Balanced Sun Devils use big outburst to beat Ducks 78-64
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) – Zylan Cheatham scored 17 points to lead five Arizona State players in double figures and the Sun Devils used a second-half outburst to beat Oregon 78-64 on Saturday night.
Taeshon Cherry added 15 points for the Sun Devils on 5-of-10 3-pointers.
Payton Pritchard scored 20 and Louis King 16 for the cold-shooting Ducks, who split a pair in the desert after winning at Arizona on Thursday night.
The Sun Devils (13-5, 4-2 Pac-12) completed a home sweep of the Oregon schools and snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Ducks (11-7, 2-3).
Arizona State broke open a tight game with a 19-0 second-half run.
Neither team led by more than four points in the first half that featured eight lead changes and five ties.
Pritchard banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 39-39 at the break.
Oregon led most of the first 12 minutes of the second half, but never by much. King bounced in a 3-pointer to put the Ducks up 54-50 but Cherry and Kimani Lawrence each made 3s for the Sun Devils and Arizona State led 56-54 with 8:12 remaining.
The Sun Devils were off and running from there. While Oregon clanked one shot off the rim after another, Remy Martin scored four consecutive points and Cheatham capped the run with a 3-point play that made it 69-54 with 4:32 to play.
The Ducks shot just 33 percent (21 of 63), 26 percent in the second half (9 of 35). Arizona State shot 51 percent overall.
Luguentz Dort scored 12, Martin 11 and Lawrence 10 for the balanced Sun Devils.
BIG PICTURE
A desert sweep would have been nice for the Ducks as they try to climb back in the Pac-12, especially with a home game against conference leader Washington looming. But Oregon was off offensively all night and it eventually caught up to them at loud Wells Fargo Arenas.
Arizona State needed these two victories to get above .500 in conference play, and finally get the Oregon nemesis off their back. The Sun Devils have the talent to make noise down the stretch and show that they can be the contender many thought they would be after they knocked off Mississippi State and Kansas in the pre-conference season.
MOMENT OF SILENCE
There was a moment of silence before the game in memory of Jermaine Marshall, who played for Arizona State in the 2013-14 season, part of a team that made the NCAA tournament. Marshall had his biggest moments in Tempe in a homecourt upset of Arizona.
Marshall was found dead in his apartment in France. Authorities have offered no details. Marshall was 28.
UP NEXT
Oregon: hosts Pac-12 leader Washington on Thursday night.
Arizona State: begins its Los Angeles trip with a game at UCLA Thursday night.
