(Photo: Marina Williams/WCSN)
Arizona State men’s basketball was on the verge of losing their fifth game in a row on Tuesday. Yet, the Sun Devils without Joson Sanon came into West Virginia and shocked the Mountaineers, a rejuvenating victory for a team that needed a victory to boost their confidence, and it’s even more important given their upcoming schedule, which included a matchup with No. 3 Iowa State today.
ASU hadn’t beaten a then-top five team since a thrilling overtime victory over No.3 UCLA in the late stages of the 2021-2022 season, and with ASU football in the house fresh off their Big 12 championship win against the Cyclones, and plenty of Iowa State fans hungry for revenge, the energy in Desert Financial Arena was unrivaled.
Despite a 40-point first half and a game in which ASU led for 22 minutes, a crumbling final four minutes in which Iowa State went on a 19-3 run ruined any chance of a Sun Devil upset. Iowa State fans took over chanting “ISU” and making Desert Financial Arena feeling sound like an away stadium as Iowa State (17-2, 7-1 Big 12) defeated ASU (11-8, 2-6 Big 12) by a final score of 76-61.
It’s a well-worn pattern, the Sun Devils dominate one half against one of the top teams in the nation, then collapse in the other half. Like when they led No. 12 Kansas at halftime but then scored just 13 in the second half. ASU came out sluggish to Baylor then stormed back in the second half before losing in OT. Tonight, the Sun Devils looked like the superior team for 35 minutes before crumbling with a few minutes left.
“We came in here to win, and we played a winning game for like, 35 minutes, and we just, we had a meltdown for about two minutes, and it cost us.” Head Coach Bobby Hurley said.
Without a doubt, the Sun Devils’ incapacity to step up offensively was the reason why the final score turned out the way it did. ASU lost by 15, but they had every opportunity to win if not for a shrinking offensive showing in the second half. Late in the game, the Sun Devils were barely getting shot attempts up, lengthy possessions resulted in poor turnovers or forced jumpers.
“18 [turnovers] is way too many, especially down the stretch.” Hurley said. “We need to get a shot on the basket. We can’t throw the ball away or lose the ball.”
For the majority of the game, it appeared as though their run of poor shots and turnovers may not catch up with them, thus it was a miracle that the 19-3 Iowa State stretch had not arrived sooner. The Cyclones are 10th in the country in steals, so it wasn’t shocking that the Sun Devils committed a season-high 18 turnovers, but as the game progressed, each bad pass and ball fumble cost ASU more and more.
Regulars with double-digit points, such as senior forwards BJ Freeman and Basheer Jihad. Jihad had a team-high six turnovers, were quiet for much of the game, leaving senior guard Adam Miller as the only Sun Devil with double-digit points. Miller lead the team in scoring with 13 for the first time this season.
“I (have) to make better decisions with the ball.” Jihad said. “I can’t have six turnovers in a game like that, turning it over late. That’s on me to be better with that and make the right read. I was kind of seeing things that weren’t there.
Freshman guard Joson Sanon’s return to action provided some spark, with two three-pointers, one to generate momentum at the conclusion of the first half and one at the start of the second, but the Sun Devils never really got him going.
Iowa State senior guard Curtis Jones was the only player on the court who felt like he had a good offensive night from the start. Iowa State was the 11th best offense in the nation going into today, averaging an incredible 85.1 points per game and shooting 49.7% from the field.
However, they only managed 33 points at the half, with Jones accounting for 18 of those points. With 33 points and five three-pointers at the end of the game, Jones was the Cyclones’ go-to basket geter while the Sun Devils struggled to theres.
Hurley will blame his personal frustrations stemmed from on a rough night from the referees. The Cyclones attempted 30 free throws to the Sun Devils 18, and a late-game flagrant call ended in freshman guard Joson Sanon fouling out, as did rookie center Jayden Quaintance.
The final four minutes of the game magnified all of the previous errors that the Sun Devils had gotten away with. It was the type of game where they kept beating themselves, Iowa State played as poorly as a No. 3 team in the country could, and ASU couldn’t take advantage, doing everything it could to lose.
Again, ASU was forced to take away a moral victory, or a silver medal that says “We almost beat them.”
As the season progresses, those medals become increasingly useless, the losses piling up, and nobody cares about the teams you almost beat unless you don’t have a couple of wins to prove you can.
In Boulder on Tuesday, the Sun Devils will try to make amends by playing unranked Colorado, a team they have already defeated but who are both currently in dire need of conference victories. In order to gain some momentum after their poor conference starts, both sides would like to pencil in victories in this type of game
“I’m looking at Colorado, and my main thing is, Hey fellas, I don’t know what Colorado’s doing today, but you know they’re going to be desperate, and we have to be desperate again, just like we were prior to West Virginia.” Hurley said.
