Much like the first half against No. 3 Iowa State, Arizona (15-6, 9-1 Big 12) shooting 31% from the field and turning over the ball seven times. Despite the slow start, UA received a boost from its backcourt, which led the Wildcats to the 81-72 win over in-state rival ASU.

Midway through the second half, the game was tight at 62 when the Wildcats went on a mini 6-0 run over the course of 2:51 of the half. That's all Arizona needed with guard Caleb Love dropping 27 points lifting UA over the Sun Devils.

For only the second time all season, Love has score 20-plus points in back-to-back games with 22 against ISU and now 27 against ASU. Against the Sun Devils he went 8 of 19 from the field and going 5 of 9 from the 3-point line.

Not only did Love have an impact on the offensive side of the court with his seven assists, but he snagged 6 rebounds with four coming on the defensive side of the ball.

Like any rivalry game, things happen and near the end of the game with 30 seconds left, Love was ejected for talking smack and not walking away causing a double technical resulting in an automatic ejection.

However, things were head because ASU guard BJ Freeman head butted Love resulting in a quick flagrant 2 and an ejection for him.

As if things weren't headed enough, ASU coach Bobby Hurley had his team leave the court with five seconds left to go and then proceeded to not do a handshake line leaving with under a second in the game and having his team not shake the Wildcats' hands following the end.

Arizona informed GOAZCATS.com that as far as it knows to this point in time, Love will not be suspended for the team's upcoming game against BYU and will be fully good to go.

Love without a doubt had a massive impact on this game with his performance and how things ended. However, when you look at the way the game played out, Arizona isn't walking out of Tempe with the win without the defensive effort from guard KJ Lewis, who was all over the court for UA.

Despite having just eight points while going 1 of 10 from the field, Lewis made his impact on the defensive side of the ball by getting his hands on everything and totaling three blocks, two steals and snagging eight rebounds.

During the Wildcats' four-game winning streak, Lewis has collected five blocks, seven steals and 23 rebounds.

As a team, ASU was held to 37% shooting from the field and went 12 of 34 from the 3-point line. Arizona racked up nine blocks and eight steals helping put a strangle hold on the Sun Devils in the second half.

In the second half, Arizona held the Sun Devils to 30% shooting from the field and them to just four 3-point buckets after giving up eight in the first half.

Off the bench, Arizona scored 30 points, which includes the eight scored by Lewis. Freshman Carter Bryant and forward Henri Veesaar combined for 19 points and went 7 of 15 from the field.

However, Bryant did more than score for Arizona as he had a career-high 10 rebounds while snagging four steals and three blocked shots.

Yes, you could go on and on about the offensive side of the ball for Arizona, but the difference between the start of the season and right now at this point is the defensive effort the Wildcats are putting out night after night.

In his first season as head coach, Tommy Lloyd's team finished 21st in adjusted defensive efficient per KenPom and right now sit 24th in the same category with 10 games left in the regular season.

Now, Arizona will travel to BYU (14-6, 5-4) for the first game against the Cougars since the 2010-11 season when the Wildcats loss 87-65 witch Jimmer Fredette dropping 33 points. The game will be televised on ESPN with a tip off time set for 9 p.m. (MST).

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