Arizona Basketball: Wildcats look to sweep the Sun Devils in Tempe

The Arizona Basketball men’s team travels to Tempe, looking to sweep the Arizona State Sun Devils and prove why they are the best school in the state of Arizona!

Put a fork in it! The first meeting between these two schools, Arizona Basketball demolished Arizona State by 28 points at home. This time, the Wildcats look to get the W in Tempe in a similar fashion. They will also be looking for their first road win in the Pac-12, which is hard to come by these days. Time to break out the broom, I feel a possible sweep happening!

There is a lot a stake in this one for both teams. Possible sweep for Arizona and an opportunity to move up the standing in the Pac-12 conference. For ASU, last year they swept the Wildcats (which was a fluke) and they don’t want that to happen to them. Plus, a loss for them would put them towards the bottom of the conference.

Game information, per ArizonaWildcats.com

Tip-off: Saturday, January 25th, 7:30pm MST

Location: Desert Financial Arena, Tempe, AZ

2019 Records: No.22 Arizona 13-5 (3-2 in Pac-12), ASU 11-7 (2-3in Pac-12)

History: Arizona leads overall series 82-63. Last meeting Wildcats won 75-47 at home.

TV: Pac-12 Networks

Radio:  Arizona IMG Sports Network Arizona Wildcats (Try Tunein Radio)

If you’re an Arizona Wildcat that lives in the area or wants to try and make a last-minute trip to watch them live, tickets are still available at StubHub.com

Arizona Basketball: Keys to victory

Anytime these two teams meet emotions run high and this Saturday won’t be any different. The Sun Devils are coming off a 19 point over the Utah Utes. Rob Edwards led the way with 24 points, Remy Martin had 20 and Taeshon Cherry rounded out the top three scores with 11. One of their key players, Romello White, had just five points and four rebounds.

All four of those players the Wildcats will need to pay attention to, especially Edwards and White. As a team, the Sun Devils like to push the pace when they key, which will force the Wildcats to take care of the ball and almost prevent fast break by grabbing offensive rebounds.

Another key for the Wildcats is execution. That’s easier said than done, especially for a young team playing in a hostile environment. The Sun Devils will look to use the crowd to their advantage and throw the Wildcats out of their rhythm. It’s crucial that the Wildcats remain focus on the task at hand…getting the W.

In the last two games, the Wildcats have shot the ball extremely well from three. They will need to do the same against ASU. More than likely they will see a zone defense, which even puts more pressure on the guards to knock down the long ball. Max Hazzard, Dylan Smith, Nico Mannion, Josh Green, Jemarl Baker, and even Stone Gettings can all knock them down. The question is will they fall?

Even if the long ball isn’t going down, the Wildcats have Zeke Nnaji to go. In the last outing against the Sun Devils, he dominated the paint. They can not shy away at all in finding ways to get him touches.

He and White will surely be battling on the glass. It will be interesting to see who controls the boards in this one. Not just Zeke, but the other bigs, Ira Lee and Christian Koloko need to box out and dominate the rebounding department!

Whoever can shoot the long ball and take good care of the ball, has the best chance in this matchup.

Arizona Basketball: Matchups to watch

Mannion vs Martin, Nnaji vs White. Freshman vs senior, strength vs versatility. This will be a good one with plenty of exciting matchups not to be missed.

Mannion has already faced one of the top guards in the country, Payton Pritchard. He handled himself quite well for a freshman even though the Wildcats weren’t able to get the victory in regulation or overtime. This time he faces Martin, who loves big games and pressure shots. Mannion’s defense has stepped up late and he will need to continue to do so to limit Martin’s open looks and make it difficult for him to run the offense.

For Nnaji, he has the size advantage over White. Strength wise, both are about the same. Last time these two met, White wasn’t 100% and Nnaji took full advantage of that. For the Wildcats to be in the best position to this win, Nnaji needs touches. It’s a must.

Highlights of the Wildcats win over the Devils earlier this year in Tucson:

At Zona Zealots, we can’t for this one to go down! The ladies took care of business in sweeping ASU, it’s now the Arizona Basketball men’s turn! As always, Bear Down, Arizona!