Jaden Bradley scored a career-high 21 points and Oumar Ballo posted his fifth consecutive double-double as No. 5 Arizona routed rival Arizona State 105-60 on Saturday night in Tucson, Ariz.
Ballo had 15 points and 11 rebounds as the Wildcats (20-5, 11-3 Pac-12) won their sixth consecutive game and maintained first place in the conference. Bradley, a sophomore transfer from Alabama, made 8 of 11 shots and surpassed his previous career high of 18 points, set last season against Gonzaga.
Arizona State (13-13, 7-8) had no answer for Arizona’s size and strength down low as the Sun Devils were outscored 52-16 in the paint. Post players Shawn Phillips Jr. and Alonzo Gaffney each fouled out.
Arizona reached triple-digit points against ASU for the first time in nearly 20 years, dating to a 106-81 victory in Tucson on March 7, 2004.
Adam Miller scored 16 to lead ASU. Jose Perez had 14 points, and Jamiya Neal added 12.
Arizona’s Caleb Love scored 15 points, and Keshad Johnson had 14. Paulius Murauskas poured in 12 points in five late-game minutes. Kylan Boswell contributed 11.
The Wildcats surged to a 49-31 halftime lead and never relented as Arizona State failed to shoot itself back into contention. The Sun Devils shot 36.2 percent from the floor for the game, including just 6 of 24 on 3-point attempts.
The Wildcats shot 57.1 percent and led by at least 20 points for the final 16:24 of the game, and they took a 30-point lead for the first time at 78-48 with 8:04 to go. The lead reached 40 points in the final two minutes.
ASU started well and took its biggest lead of the game at 20-15 but then went six minutes without a basket and was down 33-24 before Gaffney ended the drought with a 3-pointer with 6:38 to go in the first half.
The Wildcats stayed hot, though, ending the half on a 16-4 run and taking a 49-31 lead into the break.
–Field Level Media
