Arizona State is hoping that its bounce-back performance at Washington State last weekend is a sign of things to come, as the Sun Devils start a stretch of five games in 10 days.
Arizona State (8-15, 4-9 Pac-12) launches its busy stretch with home games Thursday against Oregon (17-8, 10-4) and Saturday against Oregon State. After that come three games on the road next week at UCLA, Colorado and Utah.
The Sun Devils beat Washington State 58-55 two days after losing 87-64 at Washington. The victory avenged a 51-29 loss at home to the Cougars on Dec. 1, when ASU scored its fewest points since 1946.
After that 29-point performance against Washington State, Arizona State responded by upsetting Oregon 69-67 in overtime in Eugene, Ore.
“I really love coaching that team because they have a resilient way about them,” said Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley, whose team also snapped a four-game skid two weeks ago by shocking third-ranked UCLA.
DJ Horne finished with 23 points in that game against Oregon, halting a five-game ASU losing streak. Horne leads Arizona State in scoring (12.5 points a game) and has made the most 3-pointers (59 of 159).
Oregon is coming off a 62-59 win over Washington State on Monday at Eugene. The Ducks have won five of their past six games.
The one loss is a concern because it occurred last week at home against California, 78-64. The Golden Bears (11-15, 4-11) are in 10th place in the Pac-12.
With four losses in conference play, and on the bubble when it comes to the NCAA Tournament, Oregon coach Dana Altman said, “There is no big picture.”
“The big picture is Thursday night, and trying to win a game,” he said. “We lost a game to Arizona State here, so we should be ready to roll.”
Will Richardson, Oregon’s leading scorer at 15.1 points per game, scored only eight points in the previous meeting with the Sun Devils. He made just 2 of 14 shots from the field, 1 of 9 from 3-point range. He scored in double figures in each of the next 15 games, averaging 18.1 points, before managing just seven while in foul trouble against WSU on Monday.
–Field Level Media
