With just over eight to play, Oregon (11-7,2-3 Pac-12) had its largest lead of the game of four.
Arizona State, grinding through the early part of the Pac-12 schedule came together and broke through as a team. Taeshon Cherry and Kimani Lawrence drilled back-to-back triples, the start of a 19-0 Sun Devil run in just four minutes that sealed the game for ASU (13-5,4-2 Pac-12).
Celebrate like a Sun Devil. ??@SunDevilHoops | #Pac12Hoops pic.twitter.com/PwEXwyzSHA
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) January 20, 2019
The Sun Devils completed the home sweep with the 78-64 victory over the Ducks in Tempe.
"That kind of shows what we are capable of as a team when we buckle down and focus on the next play and make the right play continuously," said Zylan Cheatham. "We fed off each other, we played with high energy, and our defense created that."
The defense was smothering. The Ducks failed to score for five minutes after the Cherry triple at the 8:37 mark and shot 33.3 percent from the field, settling for tightly contested three-point attempts down the stretch.
"Really a thing of beauty in the last 10 minutes, the way we played both ends of the floor, really proud of my guys," said coach Bobby Hurley. "We really hounded them pretty good and made things very difficult."
The defense against the Oregon schools prevented each program from shooting at least 36.45 percent for the game.
Whenever ASU needed a bucket, Cherry was there for a three and was ready for the challenge. He scored 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from three, many that were contested and in big moments.
Sparky is now 7-0 when Cherry connects on two or more three-point attempts.
"When you hit that first three and everyone starts yelling, you are in it now," said Cherry. "Once I hit that first one, I said 'I'm going to let it fly every time I have daylight' and I let it fly."
The 12,751 provided the spark the Sun Devils needed on Saturday night, propelling the home team to victory behind a true home court advantage. Cheatham gave Sun Devil Nation a reason to explode early in the second half, levitating to what he says is the best dunk of his college career.
ZYLAN GOT WAYYYY ?? pic.twitter.com/f0vVSuTg7D
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) January 20, 2019
"I wasn't going to be on the other side of SportsCenter, so it was pretty much either me or him when we got in the air," said Cheatham. "I won this battle."
Arizona State competed with a balanced attack against Oregon. Led by Cheatham's 17, Luguentz Dort (12), Cherry (15), Remy Martin (11), and Kimani Lawrence (10) all reached double figures in the win.
Martin added eight assists to his performance, showing his versatility as the commander of the floor.
"When he's doing that and finding his teammates, everyone wants to run the floor," said Hurley. "He found us opportunities to score also but he did a very nice job passing the basketball."
Romello White set the tone for the game early in the first half. He was on the ground multiple times fighting for the basketball and had a possession where he blocked a shot and scored on the other end to give ASU the one point lead.
White added five points and four rebounds.
A theme for Arizona State this season is their struggle at the free-throw line. It was not an issue against the Ducks.
After missing on their first three attempts on the evening, the Sun Devils finished 17-of-21 from the line and shot 51 percent from the field.
DORT from DISTANCE ??????
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) January 20, 2019
22-2 RUN ?? pic.twitter.com/3j7y1Si4nV
Arizona State's next game is at UCLA on Thursday, Jan. 24, at 8 p.m. PT. Tip-off from Pauley Pavilion can be viewed on FS1 and heard on ESPN Radio 620 AM.
SUN DEVIL PLAYER POSTGAME QUOTES VS. OREGON
Zylan Cheatam on his electrifying dunk…
"We swung the ball a couple times and I want to say I slipped a ball screen and got a touch in the short corner. Actually, it was a post up and he gambled for it and didn't get it. Once I swung baseline I saw daylight and it was me and Kenny (Wooten). Either I go through his chest or go over him and I feel like I made the decision."
Did you know you you were going to dunk in at that point?
"I mean, I had to. He's (Wooten) an elite shot blocker. I wasn't going to be on the other side of SportsCenter, so it was pretty much either me or him when we got in the air. I won this battle."
What was behind the 19-0 run near the end of the game?
"That kind of shows what we are capable of as a team when we buckle down and focus on the next play and make the right play continuously. Like I said, I feel like we did that, we fed off each other, we played with high energy, and our defense created that. It was 19-0...they didn't score in that span. When we shut down teams like that and get out in transition we're going to be a problem.
Was that the best dunk of your life (Cheatham)?
Taeshon Cherry: "No." (laughing)
Cheatham: Yea, I have to be honest I got some dunks. In college for sure, that easily tops the fast break windmills and all that. I have to see it. I actually haven't seen it, but from what I remember it was really good."
