By
Keith Carmona
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Arizona's 10 consecutive wins over ASU breed indifference towards in-state rivalry
Ten consecutive wins hardly constitute a fierce rivalry.
UA sophomore guard Gilbert Arenas was a freshman in high school the last time the Arizona State basketball team beat Arizona. So it is no wonder the two schools admit that the semi-annual contests have lost most of their luster.
When the No. 12 Wildcats play host to the Sun Devils at 8:30 p.m. in McKale Center tonight, the UA players and coaches will approach ASU as just the next roadblock on the Pacific 10 Conference trial, rather than as the bitter nemesis from up Interstate 10.
"It is not like the other sports where ASU is the biggest rivalry," said senior forward Justin Wessel, who will be playing in his seventh UA-ASU game. "We certainly want to win the game, but it is not something that we circled on our calendars. This game is more important because we want to continue playing good basketball and re-asserting ourselves in the conference championship race."
The history between the two teams certainly exists. The history between the two teams is fairly one-sided, though.
Tonight's game is the 197th meeting of the two schools with the Wildcats holding a 124-72 series advantage. And besides the ten consecutive victories dating back to 1996, Arizona has won 13 of 16 since 1993.
ASU head coach Rob Evans, whose team is mired in an 0-6 conference start, said that the matchups against Arizona are sometimes more agonizing than inspirational for his team.
"We haven't had much of a rivalry with Arizona lately because they've had a much better program or team than us," said Evans, who has yet to pick up his first win over the Wildcats. "Before you jump on Arizona, you need to get better yourself."
While UA head coach Lute Olson has thrived with top-10 recruiting classes for several consecutive years, the quality of recruits rendered by ASU coaches has been stagnant.
Olson said that Arizona State fans' lack of enthusiasm towards basketball has helped the Wildcat program dominate the state.
"Through the years with ASU, you look at when they had really outstanding teams and they still didn't pack the arena," he said. "Kids want to play in front of enthusiastic, full houses. That's been something that has plagued them for years."
Further muddling the rivalry between the two schools is the fact that the most decorated basketball player in Arizona State history fell short in matchups against the Wildcats.
Former Sun Devil Eddie House, who graduated last season as an All-American, averaged 23 points per game in his final year. House was limited to a combined 15 points in two games against the Wildcats last season.
Rivalries are derived from player personalities and animosity between two squads, but Wessel said that House is the only Sun Devil that has ever had a target on his back.
"In basketball, this isn't really much of a rivalry because we haven't had any rough scuffles with them," Wessel said. "Eddie House was always a motivational force for us to shut him down, but as far as any vendettas against them - there is nothing."
Olson said that his ability to successfully recruit outside the state of Arizona has lessened the conflict between UA and ASU as well.
"I think rivalries occur when players really know the other players on the team," he said. "But it seems like with us, the competition and rivalry has developed with UCLA and Stanford because the guys have played more against the guys in California. Rivalries occur with players' backgrounds and it hasn't been the case of a lot of Arizona guys playing against Arizona guys."
Olson's analysis may have some substance.
The Sun Devils boast five players hailing from Arizona, while UA junior forward Richard Jefferson is the only Wildcat regular from the state.
On the contrary, six Wildcat players call California home.
The combination of Stanford and UCLA each flaunting squads littered with homegrown talent coupled with the two teams consistently finishing atop the Pac-10 makes them more viable candidates for an Arizona rivalry.
"I think that UCLA is the biggest rivalry," senior forward Gene Edgerson said. "But for us, we still have to take this personally. We can't lose to an in-state team, and in order for us to not lose to them, we have to come out and give coach a full effort for 40 minutes."
Woods agreed that while history favors the Wildcats, Arizona cannot afford to come out lethargically tonight.
"It would make their year to beat us, and just because they are struggling right now and we're playing well, (it) doesn't mean that they are going to come in here and lay down," Woods said. "As long as we have 'Arizona' written across our chests, everybody is going to be gunning for us. No matter what we are ranked or how we are playing right now, everybody still wants to beat us and ASU is no exception."
