Henri Veesaar scored a career-high 22 points and had eight rebounds to lead No. 24 Arizona to a 113-100 victory over Arizona State on Tuesday in Tucson, Ariz.
Caleb Love and KJ Lewis each tallied 21 points for Arizona (20-10, 14-5 Big 12), and Tobe Awaka had 15 points and nine rebounds. Jaden Bradley had 12 points, making all four of his field-goal attempts, and had seven assists.
Arizona State’s Alston Mason scored a season-high 33 points on 10-for-17 shooting, 5-for-7 from 3-point range, and had six assists.
The Sun Devils had four other double-figure scorers: Joson Sanon (19), Basheer Jihad (15), Shawn Phillips Jr. (14) and Amier Ali (13).
Arizona State (13-17, 4-15 Big 12) was short-handed, with just six scholarship players available. The Sun Devils finished with four after Jihad fouled out with 5:12 remaining and Phillips with 3:59 left.
Jayden Quaintance (knee) was unavailable and Adam Miller (hip) played less than a minute before aggravating his injury. Leading scorer BJ Freeman, who was ejected in the previous meeting with Arizona (20-10, 14-5) in Tempe, Ariz., was dismissed Feb. 23 for conduct detrimental to the team.
Arizona shot 59 percent while Arizona State made 46.3 percent, including 52.2 percent (12 of 23) from 3-point range.
After Arizona took a 47-35 lead with 3:56 left in the first half, the Sun Devils responded with a 9-2 run. Mason ended the run with four straight free throws, two of which occurred after Bradley was assessed a technical foul.
Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley was given a technical foul earlier in the half.
The Wildcats led 55-47 at halftime behind Love’s 13 points and Arizona’s efficiency on offense, with 13 assists and no turnovers. Arizona finished with 21 assists and six turnovers.
A total of 46 fouls were called in the game. Arizona was 31 of 39 from the free-throw line and Arizona State was 26 of 31.
–Field Level Media
