Arizona Basketball: Why Arizona will return to their dominance against ASU

TEMPE, ARIZONA - JANUARY 31: Remy Martin #1 of the Arizona State Sun Devils and Ira Lee #11 of the Arizona Wildcats fight for a loose ball during the first half of the college basketball game at Wells Fargo Arena on January 31, 2019 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
TEMPE, ARIZONA - JANUARY 31: Remy Martin #1 of the Arizona State Sun Devils and Ira Lee #11 of the Arizona Wildcats fight for a loose ball during the first half of the college basketball game at Wells Fargo Arena on January 31, 2019 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)

Arizona Basketball will be looking to return to their dominance against ASU after being swept by them last season.

Last season was a fluke. ASU Sun Devil fans though will though make it sound like ASU is now better than Arizona in basketball…now that’s funny! Having just one five-star player and a limited bench, Arizona Basketball had one of their worst seasons in a while. They weren’t expected to win as much as they are accustomed to. As a result, the Sun Devils did sweep the Wildcats, but I can assure you that won’t happen this season!

In last season’s sweep, the Wildcats lost by a total of 15 points, that’s it. The first game of the series in Tempe, they even took the Devils all the way into overtime before losing by seven points. They didn’t even have Williams in the lineup due to injury, but that didn’t stop the Wildcats from forcing the Devils to earn the victory.

The second game of the series Williams did play, but came off the bench and scored only four points in 15 minutes of playing time. This season the Wildcat will be without one of the best guards in the country but have the depth in the backcourt that they didn’t have last season. That depth will be just one of many reasons why Arizona will be sweeping ASU this season.

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Arizona will be kicking of its Pac-12 season against ASU at home. How sweet it will be for the Wildcats to put a fork in those Devils to start conference play! The Devils will have some returners and young talent in their lineup, including everyone’s favorite Remy Martin. They will though have a difficult time handling the size, strength and depth the Wildcats have and will leave McKale Center with a loss.

Prior to last season, the Wildcats had one six straight over the Devils – dominance! They currently lead the overall head-to-head matchup 81-63. That doesn’t mean anything to a Devil fan though. They will come up with all sorts of excuses and reasons why they lost. They won’t though ever admit Arizona Basketball is just better.

That’s okay. Let the results speak for themselves this season. Time for ASU fans to come to the realization last season’s sweep was a fluke, simply that. Until they can consecutively beat Arizona year after year, which will never happen, then they can talk about how they are more of a basketball school than football. Until then, just don’t.

At Zona Zealots, we look forward to Arizona returning to their dominance in this in-state rivalry. It may not happen this year in football, but in basketball, it likely will. As always, Bear Down, Arizona!

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