The Arizona State Sun Devils (10-7; 1-3) started strong at No. 1 Arizona (17-0; 4-0) late Wednesday night behind Massamba Diop, but the undefeated Wildcats used a strong second half to top ASU 89-82 in Tucson.
ASU had seven players score in the first half, including Diop, who made five straight field goals as ASU led for more than seven minutes. There were seven ties and 13 lead changes as the Sun Devils got 15 bench points and had nine assists to take a 39-38 lead into recess.
Tommy Lloyd entered the game 69-6 in home games, with one of the losses to Arizona State in 2023, and the Cats used a second-half run to put distance with six straight makes in eight minutes into the second half to take a 61-54 lead at the 11:30 mark to force an ASU timeout.
Free throws were a difference as eight minutes into the second half, Arizona was 14-of-19 while ASU only made nine trips.
Diop played flawlessly, notching 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while Moe Odum had 23 points and seven assists, but foul trouble put the Sun Devils in a tough spot in the second half.
ASU cut the lead to 85-82 with under a minute left, but a late key bucket from the Wildcats put the game away.