This story was originally published on February 25, 2023.
With the clock sitting at 2.9 seconds and postseason hopes on the brink of disappearing, fifth-year guard Desmond Cambridge Jr. of Arizona State caught an inbound pass, took one dribble and heaved the ball toward the basket from behind the half-court line.
The McKale Center crowd let out a collective gasp in horror as Cambridge Jr. sunk the miraculous shot to steal Arizona State (20-9, 11-7 Pac-12) an 89-88 victory over No. 7 Arizona (24-5, 13-5 Pac-12).
“That shot, I did not think it was going in,” Cambridge Jr. said. “I really just wanted it to be a nice miss and everyone in the crowd to go ‘ooooh’.”
Obviously, Cambridge Jr.’s prediction did not come true. His reaction goes to show the improbability of the stunning victory. The feeling of Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd echoed the randomness element in basketball that Cambridge Jr. alluded to.
“I don’t know what the odds are on that shot going in, but I think we’re probably 98 times out of 100 percent walking away with a win there,” Lloyd said.
Cambridge Jr.’s half-court make tonight was not the first of his career or even this season. In arguably the Sun Devils’ biggest game until this one, against UCLA, Cambridge Jr. drained a shot almost identical to this one in Tempe.
With about 6:30 remaining, the McKale Center was rocking with their Wildcats up 10. All hope seemed lost for the Sun Devils and it looked like they would walk away with a valiant effort in another loss to their rivals.
“We’ve been in a lot of games like this and we’ve beaten a lot of really good teams in close games,” ASU head coach Bobby Hurley said.
Resiliency was a huge theme for the Sun Devils in the road victory. Both teams were seemingly constantly trading baskets.
For example, there was a one-minute stretch where Arizona seemed to be pulling away, but senior center Warren Washington refused to allow them to, battling star junior forward Azuolas Tubelis on four straight possessions. Both big men scored four points, but Washington’s resilience and ability to overpower the younger Tubelis kept the Sun Devils alive in dangerous waters.
Washington finished with an impressive 16 points, making seven of eight shots from the field. In a game where Washington was viewed as inferior to the competition of Arizona junior big men Oumar Ballo and Tubelis, Washington proved that he can compete with the best bigs in the nation.
Another crucial moment where the Sun Devils just outworked Arizona came with just over 2 minutes to play. Down four, sophomore guard Jamiya Neal missed a 3-point attempt rebounded by Tubelis. Senior guard Devan Cambridge swooped in over the falling Tubelis and ripped the ball from his hands and kicked it out to his brother Desmond who nailed a 3-pointer.
“[Devan] plays so hard, he’s a winner,” Hurley said. “Both brothers have been terrific to our program this year.”
The Cambridge brothers were essential to the victory as they almost always are, with Desmond scoring 19 points and Devan adding nine but handling tough defensive assignments all night.
While being one of the most impressive offensive teams in the nation, Arizona showed holes defensively, especially with Tubelis being forced into a more prominent defensive role with Oumar Ballo in foul trouble most of the game.
The shot-making from both teams was, at some points, video game-like, with the teams trading tough shot after tough shot. To put it in perspective statistically, both teams shot over 50% in the game and both teams made 11 3-pointers. While sometimes erratic-looking, ASU’s streaky offense was red-hot tonight.
“Sometimes you just have to give it to your guys and trust them, and that’s what [coach Hurley] did,” Cambridge Jr. said.
However, the offensive firepower for the Wildcats was made abundantly clear throughout the high-scoring affair. Fifth-year guards Cedric Henderson Jr. and Courtney Ramey and junior guard Pelle Larsson combined for nine makes from beyond the 3-point arc.
Perhaps the most surprising contributor of the day was Jamiya Neal, who led the team with 10 points in the first half and finished with 12. Neal stepped up in the absence of freshman guard Austin Nunez, who missed the game with a concussion, adding some terrific defense and surprisingly good shot-making.
Neal and junior guard DJ Horne were largely responsible for the Sun Devils holding a one-point lead at the half, a huge difference from their first game against the Wildcats in which they trailed by 17.
“We kind of just ran out of gas the last couple of minutes [in the first game,] so to be able to complete the full 40 minutes in this game, it just feels good,” Horne said.
Horne scored 18 points and shot 50% from the field, including three 3-point makes. He did miss what seemed to be the last shot of the game for ASU, but evidently, Cambridge Jr. had other plans.
Looking ahead, the Sun Devils will face a road trip to Los Angeles next week with No. 4 UCLA and USC on the agenda. With the renewed offensive confidence, the Sun Devils have a chance to play themselves onto the NCAA Tournament bubble once again.
“I hope people were watching, to see the level of the game, and that’s what the postseason asks for,” Hurley said. “I think you saw two teams that should be in the postseason today.”
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