ASU Men’s Basketball: ASU has one last tune-up with Central Arkansas before conference play

(Photo: Scotty Bara/WCSN)

After putting up a solid fight against a top-10 program in Creighton in which they fell ultimately at the end, the Arizona State Sun Devils will look to record their first win post Sam Cunliffe and snap a two-game skid when they host Central Arkansas Thursday in Tempe to close out the nonconference slate.

The Sun Devils put in a respectable performance on the offensive end, but didn’t have enough to keep up with the #9 Bluejays in the end, falling 96-85. The effort pleased coach Bobby Hurley, as the Sun Devils’ other games against ranked teams have gone much worse.

“It’s a results game, no moral victories, but you respect your players as competitors,” coach Hurley said after the game.

Tra Holder and Torian Graham continued to lead ASU in the absence of Cunliffe with 24 points apiece against Creighton, and will be continue to counted on for offense for the rest of the season. Obi Oleka also continues to stuff the stat sheet, collecting yet another double-double with 19 points and 16 rebounds.

The next opponent for ASU will be the Central Arkansas Bears of the Southland Conference. The Bears are 1-11 this year, with their only victory coming against Army back in November. This will be UCA’s fifth game against an opponent from a Power 5 conference, having lost its previous four against Wisconsin, Oklahoma State, Butler, and Michigan. This will be their last nonconference game before starting Southland play on New Year’s Eve.

Junior guard Jordan Howard, a native of Chandler and alumnus of Perry High School, leads UCA in scoring at 17.8 per game, followed by fellow guards Derreck Brooks and Mathieu Kamba at 14.5 and 10.7 respectively, to round out the players in double figures. Kamba and Brooks are also the team’s leading rebounders as well.

This is ASU’s last nonconference game of the season and it figures to be one of the easier ones after a grueling early schedule that sent the Sun Devils across the United States and even to the Bahamas. The brutal nonconference schedule took ASU to a 6-6 record, looking to go above .500 heading into Pac-12 play. The Devils will have a chance to rest after this one for a Christmas break before heading to northern California to open Pac-12 play on Dec. 30.

The game against UCA will tip off at 1 p.m. Arizona time and will be televised on Pac-12 Arizona.