ASU Men’s Basketball: interior offense leads Sun Devils past Cougars

(Photo: Rebecca Striffler/WCSN)
TEMPE — Striving for perfection in any profession always seems arbitrary. It’s hard to define how one achieves such an elusive title. However, for senior forward Warren Washington in the first half, the 7-footer put on a performance that would fit most definitions.

8-for-8 from the field for 16 points, Washington rocked the Cougars’ interior that had no match for the big man’s presence. The senior forward explosive first half led an interior attack that saw ASU (12-3, Pac-12 3-1) score 36 points, overwhelming Washington State (6-10, Pac-12 1-4) en route to a 77-71 over the Pac-12 rival.

“Good to get back on track with a win and just play as good as we played offensively,” head coach Bobby Hurley said. “It’s good to get back to the feeling of winning a basketball game after having two tough losses.”

The win ends a two-game skid for the Sun Devils, which saw the program struggle to find points, averaging 60 points while shooting below 35 percent from the field and under 20 percent from beyond the arc. ASU responded to those shooting woes by attacking the rim and focusing on rebuilding its weakness while relaying on its strengths against a smaller team like WSU.

The senior forward and senior guard Desmond Cambridge Jr. fueled a hot start for ASU, where the duo combined for ASU’s first 13 points to get off a quick lead. After Cambridge Jr. cooled off, the senior forward continued his dominant performance in the paint, scoring 16 of ASU’s 22 paint points in the first half.

“It was a concerted effort,” Hurley said on feeding Washington the ball. “Especially the way he was making shots in the first half. You almost couldn’t call his number enough, but I was happy to see [Desmond] make his first three shots. [Junior guard DJ Horne] had a couple just had really good contributions from everyone.”

The superb ball movement opened up easy shots for the club that ended the game with 18 assists on 31 field goals. Washington was pleased with this performance as he believes it signifies the program’s future.

“It’s been a learning curve here just because [ASU] haven’t had a big like me here. I feel like this was a right step in the right direction,” Washington said. “It was a credit to my teammates, my coaches because they just gave me a lot of opportunities today, and I just took advantage.”

The variety of Washington’s scoring prowess was an important sight for the program, which saw the big man find success in the post, off the dribble on the elbow, or rolling off a screen.

“I’m probably the most confident person when it comes to being in the post area,” Washington said. “They got to pick a poison, really they either got to double me, or there’s going to be an iso, and that’s an easy bucket for me.”

The Sun Devils’ guards did a stellar job finding the big man during his hot streak. Even after WSU went to a 2-3 zone to try and hold off against ASU’s offensive attack, it proved to be ineffective. Sophomore guard Frankie Collins navigated the zone, finding all the holes and open teammates.

“We had success against their zone when we hit the high post,” Hurley said. “We were able to go high low a few times or just make a comfortable jump shot. In the first half, that was the adjustment that we needed to make. It was just focusing on getting the ball [into the highpost].”

While ASU was surgical in its offensive approach, its mistakes by WSU amplified its production. Multiple times the Cougars’ ballhandler would lose the ball in their own backcourt to swarming ASU one-on-one defense that would lead to easy baskets. The errors gave the program 11 first-half fastbreak points, resulting in an 11-point Sun Devils lead.

Despite ASU’s success in the first half, WSU’s timely shot-making kept its deficit manageable. To end the half, the Cougars made six of their last seven shots, most of which were from beyond the arc. The Sun Devils went on a similar stretch, but because they did their damage attacking the basket, it gave the Cougars some life.

Junior guard Justin Powell was one of the main contributors to WSU’s late surge, dropping ten first-half points. The 6-foot-6 guard made multiple contested late-shot clock 3s that became infectious with his teammates as the tough shot-making chipped away the Sun Devils lead down to 42-36.

“I mean, Powell is a good player. He had a hell of a one-legged step back as the shot clock was expiring,” Hurley said. “I think our defense played better than it looks. We easily could’ve held them to 31 points, but it’s good to see us play the other end of the floor at a better level. We’re hoping for development in that area.”

While the offense remained adequate, the defense needed help to pick up stops after halftime. The two teams proceeded to trade baskets with one another, as the Sun Devils had difficulty to create any separation. After an ASU missed opportunity on a 3-on-1 fastbreak that saw Cambridge Jr. and Collins both wedgied a lob into the rim, Hurley had enough and went for a complete 5-man substitution.

“Usually, I only go to that tactic when I’m upset with the team, but I wanted all those guys to play together,” Hurley said. “I didn’t want to take any of my starters out because I felt they played well to start the second half.”

The all-bench lineup provided a jolt for ASU and went back to its defensive identity to offer pushback to the WSU offensive attack. The Sun Devils pressured a couple of feet off the 3-point line while not allowing the Cougars’ big man to get under the basket, resulting in a much harder time for shooters to get comfortable.

“I liked how [the bench] brought more energy to the game, and they stretched our lead out or at very least maintained it,” Hurley said. “We’ve hung our hat on our depth and how hard we practice and each unit going against each other. It was kind of a symbol of trust for the entire group.”

The offense fought against the WSU zone but saw its most prominent contributor in redshirt senior guard Luther Muhammad, who dropped nine points in nine minutes, extending ASU’s lead.

“This one of the best games we had as a bench,” Muhammad said. “[We were] picking it up and changing the pace of the game.”

Hurley returned to the starters to finish the game, however, junior guard Jabe Mullins had other intentions, proceeding to make four straight 3s in a six-minute stretch, fueling a 14-5 run for the Cougars to bring the game within 3 points. The Washington native led his home squad with 19 points, 14 of which were in the second half.

“We lost Mullins too many times for a guy,” Hurley said. “When the ball leaves his hand, it looks like it’s going in every time, and he’s an elite shooter. There are always things you could improve on and do a little better.”

With WSU roaring back, ASU had to rely on its big-shot makers to seal this game away. Horne fit the bib, sinking a tough floater with under two minutes to put the game to rest. After back-to-back shooting performances for the returning Sun Devil, Horne bounced back for 12 points on 6-of-14 shooting, including the game-sealing floater that put a stamp on ASU’s 77-71 win.

“The floater in the paint was a huge shot,” Hurley said. “We trust him… I’m not worried about him making shots. He didn’t allow it to affect how he plays defense and his effort.”

The victory ends the Sun Devils two-game skid. ASU will finish its three-game home stand against Washington on Sunday, hopeful to reciprocate its interior dominance showcased Thursday.