Rondae Hollis-Jefferson scored 13 points and grabbed 8 rebounds as the #8 Arizona Wildcats won going away 73-49 over Pac-12 rival Arizona State on Sunday in Tucson. Brandon Ashley and Stanley Johnson each chipped in 13 points of their own during the rout.
With the win, Arizona improved to 13-1 on the season and won its opening Pac-12 Conference game.
The Wildcats defense was as stout as advertised and did not allow any Sun Devils player to reach double figures in scoring. For the game, the Arizona pack line defense limited ASU, 8-6, to just 32% shooting on the night.
"We spent a lot of time working on defense," said Hollis-Jefferson. "It felt good to go out and play defense like that."
Wildcats coach Sean Miller noted that in the 11 day layoff since losing their first game of the year to UNLV, the team had ample time to spend on shoring up its defense and fixing myriad other problems that haunted them against the Rebels.
"We had a good week of practice this week and I was hoping some of the good things we did would carry over into the first Pac-12 game of the year," Miller said after the game. "And I believe that happened."
Arizona was never challenged against their in-state foe, as the Sun Devils struggled to put the ball in the basket - or even retain possession of it throughout the game. ASU finished with 22 turnovers against only 14 made field goals.
"I'm not going to spend a lot of mental energy trying to label it," Arizona State coach Herb Sendek said. "We have guys who are trying to do the right thing and obviously...we're a work in progress."
The Wildcats rode Sun Devils mistakes and some hot shooting of their own to a 45-25 halftime lead. ASU was never able to creep any closer during a sloppy second half for both teams.
Both teams will travel up the West Coast next weekend to take on Oregon and Oregon State as Pac-12 play continues.