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ASU Basketball: Sun Devils prepare for Cal on Senior Day

By Bo Wilkinson

TEMPE, ARIZONA - JANUARY 31: Zylan Cheatham #45 of the Arizona State Sun Devils hugs a fan after the Sun Devils beat the Arizona Wildcats 95-88 in overtime of the college basketball game at Wells Fargo Arena on January 31, 2019 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
TEMPE, ARIZONA - JANUARY 31: Zylan Cheatham #45 of the Arizona State Sun Devils hugs a fan after the Sun Devils beat the Arizona Wildcats 95-88 in overtime of the college basketball game at Wells Fargo Arena on January 31, 2019 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) /
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After picking up back-to-back wins for the first time in nearly a month, ASU basketball looks to keep its winning momentum on Senior Day vs. California.

Coming into Sunday’s matchup, the Sun Devils find themselves in sole possession of second place in the Pac-12 while Cal is still searching for its first conference win in the midst of a 15-game losing skid.

The Sun Devils have struggled with consistency all season, but after putting together two of their strongest performances of the season at Utah and at home against Stanford, they might have finally found their stride.

A key to the recent success for the Sun Devils has been the emergence of guard Rob Edwards. Against the Utes, Edwards put up his career-high in an ASU uniform with 28 points.

Edwards was able to build off his career performance at Utah with another big performance on Wednesday against the Cardinal. This time around, he finished with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting and two buckets from behind the arc.

While the Golden Bears might not jump out on paper, it is an absolute must win if the Sun Devils want a chance to go dancing come March.

Freshman forward Justice Sueing is primed to be the biggest threat to Arizona State as he leads the Bears in scoring with 15.1 points per game, rebounds with six per game, and steals with 1.6 per contest.

Another player the Sun Devils will need to plan for is junior guard Paris Austin, as only Sueing has more points than Austin’s 11.8 per game for the Bears. Austin also leads Cal in assists by a wide margin as he dishes out just over four per game.

A win over Cal would give the Sun Devils their second sweep of the Pac-12 season (the other came against Oregon and Oregon State) and improve them to 19-8 and 10-5 in the Pac-12 with three weeks left in the regular season.

As it looks right now, Arizona State should control its own destiny regarding an NCAA Tournament berth. For that to remain truthful, they must take care of Cal tonight or things will get extremely difficult for Hurley and his team.

Related Story. ASU Basketball: ‘Bubble Watch’ entering Senior Day. light

Tip-off between Arizona State and Cal is set for 4:00 p.m. MST in Tempe, AZ. You can catch it live on Pac-12 Networks.

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