Remy Martin, Sun Devils look to sweep the Washingtonians

Photo from Arizona State Men’s Basketball (@SunDevilHoops) Twitter

Arizona State will play its fourth game in a week, all against the Washington schools, when the Sun Devils try to complete a sweep Monday against Washington State in Tempe, Ariz.

The Sun Devils (10-11, 7-8 Pac-12) beat Washington twice before outlasting the Cougars with a 77-74 overtime win on Saturday, achieving their first three-game winning streak of the season.

3 straight wins.

🔔🔔🔔 pic.twitter.com/cd44fGoKV2

— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) February 28, 2021

Scheduling impacted by COVID-19 earlier in the season forced the postponement of the meeting in Pullman, Wash., which ASU and WSU (14-12, 7-12) will make up Monday.

Washington State coach Kyle Smith’s reaction to the game and the additional date in Tempe: “One word: silly.”

Remy Martin, honored on Senior Night, nailed a 3-pointer with under a second remaining to lift the Sun Devils. Martin, the Pac-12’s leading scorer at 21.3 points per game, finished with 23 points but was 7-for-23 from the field, including 3-for-13 from 3-point range.

“Even though I had a tough night, I still put in a lot of work on the offseason shooting the 3, and at the end of the day, it’s just basketball. There was no pressure there,” Martin said. “All the hard work paid off, I guess.”

𝓒𝓱𝓮𝓯 𝓡𝓮𝓶𝔂.

remember the name. pic.twitter.com/KGcN3ivUHR

— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) February 28, 2021

His eight successive 20-point games ties him for the school record with Eddie House.

The Sun Devils again played short-handed with forward Marcus Bagley (ankle) missing his 10th game and seventh straight and Josh Christopher (back) out for his fifth straight game.

John Olmsted, a walk-on getting playing time at the post, was also unavailable with an illness.

Washington State also was short-handed with leading scorer Isaac Bonton (ankle) missing his fourth game in the Cougars’ last five games. Bonton is averaging 17.6 points a game.

The Cougars had five scorers in double figures for the first time this season.

Aljaz Kunc and Noah Williams scored 15 points apiece, TJ Bamba added 14 and DJ Rodman had 10. Dishon Jackson finished with 13 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and two steals.

Bamba and Jackson are freshmen who are providing hope for Cougars’ future.

“Bamba really stepped up and made some big plays there,” Smith said. “That was a young group that was pretty frisky to give ourselves a chance.”

Both teams are dominated by guard play, but post players Efe Abogidi of Washington State and Jalen Graham of Arizona State have played well.

Abogidi is averaging 7.3 rebounds a game and Graham is making 61.9 percent of his shots.