Arizona State Upsets Kansas for Second Year in a Row

Rob Edwards scored 15 points off the bench to lead #18 Arizona State to an 80-76 victory over #1 and previously unbeaten Kansas in Tempe, Arizona on December 22nd. Edwards led the scoring for the Sun Devils, who had five players in double figures. Dedric Lawson had a huge game for the Jayhawks, scoring 30 points and grabbing 14 rebounds in a losing cause.

The Jayhawks led all the way until an Edwards three pointer gave the Sun Devils a 76-74 lead with 2:23 to go in the second half. Lawson tied it at 76-76 on a pair of free throws with 1:17 left, before a Remy Martin gave the Jayhawks the lead for good with a jumper with 1:01 left. Edwards made a pair of free throws with seven seconds left to ice it and close out the scoring.

Arizona State improved to 9-2, while Kansas is now 10-1. The Sun Devils were coming off a loss at Vanderbilt; their only other loss was to #6 Nevada in Los Angeles.

Last season, these two teams met in Lawrence, Kansas on December 10th, 2017. At that time, the Sun Devils were ranked sixteenth, while the Jayhawks were #2, with ASU winning that one 95-85 for its ninth victory with no losses. The Sun Devils were 12-0 before their first loss, but ended the season 20-11 before losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Syracuse. The Sun Devils will play their final non conference game of the season on next on December 29th when they host Princeton. ASU hosts Utah on January 3rd to open Pac-12 conference play. Kansas Hosts Eastern Michigan on December 29th, and then will open Big 12 play on January 2nd, hosting Oklahoma.