ASU Men’s Basketball: Even with early energy, ASU Falls to no. 9 Creighton 96-85

(Photo: Scotty Bara/WCSN)

Despite making it interesting for a good portion of the game, the Arizona State Sun Devils could not hang with No. 9 Creighton at Wells Fargo Arena on Tuesday, losing 96-85.

The Sun Devils came out of the tipoff ready to play. ASU scored the first nine points in about two minutes, hitting a couple jumpers and working inside as well.

“I thought we had the right mindset and approach to the game,” ASU head coach Bobby Hurley said of his team’s hot start. “We were generating stops and trying to push the ball.”

The hot start eventually ran into the math of Creighton making four of five 3-pointers, which put ASU down by five. As Creighton looked to go in for what could have been an early kill, the Sun Devils replied with a strong 7-0 run, keeping it close.

Strong work inside gave the Sun Devils a fighting chance in the first half, which ended with Creighton leading 45-40. Arizona State had eight second chance points and 20 in the paint. However, Creighton’s three-point onslaught proved tough to overcome. The Bluejays went 8-16 from deep in the first half, while Arizona State went 3-11.

After the break, things started to get dangerous for ASU. The Bluejays made their first five shots and controlled the flow on the defensive end as well. ASU worked to respond, stopping the Bluejays on three straight possessions.

The onslaught of the best three-point shooting offense in the nation was too much for the Sun Devils to handle. With 11 minutes left in the half, Creighton boosted its lead to 71-51 after another 5-of-5 run, including three treys.

ASU worked diligently on the defensive end, but struggled to keep up with Creighton’s perimeter passing. Anytime the Sun Devils doubled or moved around, the Bluejays found an open shooter and cashed in. They finished the game 14-25 from deep.

“We missed a couple coverages,” ASU junior guard Kodi Justice said. “They made difficult shots. When a team comes in here and hits 14 threes it’s hard to get a victory, but I felt like with our effort we were still in there competing.

The Bluejays also worked quickly to set up their scoring possessions and throw ASUs defense into confusion. They finished with 20 fast break points, several on transition threes, and 17 points off 10 ASU turnovers.

Despite the rough outcome, there were several positives for ASU. The Devils played with far more intensity than they did against Purdue or Kentucky, their other top 10 opponents of the season. Even at the very end, the Sun Devils were forcing turnovers and trying to get in the paint. ASU had six blocked shots and seven steals.

“I got a lot of respect for how the team competed,” Hurley said. “They were diving on the floor, scrambling to try and create turnovers and giving us a chance to win the game. As a coach that’s really all you can hope for, that they push themselves and compete that way.”

They also refused to lay down even with a big lead to climb. The Devils had three transition buckets midway through the second half that cut the lead to 13. A three from Justice cut it down even more. However, a string of four layups by Creighton (two and-ones) put the game out of reach.

Overall ASU had good offensive output, shooting 46 from the field and amassing 42 points in the paint. Torian Graham and Tra Holder led the team with 24 apiece. Senior forward Obinna Oleka had another strong two-way game, finishing with 19 points and 16 rebounds.

Arizona State also got good minutes from freshman big Jethro Tshisumpa. Despite getting into foul trouble as usual, he played 15 minutes and made a couple good plays on both ends, finishing with four points, four boards and a block.

“From where he was from day one to where he’s at, it;s tremendous,” Justice said. “The sky’s the limit for him. He’s a defensive player for us. Just wait until he gets an offensive game.”

The problem for Tshisumpa was Creighton’s ability to play five shooters at once. When he was on the floor, he had to step out of the paint and defend the three-point line, an area where he struggles.

Math gut-punched ASU in this one. For every two they got, the Bluejays responded with three, and ASU shot 4-of-14 from behind the arc. Junior guard Marcus Foster took over with 29 points on 10-of-18. Five other Bluejays had double figures, and three made at least three shots from deep.

The overall game presented sort of a microcosm for ASU’s (6-6) season. They had strong offense and good energy, but not quite enough defensively to make it happen. Still, ASU can take some pride in making an undefeated team work very hard. Their non-conference ends with the University of Central Arkansas on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Creighton (12-0) continues its run up the rankings as it looks ahead to Seton Hall.

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