ASU Men’s Basketball: Sun Devils’ shooting struggles, fall 74-50 to Cal

(Photo: Marlee Smith/WCSN)

Arizona State Men’s Basketball was dominated in the last four minutes of the first half by Cal to bring the Golden Bears’ a 17-point halftime lead, which then became a 74-50 victory on Sunday night in the Bay Area.

ASU trailed 13-11 just six minutes into the contest. That would be as close as it would get as over the next 10 minutes, as the Golden Bears would build a 13-point lead thanks to strong outside shooting from junior guard Jarred Hyder and senior guard Jordan Shepherd.

A 10-footer from ASU sophomore guard DJ Horne cut the deficit to 10 and the Sun Devils seemed to be within striking distance. However, stifling Golden Bear defense held ASU without a field goal for the final 4:24 of the opening half. The Sun Devils’ only points in that stretch came from two free throws from Horne with 34 seconds left in the half.

Coming into the game, ASU’s opponents were shooting 32.8% from three-point range. In the first half, Cal shot 50% from deep, converting seven of 14 shots and 50% from the field. On the contrary, ASU was 0-7 from beyond the arc and shot 33% from the field in the first 20 minutes of play.

The lone bright spot for the Sun Devils was Horne, who dropped in nine points.

Things did not get much better for ASU in the second half, although it did get solid contributions from freshman center Enoch Boakye. He scored the first seven points of the second half as he tried to keep the Sun Devils afloat.

Over the next six minutes, teams would trade baskets as the prospect of an ASU comeback seemed more and more unlikely. It didn’t help that the Sun Devils did not hit a three until 13:05 was left to go in the game thanks to a triple from Horne.

For the second time in the contest, this time down the stretch, ASU’s offense began a scoring drought. The final 3:44 of the game saw the Sun Devils not put up a single point while Cal ended the game on a 7-0 run to blow things even more wide open.

The poor three-point shooting is not a new problem for ASU. Coming into the game, the Sun Devils shot just 28% from beyond the arc, which ranked 317th out of 350 Division I programs. In Sunday’s contest, their percentages was even worse, as they finished at just 17%.

The continued absence of sophomore forward Marcus Bagley has shortened the depth of ASU’s front court. This problem seemed to allow Shepherd to get to the rim at will either for a layup or a chance at the free throw line. When given the opportunity, he did not disappoint, knocking down nine of 10 from the charity stripe.

Cal’s 6-foot-9-inch forwards Andre Kelly and Grant Anticevich scored 13 and 10 points respectively for Cal. Kelly’s ability to not only score inside but also hit a mid-range jumper forced ASU to pressure players outside the paint, which then opened up back cuts to the rim for the Golden Bears. For Anticevich, it was more of the same, as he hit a pair of threes while also dishing out three assists in the contest.

In total, Cal dominated points in the paint 34-20 and bench points 25-11, both of which have been Sun Devil weaknesses this year. If ASU isn’t able to stay close against its opponents in these two categories, it could continue to be a long season for ASU.

ASU will make up one of their recently postponed contests on Wednesday as it heads to Los Angeles for a date with UCLA, where it hopes to snap its two-game losing streak.