Maurice Odum recorded 33 points, eight assists and five rebounds as Arizona State achieved its second conference win of the season, an 82-68 victory against Cincinnati on Saturday night in Tempe.
Odum excelled in the first half with 17 points, including 15 within the first 12 minutes. He went 6 of 9 from the floor in the first half and played 19 of 20 minutes.
Santiago Trouet (10) and Anthony Johnson (11) were the only other Sun Devils (11-9, 2-5 Big 12) to record double-figure point totals.
The Bearcats’ Baba Miller tallied 23 points, nine rebounds and four assists before fouling out in the final two minutes. Moustapha Thiam added 15 points and five rebounds for Cincinnati (10-10, 2-5).
Bearcats head coach Wes Miller emphasized the need to limit turnovers after a loss to No. 1 Arizona on Wednesday, but the team failed to find a new rhythm.
Cincinnati recorded 10 giveaways compared to Arizona State’s five in the first half, where the Sun Devils capitalized with 14 points from turnovers, in comparison with Cincinnati’s five points.
Cincinnati’s second-highest average scorer, Day Day Thomas (12.0 points per game), went scoreless, going 0 for 5 from the field and 0 for 3 from deep.
Trouet stepped up in the second half, where he recorded all 10 of his points that contributed largely to Arizona State pulling away.
Deep shooting continued to prevail as an issue for Cincinnati, as the visitors recorded just four 3-pointers for the second straight game.
The Bearcats shot 2 for 11 beyond the arc in the second half, allowing the Sun Devils to pull away as they built an 11-point lead with five minutes left.
Cincinnati won the rebounding battle 38-31 and outscored Arizona State 34-26 in the paint but lost their second straight and fifth of its last seven games.
–Field Level Media
