National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Arizona 94, Arizona State 82
When: 2:00 PM ET, Sunday, January 3, 2016
Where: Wells-Fargo Arena, Tempe, Arizona
Officials: # John Higgins, # Tony Padilla, # Mark Whitehead
Attendance: 8044

TEMPE, Ariz. - The bigger the game, the more Arizona senior guard Gabe York seems to like it.

York scored 22 points, made four 3-pointers and hit eight free throws in the final 78 seconds in the No. 8 Wildcats' 94-82 victory over the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Pac-12 opener for both at Wells Fargo Arena on Sunday.

"In the second half it was more about York, and I've seen it in a number of games," Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said. "The Gonzaga game. Numerous big plays for them on offense.

"He's an older guy whose been through the wars, and he came up big with his perimeter shooting."

York had three 3-pointers in a three-minute span during a 13-4 run midway through the second half to give Arizona (13-1, 1-0) separation in a 66-53 lead. He had 17 points in the second half.

York also had 14 points, including four 3-pointers, in the second half of the Wildcats' 68-63 victory at No. 13 on Gonzaga on Dec. 5.

"He has a lot of confidence, and rightfully so, based on how hard he has worked and how long he has been with us," Arizona coach Sean Miller said.

"Gonzaga and here were eerily similar, around the same period of time in the second half.

York made six free throws in the final 1:14, four after two technical fouls called on Hurley 14 seconds apart after Arizona State had rallied to close to within six points four times in the last 2 1/2 minutes.

"My teammates trusted me to take the shots and I happened to make them." York said. "I was lucky enough to hit some big shots for our team. Coach trusts me to shoot free throws. I gotta get about 1,700 free throws in before the next game."

Guard Allonzo Trier had 20 points and guard Kadeem Allen had 12 as the Wildcats won their eighth straight game while winning for the first time in three years at their archrival. York also had five rebounds and four assists.

Guard Tra Holder had 24 points for the Sun Devils (10-4, 0-1), who had won seven of their last eight games, their only loss coming to then-No. 5 Kentucky.

Arizona has scored 80 or more points in six straight games, the first time it has done that since the first six games of the 2006-07 season.

Forward Obinna Oleka had 17 points and forward Willie Atwood had 14 for Arizona State.

Hurley was called for his first technical foul with 1:14 remaining, when forward Savon Goodman was called for a foul on York while defending an inbounds play after Holder's two free throws made it 83-77.

York made 2-of-4 free throws in that sequence, and after Holder countered with a layup to make it 85-79, Hurley was given a second technical foul and an automatic ejection when Holder was called for a blocking foul with 59.6 left.

"I'm not really sure," Hurley said when asked about the call on Goodman. "We were trying to face guard (York) and not let him catch it. I don't know. Puzzled."

Hurley, in his first season at Arizona State, raised his arms high above his head and punched the air after being ejected.

"I really wouldn't have changed anything that I did today as far as anything that happened, as that's as far as I'm going to comment about any of that," Hurley said. Other than I always want the spotlight to be on the performers and the guys in the game and it shouldn't be about anything more than that, and that goes for all of us. That goes for coaches, officials, everyone. Players should decide the game."

Allen's dunk gave Arizona its biggest lead at 74-58 with 5:46 remaining before Arizona State used a full-court press for a 14-4 run capped by an Olinna driving dunk down the lane to make it 78-72.

Arizona forward Ryan Anderson had 10 points and 10 rebounds, and is one of 12 players in the nation to average a double-double, and center Dusan Ristic had 10 points for Arizona.

Guard Gerry Blakes had 12 for Arizona State.

Arizona, which has lost to only No. 12 Providence, had a 37-30 rebounding edge.

Arizona 7-foot center Kaleb Tarczewski had eight points and five rebounds in 15 minutes in his first game since suffering a foot injury in a 75-73 overtime victory over Santa Clara on Nov. 26.

NOTES: Arizona State junior F Savon Goodman had two points and four rebounds in 19 minutes in his first game after missing four games for what was called personal reasons. Goodman leads Arizona State in rebounding and is second in scoring. ... Arizona was 49-2 in nonconference play the last four years, losing to Providence this season and UNLV last year. ... Arizona State won the previous two games played in Wells Fargo Arena but Arizona has now won eight of the last 11. ... The teams have one common opponent - UNLV - this season. Arizona beat the Rebels 82-70 and Arizona State won 66-56.
Top Game Performances
 
Arizona   Arizona State
Gabe York 22 Scoring Tra Holder 24
Gabe York 6 Assists Tra Holder 4
Ryan Anderson 10 Rebounds Willie Atwood 5
Gabe York 8 Free Throws Made Tra Holder 7
Kadeem Allen 1 Steals Gerry Blakes 2
Kadeem Allen 3 Blocks Obinna Oleka 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Arizona 94 55.6 7-12 27-36 15 32 5 5 8
Arizona State 82 46.0 8-25 16-19 10 28 5 6 9