Hurley has piloted Arizona State.

After Nevada (22-11, 12-6 Mountain West) made a triple that opened scoring, ASU soared to a 13-0 run and did not look back. After Jamiya Neal's three pointer with 12:59 left in the first half to make it 23-12, ASU's lead never fell beneath double-digits. 
 
The Maroon and Gold put Nevada away permanently with a 17-0 run in 6:11 late in the first half. Devan Cambridge hit back-to-back triples followed by a long-range make from Alonzo Gaffney that made it 52-22 with 2:28 remaining in the opening stanza. The Wolfpack's deficit never shrunk beneath 19 points for the remainder of the contest.

FIRST HALF
Desmond Cambridge Jr. countered a Nevada triple with a basket at 19:28, making 3-2 Wolfpack. ASU forced an immediate turnover and DJ Horne drilled a triple - ASU's first - at 19:08 and gave the Sun Devils a 5-3 lead.

Off of a foul by Nevada, Cambridge Jr. dropped in a funky layup as the shot clock expired at 18:48. Frankie Collins used stifling on-ball defense to force an immediate foul. Warren Washington snared an offensive rebound and floated in a hook shot at 18:11, making it 9-3 Sun Devils.

Nevada missed a trey and Collins flew to the basket for his first points on a lefty layup at 17:47 and Washington found Horne for  another layup at 16:38. ASU was on a 13-0 run over 2:50 featuring three Nevada turnovers and a scoring drought of 3:10.

The Wolfpack snapped the cold-spell with a three pointer at 16:19, but Washington picked up his second assist on a jam to Cambridge Jr.. It made it 15-6 ASU at 16:00.

Both teams went on an offensive barrage, with ASU making four straight baskets and Nevada only missing one in the stretch. Arizona State received a swooping layup from Jamiya Neal from Cambridge Jr. to make it 25-12 at 12:42. Nevada responded with its fifth three.

The Wolpack got it going offensively and went on an 8-4 scoring advantage, making it 29-20 Sun Devils at 10:21. Alonzo Gaffney found his way into the scorebook and re-earned ASU a double-digit lead, 31-20 at 10:09.

ASU weathered the storm and continued playing strong defense. Leading 32-20, Neal jumped in for a steal and threw down a boisterous jam at 9:04, making it 34-20.

Horne banged his third three on an assist from Devan Cambridge at 7:11 and forced Nevada to take a timeout. The Sun Devils held a game-high 17 point lead, 39-22. Leading by 20, Cambridge Jr. nailed another triple 4:01 and made it 45-22. Gaffney erased a Wolfpack shot and gave way to Cambridge nailing back-to-back threes and the rout was on in Dayton.

ASU eventually extended its run to 17-0, leading 51-22 at 2:28, capped by an Alonzo Gaffney three pointer. The run was snapped by two free throws at 1:53 from Nevada. The Sun Devils went into the break with a staggering 53-26 lead.

SECOND HALF
Horne knocked in a three pointer on the opening possession of the second half, bringing the lead up to 30, 56-26. Nevada scored the next five points before Horne made two free throws.

Nevada went on an 8-0, making it 58-39. Cambridge Jr. hit three straight free throws at 14:57, snapping the run and making 61-39 ASU. Nevada cut its deficit to 20 with a triple at 14:05, but ASU responded as Luther Muhammad nailed a basket at 13:48 from Cambridge Jr.

Neal snatched a rebound on the defensive end and Cambridge Jr. made another basket, fading away on the baseline to make it 68-64 with 13:06 left in regulation. Nevada continued to fight, ripping off a 16-11 scoring advantage over the next six minutes and prompted an ASU timeout at 6:44 with ASU leading 79-60.

It never got closer than that as Sun Devils Basketball held on for a 98-73 victory and advanced to the First Round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

UP NEXT
No. 11 Arizona State will face No. 6 TCU at 7:05 p.m. MST in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament Friday night on TruTV. The game will be held at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado.