SUN DEVILS

“We’re way past moral victories, but I’m proud of the guys’ grittiness and toughness against the hottest team in the league. Coach Hurley called a hell of a game.”

Arizona State’s streak started when Hurley juggled the lineup to bring Verge off the bench. Verge is averaging 17.7 points and 27.6 minutes a game in the last 10.

“It just says we’re a connected unit,” White said. “We’re playing together as a team. Everyone is producing. Everybody is doing what they have to do. Everybody is pitching in. We still have a lot more growing to do. I feel like we haven’t peaked yet, either.”

BIG PICTURE

Oregon State: The Beavers appear to be a long shot

to reach the NCAA tournament, but their resume includes victories over all three of the Pac-12’s ranked teams — Colorado, Arizona and Oregon.

Arizona State: With its seven game long winning streak, Arizona State has placed itself squarely in the NCAA tournament field according to most projections. The Sun Devils are listed as a No. 8 seed by NCAA.com, a No. 9 seed by CBS Sports and No. 10 seed by ESPN.

TIGHTEN UP

The top five teams in the Pac-12 standings are separated by one game entering the final week of the regular season after UCLA (10-5) won at No. 18 Colorado to knock the Buffaloes (10-5) out of first place and No. 14 Oregon (10-5) won at No. 24 Arizona (9-5) to salvage a split of the Arizona trip.

“The league is a bear this year,” Hurley said. “There

are a lot of good teams. The one we played tonight was a good one.”

The Arizona schools will play at the Los Angeles schools this weekend, Colorado plays the Bay Area schools and Oregon hosts to Oregon State.

PASSING COUNTS (AGAIN)

Tres Tinkle made 7 of 9 free throw attempts and has 547 in his career, passing Mel Counts for the most made free throws in school history. Counts made 543. Tinkle has scored in double figures in a school-record 92 consecutive games. Counts held the previous record at 89.

UP NEXT

Arizona State will play at UCLA on Thursday. The Sun Devils have won the last three in the series, winning last year in Los Angeles and in the Pac-12 tournament.