蜜柚直播

PROBABLE STARTERS

ARIZONA

G Jaden Bradley (6-3 junior)

G Caleb Love (6-4 senior)

F Anthony Dell鈥橭rso (6-6 junior)

F Trey Townsend (6-6 senior)

C Tobe Awaka (6-8 junior)

ASU

G Alston Mason (6-2 senior)

G Adam Miller (6-3 senior)

F BJ Freeman (6-6 senior)

F Jayden Quaintance (6-9 freshman)

C Basheer Jihad (6-9 senior)

How they match up

Series history: 蜜柚直播 leads its instate rival 161-86 and has won three straight since Desmond Cambridge hit a three-quarter-court buzzer-beater to beat the Wildcats 89-88 on Feb. 25, 2023, at McKale Center. The Wildcats beat ASU 78-69 in the 2023 Pac-12 Tournament and swept the series last season, winning 105-60 at McKale and 85-67 at Tempe.

ASU overview: Saying he needed to 鈥渆ncourage people who have the wherewithal to try to support what we鈥檙e doing鈥� at the Pac-12 Tournament after a dismal ending to last season, ASU coach Bobby Hurley appeared to turbocharge the Sun Devils鈥� NIL game, and it paid off with a much-upgraded roster. Hurley landed five-star big man Jayden Quaintance and four-plus-star guard Joson Sanon, who had committed to the Wildcats, while grabbing three starters out of the portal: point guard Alston Mason (Missouri State), forward Basheer Jihad (Ball State) and wing BJ Freeman (Milwaukee).

While the Sun Devils still play with familiar Hurley-era traits, ranking 32nd nationally in defensive efficiency, they are especially tougher up front. Quaintance and Jihad team in the post with Phillips, an improving, rim-protecting center who collected 13 points and nine rebounds on Tuesday when Quaintance was out with an ankle injury in the win at Colorado.

Both Quaintance and Freeman, who suffered a deep thigh bruise on Tuesday, are expected to at least try to play in Saturday鈥檚 game. Even when they are healthy, the Sun Devils have a tight rotation of just eight players in which Freeman (12.5 points) and Jihad (12.3) are leading scorers. Freeman is hitting 39.6% of his 3-pointers in Big 12 games but Jihad is making only 25% of them.

Sanon is a young, high-volume scorer who reclassified last spring before choosing UA and then ASU. He's shooting 44.9% from 3-point range overall but, while dealing with an ankle injury lately, is only 3 for 14 (21.4%) in Big 12 play. Veteran guard Adam Miller is shooting 42.9% from long range in the conference while the versatile Jihad is averaging 10.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists in the Big 12.

Without Frankie Collins, who transferred to TCU, the Sun Devils have relied heavily on Mason at point guard. Mason is averaging 38.6 minutes a game in Big 12 play, averaging 11.6 points and 3.4 assists per game while shooting 34.1% from 3.

Playing the sixth-toughest schedule in the country 鈥� counting a nonconference slate Kenpom ranks 33rd听鈥� the Sun Devils rank only 99th in offensive efficiency, partly because they turn the ball over on 19.6% of their possessions, the 57th-worst turnover mark in D-I. Defensively, they are average against 2-point shots (49.1%) but rank 31st nationally in defensive block percentage, swatting away 13.7% of opponents鈥� shots.

He said it: 鈥淚 expect both of them (Quaintance and Freeman) to play, whether they're 100% is to be determined. But the reality is, it's a rivalry game. We know those guys are going to be amped up for it. They're a team that's trying to get some momentum right now.

鈥淚 think their interior is bigger and more athletic with Jihad and Quaintance. If they play Phillips at the five and Quaintance at four, it鈥檚 a big lineup. I鈥檇 compare that to how Oumar (Ballo) and Christian Koloko were during our first year (2021-22), where you played those two 7-footers. They're athletic, they're tough, they're physical. That鈥檚 the biggest thing: Defensively, their interior is a lot tougher and more athletic this year. Quaintance covers a lot of ground out there. Whether it's blocking shots, getting deflections, getting steals, impacting plays on and off the ball, he's a guy that you have to game plan for and be ready for. You can't really simulate a guy like that. There's a reason why he's on the NBA Draft radar.

鈥�(Jihad) is kind of a point forward. They'll run a lot of offense through him, whether it鈥檚 stuff on the perimeter, getting him some isolation catches, and they like to play him in the post a lot. He's really elite at drawing fouls. You've got to stay clean when you're guarding him, chest him up and not foul him at the end of drives. He's a better shooter than what he鈥檚 shooting right now. His shot鈥檚 not broken. And when you play guys at home, you can't disrespect them.

鈥�(Miller) will play some one when Mason's out of the game, and they'll play Joson and Freeman more off the ball. Their guards are tough and they're good. But they just haven't had their full complement of guys until the last two or three games. When they do have their full roster complement of players, they're talented. They won a lot of good games in nonconference, and they've been there (in Big 12 games). They're talented enough. It鈥檚 just they haven't finished some games well ...

