Azoulas Tubelis scored 17 points to lead a balanced scoring effort from No. 8 Arizona, which led Arizona State almost wire to wire on Friday in a 78-59 semifinal win at the Pac-12 Conference tournament in Las Vegas.
The result sets up a rematch of last year's Pac-12 championship game between the Wildcats and top-seeded UCLA, which beat Oregon 75-56 in the other semifinal on Friday. Arizona won last year's final 84-76.
Arizona (27-6) only trailed for 1:43 early into the contest, but Arizona State went on a 7-0 run midway through the second half to pull within four points with 7:06 remaining.
The Wildcats responded resoundingly, outscoring Arizona State 22-7 the rest of the way.
All seven Arizona players who logged more than a minute of game time recorded at least five points. Oumar Ballo and Cedric Henderson Jr. put up 14 points each. Ballo also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, and Tubelis had nine boards.
Tubelis and Ballo combined to hit 15 of 21 shots from the floor.
Courtney Ramey added nine points, all scored on 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range.
Kerr Kriisa, who sustained a shoulder injury in Arizona's quarterfinal win over Stanford on Thursday, contributed five points and a game-high seven assists.
Frankie Collins and Jamiya Neal paced Arizona State (22-12) with 11 points each. DJ Horne added nine points, and Desmond Cambridge Jr. and Warren Washington each finished with eight points.
Cambridge powered Arizona State to a quarterfinal romp against Southern California, and he hit a three-quarter-court buzzer-beater to sink Arizona on Feb. 25, but he shot just 3 of 10 on Friday.
The Sun Devils were 21 of 65 (32.3 percent) from the floor as a team, including 6 of 26 (23.1 percent) from 3-point range.
Arizona, meanwhile, shot 10 of 19 (52.6 percent) from beyond the arc, 31 of 55 (56.4 percent) from the floor.
--Field Level Media
Arizona State | Arizona | |
Frankie Collins 11 | Scoring | Azuolas Tubelis 17 |
Frankie Collins 5 | Assists | Kerr Kriisa 7 |
Devan Cambridge 6 | Rebounds | Oumar Ballo 10 |
DJ Horne 3 | Free Throws Made | Cedric Henderson Jr. 4 |
Desmond Cambridge Jr. 5 | Steals | Kerr Kriisa 2 |
Duke Brennan 1 | Blocks | Oumar Ballo 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Arizona State | 59 | 32.3 | 6-26 | 11-16 | 13 | 24 | 3 | 10 | 9 |
Arizona | 78 | 56.4 | 10-19 | 6-14 | 23 | 39 | 3 | 5 | 15 |