After an uneven 2-2 start to Pac-12 play, the Oregon men’s basketball team arrived in the desert looking for a sweep.
So far, so good.
Oregon (12-5, 3-2 Pac-12) came away with a 67-58 victory in Tempe over Arizona State (5-11, 1-3 Pac-12) on Thursday. After a disappointing loss to California at home last Sunday, it was just the type of bounce back performance the Ducks needed.
Early on, it looked like the win might come easily. Oregon led by as much as eleven in the first half, but Arizona State’s 18-9 spurt over the final ten minutes cut the advantage to just two at intermission. Senior guard Garrett Sim led the way with ten points in the first half, while fellow senior Devoe Joseph chipped in with eight. For Arizona State, guard Trent Lockett made all six of his shots in the half en route to 14 points and four assists.
The Sun Devils grabbed an early lead in the second half when Chanse Cheekmur hit a three-pointer, and the margin extended to 47-43 before Oregon used a 5-0 run of its own to regain the advantage. With just under six minutes left, junior forward E.J. Singler hit a three-pointer to extend the lead to six and put Arizona State away for good.
When the final whistle blew, Joseph led the way for Oregon with 15 points to go along with four assists and four steals. Junior center Tony Woods followed with 12, while Singler added 11 points, five rebounds and five assists. Sophomore guard Johnathan Loyd, meanwhile, overcame a bruised knee suffered against Cal and chipped in with six assists.
After struggling with its ball control against the Golden Bears, Oregon turned the ball over just eight times on Tuesday while forcing Arizona State into 16 giveaways. The Ducks also shot a blistering 53.2 percent from the field and made a total of eight three-pointers.
Lockett finished with a game-high 23 points on 8-11 shooting, but only one other Arizona State player (Carrick Felix) had more than 10 points.
Oregon now travels to Tucson for a matchup with Arizona at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.