ASU vs. Arizona final score: Wildcats embarrass Sun Devils in McKale

Was there a win in Tempe?

Winning is only done in Tucson, obviously.

The Arizona Wildcats obliterated the Arizona State Sun Devils 91-75 on Thursday night to improve to 5-0 in conference play.

This play pretty much sums up the night, as an ASU player (Kodi Justice) slowly rolls down the court while Rawle Alkins throws it down.

Well that escalated quickly #ASUvsAZ #APlayersProgram @APlayersProgram http://pic.twitter.com/9Heh7PFS2u

— Arizona Athletics (@AZATHLETICS) January 13, 2017

This game was never close in any aspect. Arizona had ten rebounds before the Sun Devils recorded their first, and the Wildcats were up 12-0 just two and a half minutes into the game.

It was a butt kicking from start to finish, with “Bobby” chants intermixed with actual basketball plays thrown in.

ASU set the tone before the game, as Torian Graham and another Devil were seen flipping the bird at the ZonaZoo.

Torian Graham lets the ZonaZoo know they're No. 1. http://pic.twitter.com/W8Dj8zeXl7

— Shane Dale (@ShaneDaleABC15) January 13, 2017

And it really all just went downhill from there for ASU.

Here are some of the biggest takeaways for Arizona on the night:

Triple-Triple Animal Style

During a stretch from 9:40 to 8:25 left in the first half, Lauri Markkanen knocked down three consecutive shots from beyond the arc as ASU failed to keep him covered on the perimeter. That put the Wildcats up 29-12 at the time after the Devils had climbed back within eight.

The game was never within single digits after that, and Markkanen finished with a career-high 30 points on the night.

Dominant Dusan

Another home game, and another strong, early performance for Dusan Ristic. He had nine points right out of the gate. Then in the second half, he made his first three of the season, and gave us the top sign coming back down the court.

It is interesting that after the first part of the game, Ristic’s production drops off quite a bit, but part of that had to do with Chance Comanche getting more run in this game. Comanche ended up playing 18 minutes and scored nine points.

Rumbling Rawle

Rawle Alkins only finished with five points, but four of them were some of the most spectacular points to have ever existed at McKale Center.

There’s the one up above, and then there’s this one, where he just kept going up somehow.

Rawle Alkins is embarrassing ASU out here http://pic.twitter.com/up43fKxG35

— Ryan Kelapire (@RKelapire) January 13, 2017

Flunking at the Free Throw Line

This may have been the first game all year that the Wildcats really struggled to convert on their free throws, and it made this game closer than it should have been.

Arizona ended up making just 14 of 22 attempts at the charity stripe, including a missed front end of a 1-and-1 from Parker Jackson-Cartwright, and a missed technical free throw by Markkanen.

It should be noted that late in the second half, ZonaZoo started chanting “Bobby” at ASU players taking front ends of 1-and-1s, and they missed all three of them. All three. You only can get three such situations.

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Arizona returns to action next Thursday when they face the USC Trojans in Galen Center. That game will tip-off at 7 PM MT, and will be shown on Pac-12 Networks.

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