(Photo: Marlee Smith/WCSN)
Arizona State Men’s Basketball swept Stanford and Cal just two weeks ago, and it was arguably its best stretch of basketball all season. Last week, the Sun Devils faced a momentum block as their games against the Oregon schools were rescheduled due to COVID-19 issues. In this week’s practice, freshman forward Marcus Bagley and junior forward Chris Osten both suffered injuries. Thursday night versus Oregon, ASU emulated the characteristic that has defined the team most throughout the season: consistently inconsistent.
With the loss of key players who add length to the floor, ASU struggled to create a paint presence which forced the team to settle for perimeter shots. Meanwhile, the Ducks were locked in on both ends of the court, allowing themselves to scorch the Sun Devils 75-64 in Tempe.
“Came into this game, knowing what I knew about who wasn’t going to be available, that we kind of needed [senior guard] Remy [Martin] and [freshman guard] Josh [Christopher] or Remy and [senior guard Alonzo Verge Jr.] Zo or Josh and Zo,” head coach Bobby Hurley said. “We needed two guys that really had a special game for us to have a real good chance and we just weren’t able to get that.”
Injuries continued to plague ASU midway through the game. Christopher, who already had a bruised leg, hurt himself after going up for a block which resulted in the talented freshman sitting the majority of the second half.
“Josh, when he had that great block and landed, he was not right after that,” Hurley said. “He was not moving great to start the second half so we thought it was the best thing to shut him down.”
Despite the tough loss, Martin had a phenomenal performance for the Sun Devils, finishing the night with 30 points, five rebounds and two assists. Hurley referred to the veteran scoring almost half of ASU’s points as a “gutsy performance.”
The rest of the lineup recorded below double-digits as no other Sun Devil was able to rack up more than eight points on Thursday night.
Sophomore forward Jalen Graham, who had gone 35 days without playing (Dec. 17 – Jan. 21), had his fifth impressive game of the year with eight points and nine boards, despite his limited minutes after running into foul trouble early in the first half.
“It was tough to see Graham get his second foul and not be able to play the minutes I hoped that he would play,” Hurley said. “But he did very well in the second half.”
On the other side of the floor, the Ducks were able to create an efficient offense with four players earning double-digit points. Redshirt senior forward Eugene Omoruyi and senior guard Chris Duarte each scored 18 points, leading Oregon in scoring. Omoruyi also had 10 rebounds; however, the Ducks were out-rebounded 43-42 by the Sun Devils.
The first frame featured several defensive plays by ASU. Martin scored a layup off a steal, followed by an open three from Verge Jr. off a steal from senior guard Holland Woods. The run tied the game at 19 with 9:29 remaining in the first half.
Nevertheless, with efficient scoring, the Ducks extended their comfortable lead with an 11-0 scoring run in the following five minutes. Meanwhile, the other half of the court was quiet as the Sun Devils endured a five minute scoring drought, making the score 30-19 with just under five minutes remaining.
Martin made some notable plays in the final two minutes of the first half where he scored nine of his 30 points. The senior hit a three to reduce Oregon’s sizable lead to eight points. The following play, Martin drew the foul off of a layup attempt.
Though the Ducks scored in between Martin’s offensive surge, he continued to stay hot. But the Ducks stayed in the lead during the first half and never looked back in the second.
The attitude of ASU’s locker room remains positive though despite the loss, according to Graham.
“That’s the great thing about basketball, you lose one and you get to play two days after that,” he said. “We’ll be ready.”