On going 7/8 from the foul line…
Cheatham: I won't reveal my secret because I want other people around the league to keep struggling, but it was is a lot mentally. I've always been a good free-throw shooter, so it was kind of confusing why I was missing. I was getting good misses...it wasn't too much left and right, it more like back iron, short, in-and-out. I think it's a confidence thing, so I step to the line and speak some words into existence and trust my stroke."
Does hitting the first three early do something for you emotionally Taeshon (Cherry)?
Cherry: "Yea, it's different. When you hit that first three and everyone starts yelling, you are in it now. Once I hit that first one, I said 'I'm going to let it fly every time I have daylight' and I let it fly."
It looks like your defense fuels your offense sometimes, is that true?
Cherry: "Yea, that is a testament to Zylan (Cheatham) because he tells me just play defense and that will lead to offense and we will all get hyped, the crowd will get hyped and we had that tonight. We had a run where I hit one and I think Kimani (Lawrence) hit one and that just sparked everything."
Do you feel like in warmups you can tell when you're going to have this type of game?
Cherry: "Yea, I think I could tell in shoot-a-round. That's the main thing. In shoot-a-round if it is looking good and feeling good, than I know it is going to be good in the game. I have confidence enough in myself that it is going to be good in the game."
They shot 25 percent in the second half. How much of that was them and how much was you guys?
Cheatham: "I'd say it was a mixture of both. I think we did a really good job sticking to the game plan and not getting discouraged because they hit tough shots in the first half. Even the one at the end of the half, you can't get discouraged when a team is making shots like that. You just have to stay true to your defensive principles and trust that the results are going to go your way. That is really what happen."
Taeshon has hit nine threes in two games, how much confidence do you have in him?
Cheatham: Since we recruited him and I found out we were trying to get him here I always knew what he was capable and I always knew he was a knock down shooter. He still doesn't shoot better than me (laughing), but when he's in that zone and has it going you have to just find him and ride that wave. Once he sees one go down the next two or three have a good chance of going in. That's something that definitely helps us stretch the floor."
Did the trash talk add any extra motivation for you guys?
Cheatham: That is how we play every practice. When you have a group of dogs that are competitors, trash talk and little stuff like that doesn't really do much. We all leave it on the floor. It adds a little fun to the game, but we leave that on the floor."
Did you guys feel you needed this sweep?
Cheatham: "Yea...really, we just want to win games. We don't go into any game expecting to lose. Our message was new season and we're 2-0 in our new season. We just have to get back to work and get ready for the UCLA and USC coming up.
OREGON HEAD COACH DANA ALTMAN
On not being able to hit shots
"We didn't shoot the ball very well, with eight minutes to go they're up four, we just made two really bad defensive mistakes. In the press, got out of position and gave them a 3-on-2 and Cherry (Taeshon Cherry) hit the three and we took a quick shot and they came back and got another three and then Paul (Paul White) got two really good looks but didn't knock either one of them down and we didn't get any stops. They shot 51 percent from the field and scored 39 points each half and the game really turned right there on those two or three possessions."
On getting offensive rebounds but eight straight possessions of one-and-done
"Our ball movement wasn't as good there, we just didn't do a good job. We can't let someone shoot 51% on the road even if we are getting them to turn it over, we're getting some extra shots. 51% just not going to work for us."
On why defense hasn't been strong in three Pac-12 losses
"It's game to game, part of the two were people getting to rim on us, Kenny not being there, that was a part of it. Tonight, until the eight-minute mark, I thought we were kind of doing alright the second half. I think they only scored 11 points in that first 12-minutes. I think the score was only 54-50 with about eight-and-half minutes to go there. Up until that point, I thought our activity was pretty good but it sure changed after that."
On finishing at the rim tonight
"No, we got there and we just didn't finish anything. I remember Will (Will Richardson) hit a couple but we didn't get to the basket and finish. We got them all but we didn't finish them."
On offensive rebounding
"Our guys played hard, we just didn't play very smart. Poor execution at times, it's just that we tried to run things out of timeouts, we didn't execute at all. Disappointed there, we got to get better offensively. We can't shoot the ball 33%, we're going to have to shoot it better. We had some good looks, VJ (Victor Bailey Jr?) had some good looks, he just couldn't get one down tonight and Paul (Paul White) first-half was outstanding. [He] tweaked that ankle a little-bit, I probably stayed with him a little too long, knowing that ankle was not sharp."
