TEMPE, Ariz. — As to be expected in the Duel in the Desert, tempers flared at Wells Fargo Arena in the first half as the No. 7 Wildcats (15-1, 3-1 Pac-12) led the Sun Devils (14-3, 3-1) 29-26.

With 11:49 left in the first half, UA freshman Grant Jerrett went up for a shot and was fouled by ASU’s
Carrick Felix. Jerrett fell to the ground on the play, and Felix appeared to straddle him, not allowing him to get up.

Solomon Hill came over and he and Felix got into a shoving match, leading to a technical foul on Felix.

The much-hyped point guard battle between Mark Lyons and Jahii Carson has been limited by foul trouble from the duo. But, Lyons (and Nick Johnson) still led the Wildcats with nine points at the half, while Carson scored a game-high 12 points.

The game started out on a fast pace, and in the first five minutes the two teams combined for 23 points.

But, after that it cooled down a bit.

The Wildcats started off the game shooting 5-of-7, but went just 6-of-21 the rest of the way.

The half ended on a buzzer-beating dunk from ASU’s Evan Gordon to bring the Sun Devils within three points at the half.

There were eight lead changes and five ties, before a late 7-point lead by Arizona the game stayed within three points for its entirety.

The two teams combined to shoot 20-of-52 from the field, and ASU is 1-of-7 from long range. Arizona leads the rebounding battle 18-17, led by seven boards from Kaleb Tarczewski.