"Sean Phillips has gotten a lot better. Now he's a physical force down there. He's a big, tough, athletic kid who's made strides offensively."鈥�听UA assistant coach TJ Benson, who scouted the Sun Devils

Key players

ASU 鈥� Basheer Jihad

A second-team all-MAC pick last season at Ball State, Jihad is proving the same kind of versatile, do-it-all player he was at the mid-major level. He鈥檚 an adept passer and athletic at 6-9 and is especially hard to keep off the free-throw line, drawing 6.0 fouls per 40 minutes.

蜜柚直播 鈥� Caleb Love

So what now? Does Love parlay his regulation-buzzer-beating bomb and two overtime 3-pointers against Iowa State into a higher level for the rest of the season, or does he go back to an inconsistent pattern? Saturday鈥檚 game will offer the first clue.

Sidelines

Alijah enters the Arena听

Known as a somewhat quirky individual as a standout sophomore on 蜜柚直播鈥檚 2001 Final Four team, long before he became Agent Zero in the NBA, Gilbert Arenas pulled off the unconventional again this week when his son, Alijah, decided to commit to USC.

Arenas hosted Alijah on the 鈥淕il鈥檚 Arena鈥� video podcast, where the five-star Los Angeles wing was prodded to make his commitment live on the videotaped show. Alijah then tapped in a FaceTime call to USC coach Eric Musselman and told him he would be a Trojan.

"Let's gooooooo!" Musselman screamed into the phone. "You go celebrate with your family and I'm gonna go celebrate with the coaches and call you in a little bit... Thanks for trusting us. Love it that you're staying in Los Angeles, California!"

"Fight on," Alijah said. "Yes sir, coach."

Alijah wound up picking the Trojans over 蜜柚直播, Louisville and Kentucky. After the call to Musselman, Alijah was asked on the podcast why he made the choice.

"It felt like the best fit," he said. "Going on campus, seeing what USC is like made me feel special. I talked to the coach later on and seeing what I could possibly be was just amazing ..."

Arenas reclassified last month from the 2026 to 2025 class, meaning he can join the Trojans next season if he finishes up his high school work.

No hard feelings (?)

If there鈥檚 any one particular ASU player that might draw the most venom from UA fans on Saturday 鈥� and, more so, in the return game at McKale on March 4 鈥� it鈥檚 freshman guard Sanon.

He鈥檚 the guy who committed to the Wildcats during the NCAA Tournament last season and then, after Love announced he was returning to the Wildcats from the NBA Draft pool in late May, tweeted 鈥淟OVE IT鈥� 鈥� and 20 minutes later announced he was flipping his commitment to ASU.

But UA coach Tommy Lloyd called Sanon a 鈥済reat kid鈥� Friday and appeared to hold no hard feelings over a recruitment that appeared to involve more than just Love鈥檚 decision.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it was really complicated,鈥� Lloyd said. 鈥淭hey had kind of let us know that if Caleb came back, that 蜜柚直播 might not be in the cards, and we totally understood.鈥�

High standards

Quaintance is one of ASU鈥檚 best players and the Sun Devils鈥� top NBA prospect, generally regarded as a lottery pick in the 2026 draft, but there was a time when he wasn鈥檛 good enough.

That was last spring, when he tried to make Lloyd鈥檚 USA Basketball U18 team. USA Basketball鈥檚 Junior Team Committee generally makes the cuts, not Lloyd, but Quaintance was left behind for the trip to the FIBA U18 AmeriCup while centers Daniel Jacobsen (Purdue) and Morez Johnson Jr. (Illinois) were among those making it.

鈥淣ot making that team doesn't mean you're not a good player,鈥� Lloyd said. 鈥淭here's a lot of good players that try out, and he鈥檚 a year younger. He's really talented, and he's a really nice kid."

Quaintance was still only 17 at the time, so young that he鈥檚 not even eligible for this year鈥檚 NBA Draft, still with a ton of upside left to be developed.

While reviewing game video of ASU鈥檚 Jan. 21 game at West Virginia, Lloyd noticed that some of that game has been developed: Quaintance had 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting and 12 rebounds in ASU鈥檚 65-57 win.

"He was impressive" in that game, Lloyd said. "He's an elite talent, who's young and figuring it out. He鈥檚 gotten off to a great start in his college basketball career."

Numbers game

37.8: Average minutes UA point guard Jaden Bradley has averaged over the Wildcats鈥� past four games (counting 40 minutes in an overtime game with Iowa State).

39.0: Average minutes ASU point guard Alston Mason has averaged in the Sun Devils鈥� past four games.

78: Combined blocks (57) and steals (21) for Quaintance over 19 games played, making him the only player in college basketball with more than 55 blocks and 20 steals.

鈥� Bruce Pascoe