Ayton leads Wildcats to 77-70 win in Tempe

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


Deandre Ayton grabs his 17th double-double to lead Arizona to a 77-70 win in Tempe tonight over ASU.

Ayton scored 25 points, hauled in 16 rebounds -- 14 of those coming in the second half, dished out four assists and had three blocks as Arizona led 39-38 at the half and held off the 25th-ranked Sun Devils in the final 20 minutes, thanks to a 7-0 spurt near the three-minute mark in the second half.

With the score tied at 63-63, Ayton scored on a tip-in, Allonzo Trier followed with a three-pointer and Ayton finished the 7-0 run with a dunk, thanks to an assist in the lane from Parker Jackson-Cartwright.

Dusan Ristic also collected a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, Rawle Alkins netted 10 points and Trier finished with 19 points and five assists.

Arizona out rebounded the Sun Devils, 44-28.

The 17th-ranked Wildcats improve to 21-6 and 11-3 in the Pac-12 Conference and maintain their two-game lead in the standings. Arizona State falls to 19-7 and 7-7 in the Pac-12.

Way to go, Wildcats!