TEMPE, Ariz.- Arizona State (10-9, 1-5 Big 12) continued its home stand on Saturday, taking on the Cincinnati Bearcats (10-9, 2-4 Big 12) as conference play pushed forward. Both squads came in with similar resumes and treading thin waters in the conference.
As the clock wound down toward zero, the Sun Devils just looked to dribble out the game. With the ball in the hands of senior guard Moe Odum and the shot clock expiring, he lined up a 30-foot shot and watched it splash home to cap off the night at Desert Financial Arena.
That shot perfectly summed up Odom’s game as he led ASU to the 82-68 victory over Cincinnati.
“Its all about trusting in your work. So I just got back to the drawing board and try to focus on making the shot,” Odum said.
Although it has been a tough season for the Sun Devils, a bright spot for the team has been the emergence and growth of Odum. He has become the team's leader, showing off his skills and scoring ability at the Power Four level.
Entering tonight, ASU came crawling in on a four-game losing streak and lost seven of its last eight games. The opposing Bearcats came in after suffering a loss to No. 1-ranked Arizona as part of their Arizona road trip.
With both teams desperate to get back into the win column, the lineups were announced, and they were underway. After the game opened up with a sloppy start for both sides, they began to settle in as the Sun Devils jumped out to a 20-14 lead at the second media timeout.
Just eight minutes in, Odum was setting the tone early for the Sun Devils with 10 points already. Putting the team on his back and doing all he can to lead them to a victory.
ASU’s continued persistence and energy led to forced turnovers that turned into points. To counteract this, Cincinnati took advantage of its size in the paint with senior center Baba Miller and sophomore center Moustapha Thiam.
With both teams exchanging blows, Odum took it upon himself to will his team to victory as he put up another 3 to bring his total to 17 for the half. Both teams headed to the locker room with a halftime score of 37-33 in favor of the Sun Devils.
Odum's 17 points already put him above his season average of 16.4 per game, so you could tell he was in for a big night.
As the second half came along, ASU began to pull away and create separation. With contributions from everyone in the lineup. The lead stretched to as much as 14 before the Sun Devils closed out with a final score of 82-68.
Odum led the way, finishing with 33 points on 10-17 shooting from the floor. Marking his seocnd highest scoring night of the season.
“I was just tired of losing,” Odum said. “You gotta make big plays and put the ball in the rim, so I got good open shots and hit them.”
Finally getting back in the win column, the Sun Devils shot an exceptional 46.4% from three while also holding the Bearcats to 23.5% in that same category.
“I just respect how hard we competed and just the quality of basketball that we played,” coach Bobby Hurley said. “If we play at this level on offense, then we should have a good chance to be competitive the rest of the way.”
With about a month to go in the regular season, ASU still has a lot of ball left to play with many tough opponents remaining. Continuing to improve and win games like this goes a long way, but you have to build on it.
ASU’s next opportunity on the hardwood will be on Jan. 27 when it travels across the country to take on UCF.
“ I feel like we are the best team on the floor,” senior guard Anthony “Pig” Johnson said. “We need every game we play, and we’re gonna take it one game at a time.”