Arizona–Arizona State Men's Basketball Rivalry
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The Arizona–Arizona State men's basketball rivalry is a
college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...
rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...
between the
University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...
Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...
and the
Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...
Sun Devils.


History

The rivalry dates to 1913, when the
University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...
in
Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...
played the
Normal School of Arizona Principal Hiram Bradford Farmer opened the Territorial Normal School's four classroom building to 33 students on February 8, 1886, the first institution of higher education to open in Arizona. The Normal School was charged to provide "instruction ...
in Tempe – which later evolved into
Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...
. Since Arizona State became a University in December 5, 1958 Arizona leads ASU 83–58. Before both the schools were affiliated with a conference from 1913−30, Arizona led the series 24−4. During the Border Conference years from 1931−61, Arizona led 56−31. Upon joining the WAC conference from 1961−1978, Arizona State led that period 22−14. Since both schools joined the Pac-10 conference in the 1978–79 season & including the Pac-12 Arizona led ASU 67–30. During the Lute Olson era as head coach from the 1983-84 until the 2006−2007 season Arizona led ASU 43–6. Sean Miller took over as head coach for the 2009–10 until the 2021–22 Arizona led 17–7. Beginning in 1928, the rivalry was scheduled on its "traditional" date.
Pop McKale James Fred "Pop" McKale (June 12, 1887 – June 1, 1967) was an American football and baseball player, coach of football, basketball, baseball, and track, and college athletics administrator. He is best known for his four-decade association wit ...
, UA's coach and namesake of the present UA stadium, began challenging Arizona for their perennial spot on top of the conference standings. It was officially given the name Territorial Cup in 1939. The Arizona–Arizona State game has been played in four locations:
Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Southern California. With an estimated 3,878,704 residents within the city ...
,
Las Vegas, NV Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-larg ...
, Tempe, AZ, and
Tucson, AZ Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson metropolitan s ...
. Arizona leads the series in all three venues: Tempe, 67–55; in Tucson, 93–31: in Las Vegas, 1–0 and for games contested in Los Angeles, the series is tied at 1–1. Arizona won the last game, played on March 4, 2025, 113–100. Arizona leads the series 163–87, which includes an 80–29 start for Arizona from 1913 to 1958. Current
Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
Tommy Lloyd Tommy Lloyd (born December 21, 1974) is an American college basketball coach who is the current head coach at the University of Arizona of the Big 12 Conference. His 61 wins in the first two seasons are the most for any head coach in NCAA Divis ...
is 8−1 all-time against ASU.
Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...
head coach
Bobby Hurley Robert Hurley (born June 28, 1971) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Arizona State Sun Devils. He was previously the head coach at the University at Buffalo. As a college senior, ...
is 4−17 all-time against Arizona.


NCAA Tournament/Postseason NIT


Route to the game


Streaks

The Arizona–Arizona State rivalry has been known for streaks. In the first major streak of the series, Arizona won 9 straight over the Sun Devils from 1913 to 1926. Arizona has the longest winning streak of the series, 17 games, from 1945 to 1952. The streak was broken by Arizona State in 1952. Arizona State's longest streak was 15 games from 1958 to 1965. Arizona currently has a four game winning streak in the series.


Results


Scores of games (1920–2024)


Achievements by season (1985–2025)

* This was the last year of a balanced regular season schedule (each team played a home-and-away series with every other conference foe). In subsequent years, this was not possible due to conference expansion.


Notes

A
2002 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball tournament The 2002 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball tournament was played March 7–9 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The event was revived after eleven seasons without, and USC made its first appearance in the final. The champion of ...

B
2009 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball tournament The 2009 Pacific Life Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball tournament began with the first round on March 11, 2009 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, with quarterfinals on March 12, semifinals on March 13, and the finals on March 1 ...

C
2023 Pac-12 Conference men's basketball tournament The 2023 Pac-12 Conference men's basketball tournament was a postseason men's basketball tournament for the Pac-12 Conference held March 8–11, 2023, at T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The tournament winner of the c ...
† The NCAA tournament was canceled in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic of 2020. The Pac-12 tournament was canceled after the second round after Arizona was defeated Washington in the quarterfinals and Arizona State had yet to play a game.


See also

* Duel in the Desert *
Arizona Wildcats The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...
*
Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the sport, athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's Varsity team, varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Divisi ...
*
Territorial Cup Series The Territorial Cup Series (also known as the Duel in the Desert Series) is the yearlong rivalry competition between the University of Arizona Arizona Wildcats, Wildcats (U of A) and the Arizona State University Arizona State Sun Devils, Sun Devi ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arizona-Arizona State men's basketball rivalry College basketball rivalries in the United States Arizona Wildcats men's basketball Arizona State Sun Devils men's basketball 1913 establishments in Arizona