Oumar Ballo recorded his eighth consecutive double-double and Caleb Love scored eight late points as No. 6 Arizona turned back an Arizona State rally and won 85-67 on the road Wednesday night in Tempe, Ariz.
The Wildcats (22-6, 13-4 Pac-12) had their 18-point first-half lead whittled to five in the second half, but Love drilled two key 3-pointers to help Arizona complete the season sweep against ASU (14-15, 8-10).
Ballo had 14 points and 13 rebounds, making 6 of 6 shots from the field. Kylan Boswell scored 17 for Arizona, and Love filled the box score with 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Adam Miller led the Sun Devils with 16 points off the bench. Frankie Collins scored 15, making 4 of 9 from 3-point range. Jose Perez added 14 points.
ASU, with the help of some pressure defense that forced 14 turnovers for the game, started the second half on an 8-0 run, capped by two free throws after a technical foul on Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd, to get within 41-35.
The Sun Devils inched within five points on two occasions as the teams mostly traded baskets for the next 12 minutes before Love stepped up to deliver two big 3-pointers. He drilled one at the 5:35 mark for an 11-point lead and hit another with 4:02 remaining for a 73-62 advantage.
Lloyd improved to 83-17 in his 100th game with the Wildcats.
Arizona started quickly, going up 13-3 less than five minutes into the game and boosting its advantage to 30-12 at the 7:55 mark.
The Sun Devils, who made only four of their first 22 shots from the field, started to turn momentum at that point. They went 5 of 9 from the field in the final six minutes, going into the break down 41-27.
ASU junior guard Bobby Hurley, the son of ASU head coach Bobby Hurley, went through Senior Night festivities and made his first career start. The younger Hurley, who is expected to focus on academics next year, played nearly the first four minutes, grabbing two rebounds.
–Field Level Media