The Sun Devils (13-3, 1-3 Pac-12) had entered the night with an 8-0 record this season at Wells Fargo Arena.
"That wasn't the result we were hoping for," said head coach Bobby Hurley. "They did a nice job of controlling tempo and making it a real possession game. We never really got into a great rhythm on offense because of it."
Both teams did start the game hot offensively as the lead exchanged hands four times in the contest's opening ten minutes.
Arizona State was the first to make a run, rallying a crowd of nearly 14,000 with an 11-0 run. The spurt turned a 20-18 lead into a 31-18 advantage, which would match the Sun Devils largest of the night.
However, the visitors from Eugene ultimately rallied late in the opening stanza, riding a wave of hot shooting to a 41-41 tie at the halftime break. The 20 minutes was an exercise in efficiency as Hurley's team scored those 41 points on just 10 made field goals.
"Teams are slowing us down and not letting us play our game anymore," said Justice afterwards. "But we attacked, got to the foul line, got good shots and made them."
The second half began much like the first with each team exchanging blows.
A Romello White free throw gave the home team its largest lead of the half at 55-51 with 12:37 remaining, and it was White who converted a three-point play off a nifty bounce pass from Shannon Evans II to even the score at 58-58 a few minutes later.
VISION ??@hollywood_XI ?? @mellosworld_23 pic.twitter.com/ZgPcO4UzSt
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White finished his first Pac-12 home game with eight points and six rebounds, making all but one of his field goal attempts.
Arizona State remained within striking distance from that point on, and despite trailing by as many as eight points down the stretch, the team managed to pull within 74-72 after Evans buried a contested triple.
The Ducks (12-5, 2-2) would eventually salt the game away at the free throw line, however, sealing the deal on the 76-72 win.
"I thought they ground us up on defense," said Justice afterwards. "We were playing good defense for 25 seconds and then struggled to get rebounds, so that was hard on us."
Justice (21), Evans (19) and Tra Holder (14) all finished the night scoring in double figures, while White and Mickey Mitchell led the team on the boards with six rebounds a piece.
Holder's 14 points moved him to No. 8 on the program's all-time scoring list, brining his career total to 1,550. He passed Steve Beck (1984-87) and Seabern Hill (1967-70) in the process and is now one spot behind Sun Devil legend Byron Scott.
Despite the loss, Arizona State dominated Oregon in three-point percentage, making 43 percent of their looks from downtown compared to the Ducks' 25. Both teams finished the night shooting 43 percent in total from the field.
The Sun Devils will look to bounce back on Saturday afternoon when they host Oregon State. Tip-off is set for 4:00 p.m. and those not in attendance can view the game on the Pac-12 Networks.
QUOTES
ARIZONA STATE HEAD COACH BOBBY HURLEY
OPENING STATEMENT
"Well it wasn't the result that we were hoping for though we had opportunities in the first half two different times to take ahold of the game and we allowed them to get back, especially at the end of the first half. I believe it was 41-29, not exactly sure, but then its tied. So it's not how we have been finishing halves this year so not the best job there. I probably have some responsibility for that because I just didn't maybe manage possessions better with the lead and try to go a little bit longer with the possession and move the ball a little more. I thought we quick shot and allowed them to close the gap which I thought hurt. It's a matter of it you are not playing at your best offensively, you got to make free throws down the stretch to keep it close. You can't give up the offensive rebounds that we gave up, I thought that was a major deal. We didn't close out a few possessions late in shot clocks and they were able to get some points. But they did a nice job of tempo in the game and making it a real possession game. It was choppy. We never really got into a great rhythm on offense."
ON IF IT IS FRUSTRATING WHEN A TEAM PLAYS POSSESSION BALL AGAINST A RACE-HORSE TEAM LIKE ASU
"I think that we can execute. We are capable of moving the ball and getting it inside and in a half-court game executing a getting a good shot. We're certainly good in spurts. We can spurt and that's been a strength of ours obviously, but we aren't in a great rhythm. We haven't been and we've just been grinding it out, trying to find it. It's possible that that's part of the season too. You go through some stretches where you're not quite in sync like you'd hope. But the offensive rebounds were a major issue for us."