On what caused Victor Bailey to have an off-night
"Missed a couple inside and had a couple good looks and missed, just one of those nights. All shooters have them, there's going to be nights where the ball just doesn't go in."
On the tempo changing late in the game
"The tempo really changed there. Those back-to-back threes really changed the tempo of the game. We took a couple quick ones and didn't move the ball like we needed to and had some one-one-one moves that we had decent shots but I thought we could of got a better shot by kicking it out."
On not getting anything out of Kenny Wooten
We needed to get a little bit more out of him. I probably should of went back to him and gave him a few more minutes there in the first-half to keep him involved."
On takeaway for next week
"We got to continue to develop our team and offensively, we're going to have to execute better. I liked some of the shots we got and I liked how hard we played, we just didn't finish enough plays. Again, when that pendulum swung there and they got a couple easy ones, our defense just gave into it pretty bad there."
On if saw ASU doing something different on defense
"They did a good job. We took a couple shots, Paul (Paul White) had a couple of really good looks. We had some good looks, we just didn't hit any of them and tempo changed."
On if chippy-ness got to player
"I don't know. It's Miles (Miles Norris) getting involved with that. We can't do that, that's not who we are and I was disappointed there. We pride ourselves on not taking technical as a coaching staff and as a team, really disappointed going in, [we] don't need it."
COACH BOBBY HURLEY QUOTES
"Really was a thing of beauty the last 10 minutes, the way we played both ends of the floor, really proud of my guys. It was a total team effort. Really as good of 10 minutes we played probably all season. We really hounded them pretty good and made things very difficult and it starts with Lu and Remy, they did some very nice things, Lu chasing Prithchard, Remy getting in the passing lane one time and got a nice steal. It was a combination of getting some deflections and steals, guarding them well and then getting the rebounds. That's what led to quality offense."
ON DENYING PRTICHARD THE BALL
"Lu is relentless, he is going to challenge the other guard, we thought that was important for us, we just did not want to allow Pritchard to get wherever he wanted on the floor. He's a very good, experienced guard and he made some nice things happen in the first half and I think Lu stepped up and really challenged him and made things as difficult as possible."
ON TAESHON HITTING HUGE SHOTS
"He was 5-10 from three, that's more than respectable. They came at timely moments. He didn't just do that, he's not just a shooter he battled inside and was very active and involved in the fight. He did a great job -- all around great game for Taeshon."
ON Z'S DUNK AND SPARK IT GAVE
"It's one of the better ones I've seen. I know there were a lot of games today but I'm not sure there is going to be anything as good as that, that would not put that at the top of Sports Center top 10. It was one of my favorite plays of the season."
ON FREE THROW SHOOTING
"We started 0-3 then immediately turned it around, especially down the stretch in the game. Zylan made a bunch. Remy made two key ones. We did what we needed to do when we were getting stops and we were getting to the free throw line. I know that we're capable of doing that but you know for whatever reason we had a little bad stretch over the last two games."
ON KIMANI COMING OFF THE BENCH
"He's a very mature kid, he knows he's going to play and he is going to have his opportunities. He's more than deserved that, today was one of the best games he has had in a couple weeks. Played an all around game.
ON TAESHON CHERRY
"We have a lot of confidence in Taeshon. His shot making, he has one of the best strokes i've seen with just his release and as he keeps growing and developing as a player he has so much upside to where he can take his game. The pressure we were applying on defense and forcing them to shoot some tough shots, then we had given up some offensive rebounds to start the second half. We have to rebound the ball, the guys responded. We shut them down in possessions and turned them over at times, the crowd was amazing, they really got into the game and helped our defense."
THREE-POINT DEFENSE
"I just think that the pressure you can put on teams, I thought we were scrambling better and getting to shooters, not having breakdowns. We want to be up on White and Pritchard's space more. Early in the game they hit a couple and got going. We kind of eliminated some of those plays in the second half."
ON WHAT REMY BRINGS AS A FACILITATOR
"When he's doing that and finding his teammates everyone wants to run the floor, he found us opportunities to score also but he did a very nice job passing."
ON SWEEPING THE WEEK AND HOW CRUCIAL IS IT?
"Oregon State came in here 3-0 in the Pac 12, they were playing very well and went on the road and handled Oregon, they handled the LA schools. Oregon was on a roll as well, beating USC and winning at Arizona. To know you're playing a team that's playing pretty well and to do what we were able to do in the second half shows where we can take it if we focus on the right things."