Arizona State comes up short against old Pac-12 rival UCLA in historic venue

LOS ANGELES — Is the Arizona State men’s basketball team a contender or a pretender? Or something in between.

The Sun Devils have won the games they’re supposed to win, and even a few that one would consider a toss-up. They ventured into former Pac-12 territory for what looked to be a litmus test against one of the marquee brands in the game, but struggled from the start and lost to the UCLA Bruins 90-77 on Dec. 17 at Pauley Pavilion.

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Coming in, ASU’s two losses were to two teams with a combined record of 22-2. ASU (9-3) had won seven of its last eight games, but UCLA (8-3) led from the opening tip and took a 45-33 lead into the locker room at the half.

ASU has proven it doesn’t quit, as evidenced by the 19-point comeback the last time the Sun Devils took the court. But it wasn’t to be in this one. Each time the Sun Devils made a run, the Bruins countered.

“You never want to lose one game, but I was pleased with the effort,” ASU coach Bobby Hurley said. “I just want us to try to string together some wins. It goes to say a lot that we are losing to a team that played Arizona until the end and played well against Gonzaga. We just have to play good teams and get exposed and get punched in the mouth. Tonight, we kind of got punched in the mouth, but we will learn from this.”

A few numbers told the story. The Bruins shot 29-for-62 (47%) for the game while ASU hit 24-for-60 (40%). The differential came from long distance as UCLA hit 14 of 26 attempts, while ASU was only 4-for-26. It was ASU’s worst showing from long distance this season. Meanwhile, many of the shots made by UCLA came after ASU had gotten within striking distance.

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ASU was down by five at 65-60 after a 3-point play by Anthony “Pig” Johnson, but UCLA answered with a 3-pointer by Trent Perry.

On ASU’s next possession, UCLA’s Brandon Williams stuffed a shot by Andrija Grbovic at the rim, triggering a fast-break the other way that ended with a 3-pointer by Skyy Clark, which ballooned the lead…

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Publish date : 2025-12-18 14:40:00

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