(Photo: Paige Cook/WCSN)
Arizona State Men’s Basketball contested with the No. 4-ranked Arizona Wildcats for the first half but would ultimately lose control, falling 91-79 on Monday night.
With 3:53 to go in the first half, it appeared another upset in Tempe was brewing. ASU and Arizona each had their fair share of scoring runs and were in a close game. But the Wildcats would take a 32-31 lead and never look back from it.
The Sun Devils’ ball movement in the opening stages of the first half kept them in the game early and was enough to break down the Wildcats’ zone defense. But Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd’s scheme tighten up, which slowed down ASU’s attack.
Heading into the half, the Wildcats’ lead was as small as a four-point advantage and looked beatable. But a quick three-pointer from Arizona sophomore guard Kerr Kriiasa pushed the lead to seven and would spark a 6-0 Wildcats run. The run gave Lloyd and his squad an 11-point advantage, prompting ASU head coach Bobby Hurley to call a timeout.
Out of the timeout, junior forward Jalen Graham buried a jump-shot to cut the deficit to nine. The run would end, only for ASU to give it right back.
Back-to-back offensive rebounds kept Arizona’s next possession alive and would end with an explosive dunk from junior center Christian Koloko. Arizona would set up in their zone defense and get a stop. This put the Wildcats in transition and would yet again end with an emphatic Koloko dunk.
ASU’s offense, which seemed to have found the key to Arizona’s zone, had suddenly stalled. The reasoning behind the slowed attack was simple: the Sun Devils reverted to the type of play that has lost them many games this season – isolation threes and sloppy basketball.
“I was nervous that because we had hit a bunch of threes, that we might just fall in love with that,” Hurley said.
The poor shot selection and turnovers killed the Sun Devils in their transition defense. The Wildcats only scored two points off the fast break but would score 20 in the second half.
“I think it just comes down to the way we played the first four minutes of the second half,” Hurley said. “It just wasn’t what you need in a game like this. We had been doing that versus UCLA – we got out to an 11-point lead against them and USC as well. We did well early in those games in the second half, and tonight we did not, and then we were on our heels chasing.”
The easy transition points would prove to be enough for Arizona to run away with the game and escape Tempe with a victory.
“We were on our heels chasing,” Hurley said.
The Sun Devils were outscored 51-43 in the second half, with seven of ASU’s points coming in the final 53 seconds of the game.
“We just came out flat, ASU senior forward Kimani Lawrence said softly postgame. “They went on a run, and we were just chasing from there on out. [It was] just [us] not coming out with the right approach. We played a great first half, but it’s a 40-minute game. We just have to learn from it and not let it happen again.”