ON BEING PATIENT IN THE FIRST HALF AND WHAT HAPPENED IN THE SECOND HALF
"It's hard to put my finger on it. Something we talked about was our advantage in the paint, 'try to win the paint,' before the game, it was 38-16, you know, that's a big difference when we're searching for the balance we need. We got to get some production, whether it's the guards getting in and finishing or throwing it inside to 'Mello' and De'Quon, or getting a put back. We just aren't getting enough production in the lane right now."
ON PROCESS BEHIND PLAYING MORE ZONE
"I wanted to give them a breather. I just figured they struggled to make some shots against it but then we didn't defensive rebound, they missed a couple of shots and we did go to the zone, we just didn't finish the possession the way we needed to."
ON LONG STRETCH IN THE SECOND HALF OF REMY MARTIN NOT PLAYING AND IF IT WAS A MATCHUP ISSUE
"Remy's been terrific and he's going to be great and he's going to have a great career and I just didn't feel like it was his night and sometimes that happens. It was more of a feel thing and Remy is going to be a big part of what we do moving forward."
ON WHAT HIS MESSAGE TO HIS TEAM WAS RIGHT NOW
"Just that I love coaching you guys, but we need to get things in gear. We got to practice well, we got to keep competing, we got to drag ourselves out of this. We are 1 and 3, the numbers are what they are in the conference, so we got our work cut-out for us and we got to find ourselves again. I thought we were getting there in Utah and then we had a couple of good practices and I thought we we're going to have the type of offensive performance we are capable of, but we just didn't get it done."
OREGON HEAD COACH DANA ALTMAN
OPENING STATEMENT
"I thought the guys played hard. I thought we played together. It's not like we shot the lights out of it but we kept competing and we found a way. I am really happy for the guys. I thought we had some great performances; Roman (Sorkin) gave us a big lift, Mikyles (Mcintosh) 13 rebounds were really great – guys did a great job. I am really happy for them. They played their tails off and found a way to win. Great effort. I hope they get a feel for what they're capable of doing now. That is great comradery, great communication on the defense of end which took away a lot of their transition baskets and we out rebounded them. Those are all things that are critical for us to have a chance on the road."
ON OREGON'S DEFENSE
"Yeah, I thought so. They hit some deep ones but I didn't think we gave them a lot of second shots. I thought the guys did a good job. We got a little help when they missed a few free throws which really helped us. I am really happy for the guys, they found a way on the road and that's always tough to do."
ON CUTTING DOWN ON FOULS
"We got in such foul trouble we wanted to cut them down a little bit. They are quick, they penetrate and make it really tough."
ON SECOND-HALF TURNOVERS
"Yeah, that was big. Points off turnovers in the first half really hurt us. I think they might have had 12 at halftime. We had really bad turnovers so I thought the second half we did a much better job."
ON BALL MOVEMENT
"Our assist total went up, we had 17. We usually have nine or ten a game. I thought we had some really good looks -- I kept thinking Elijah (Brown) had some open ones, Troy (Brown) had some open ones, MJ (Cage) had some open ones -- we were a little tight. We didn't shoot it like I hoped but we found a way."
ON FREE THROWS AT THE END OF THE GAME
"That was big. We had the two guys there when they were pressuring us that we wanted to get it to those two guys and they came through."
ON THE WIN
"Well, you never know. It can be a one time deal but I just thought our comradery and our effort and communication was better. All the things we were talking about I thought we got that done."
ON MATCHUP WITH ARIZONA
"Just their talent level. The boards are going to be critical, we're going to have to rebound with them. Sean (Miller) does such a good job. It's going to be really tough. There a really good team, really talented, that place is always tough. It will be fun. It's always a great atmosphere there so looking forward to the challenge."