10. That was number of points Cal 11-8 (1-5) was stuck on for over 13 minutes as ASU 10-9 (2-4) played stifling first half defense. It allowed the offense to find a rhythm and forced the Bears into a scoring drought. The Sun Devils never looked back on their way to a 79-44 win Thursday night.
The maroon and gold played their best half of the conference slate in the first frame. The Sun Devils built their lead on a 22-0 run with excellent physicality in the paint and quick ball movement. ASU took advantage on 11 turnovers by Cal in the first half, converting them into 15 points and went into halftime up 34-13.
It was more of the same in the second half as the Sun Devils continue to dominate with Kodi Justice, Bo Barnes and Jonathan Gilling all knocking down threes consistently. 12 different players found their way into the points column for the maroon and gold. Barnes led the Sun Devils with 17 points and Justice wasn't far behind with 16 of his own, both off the bench.
It just seemed to be one of those nights for the Sun Devils. ASU also shot the lights out, hitting 10 of 21 from beyond and shooting 48 percent from the field. The maroon and gold also won the battle on the boards 35-29. The most telling stat of the evening was the Sun Devils 27 points off turnovers while Cal managed just six. Jordan Mathews had 11 points for the Bears in the losing effort.
The Sun Devils are now winners of two straight as they head into Stanford Saturday night. That game starts at 10 p.m. MT on ESPNU.
Note: It was mentioned on the Pac-12 Network broadcast by Ted Robinson that freshman Connor MacDougall and junior college transfer Roosevelt Scott did not make the trip because of a violation of team rules.