(Photo: Tyler Rittenhouse/WCSN)
After losing three consecutive games, questions were swirling around the Sun Devils. Fans were panicking, players were frustrated, and coach Hurley labeled himself as a ‘terrible coach’. After Thursday night’s 84-53 victory over the California Golden Bears (8-22, 2-15), it’s safe to say, the fun is officially back.
“It felt great,” Remy Martin said following the win. “To go out there and be ourselves. We go out there and play freely and make plays. That’s what happens when we play Sun Devil ball.”
With over six minutes remaining, ASU (20-9, 8-9) had arguably their most entertaining stretch of the season. Kodi Justice took the ball coast-to-coast, faked a behind-the-back pass, and then proceeded to knock down the off-balance layup. As if the play wasn’t special enough, that basket gave Kodi 1,000 points for his Sun Devil career.
Just a moment later, Shannon Evans brought the house down. The senior guard wanted to one-up his teammate as he passed the ball between-the-legs to himself, faked a pass, and then scored an up-and-under layup. This erupted Wells Fargo Arena, and brought the nearly 12,000 fans to their feet. “We’re back to who we are,” Romello White said. “This confidence is building and increasing.”
“To get back to playing freely, some of the plays in the second half were who we are and who we’ve been most of the year,” coach Bobby Hurley said. “So many different examples of us playing with a little more swagger to how we play.” ASU finally looked like themselves of old. They were getting easy looks, which led to them shooting 51 percent from the field.
The Devils were able to force 17 turnovers, which led to 21 points. “We made the smart plays and the right plays,” Martin said. “It’s all about stops. When we get stops and run, it’s hard for teams to stay with us.” Cal had troubles keeping up with ASU, as they quickly fell behind early, and never appeared to have a chance of getting back in the game.
On the night, Cal was a shocking 0-for-18 from deep. “When you play good defense, that’s what happens.” Remy Martin said with a huge grin on his face. When it was all said and done, Cal shot 34 percent from the field.
The Devils were in attack mode all night, getting to the line an astonishing 37 times. They were able to knock down 28 of them (76%). Compare that to Cal’s 17 attempts from the charity stripe.
“We wanted to be in attack mode,” Hurley said. “That’s a credit to the guards and how they’re attacking.” ASU also finished with 40 points in the paint.
Time and time again, Remy Martin provides that spark off the bench for ASU. As a freshman, Martin appears to be the favorite for the Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year. With a quiet four points on the night, Martin tallied six assists, including some magical no-look passes. “As long as I don’t turn it over, that’s all that matters,” Martin jokingly said. “I like to play with a little flash, get the crowd going.”
After a stellar performance against Oregon State, Romello White responded with a double-double. “He had very good minutes,” Hurley said. The forward finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds, as well as an emphatic block in 24 electrifying minutes. “I felt like they were lazy,” White said about why it was so easy to score buckets. “Why not go at them the whole game?”
After a season of ups-and-downs, the Devils return to the hardwood one final time on Saturday to face the Stanford Cardinal. “When you’ve lost a couple, you start to doubt yourself,” Hurley said. “It’s great to carry this momentum into the next game.”
