ASU Men’s Basketball: Sun Devils get back in win column 72-68 against Cal

(Photo: Brady Klain/WCSN)

After moral victory galore in its last six contests, Arizona State Men’s Basketball tasted true victory in a 72-68 win over Cal Thursday night, snapping the Sun Devils’ six-game losing streak.

After dropping six straight, the Sun Devils came into the matchup with the Golden Bears with a different starting five and a much more focused defensive approach. Rather than zeroing in on the offensive prowess of his guards in the starting lineup, head coach Bobby Hurley went bigger, inserting senior forward Kimani Lawrence into the starting lineup.

“I liked our size initially in the game and we got some bigger guys, bigger bodies out on the floor,” Hurley said. “There are some more interchangeable defenders with [freshman forward] Marcus [Bagley], Kimani, and [freshman guard[ Josh [Christopher]. And then we can go to the bench and bring some more speed and energy into the game. It worked out well, hopefully there is some carry over with it.”

The move pushed senior guard Alonzo Verge Jr. to the bench. Verge, the former Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year, struggled to find his groove off the pine. After going 2-5 and scoring six points in the first half, Verge only played two minutes in the second. He ended the game with a plus-minus of -14.

The success story off the bench however came from sophomore guard Jaelen House.

“Jaelen House was most likely the difference maker of the game,” Hurley said. “Just his energy on defense, he was flying around. He had nine deflections himself – if we are in the high 20s low 30s [in deflections] as a team that’s a pretty good stat for us. Individually, he was exceptional in that department.”

House was everywhere, from helping teammates up, leading “Defense!” chants on the bench and making a clutch reverse layup in traffic. By impacting the game in a way the stat sheet can’t show, House packed his lunch pail and went to work Thursday night.

“Not a lot of people like to play defense, so I go out there and try to do something nobody else likes to do,” House said. “I feel like I’m one of the best defenders in our conference. I just go out there and try to do what I do and try to get transition points. We’re not a big team, we’re not an execution half-court team, we’re fast, we like to get it in transition.”

ASU outscored Cal 44-30 in fast-break points and controlled the offensive pace for the majority of the game. With a little over 30 seconds remaining, the Sun Devils were on the break once more when House finished the reverse layup to put ASU up 71-64 while striking the proverbial dagger in the hearts of the Golden Bears.

The constant bulldozing of 6’4” 220 pound Cal junior guard Matt Bradley is likely a key reason for Hurley’s starting five shuffle. Bradley uses his frame and savviness to create lanes to the hoop and chances at the line. But he’s far from one dimensional. Bradley has enough range to demand attention on the perimeter and can score in bunches from deep. ASU held Bradley, who was dealing with multiple ankle injuries, to just seven points on 3-10 shooting at the halfway mark.

ASU’s new starting up lineup corralled Cal, limiting it to 35% shooting at intermission, and there was no questioning the defensive intensity from ASU. Rebounding, however, was the same old story for the Sun Devils. Their effort on the defensive glass was leaky, as Cal had a 10-1 lead on the offensive boards at halftime. In the first half, ASU was out-rebounded 27-14, but in the second it only trailed 16-15.

“One negative was our rebounding in the first half, they got too many offensive rebounds,” Hurley said. “We kind of fixed that in the second half and did a better job at rebounding the ball.”

Second chance points fueled the Golden Bears as they led 30-29 at the break. Cal junior forward Andre Kelly was a nuisance for the Sun Devils, as he gobbled up four offensive rebounds in the first half. Kelly finished with 16 points on 7-12 shooting and 13 rebounds (six offensive).

“We were making them miss and I know they might have missed a few layups and a couple open shots.” Hurley said. “Their percentages were really low, they were getting bailed out because we weren’t quick enough to the ball and they were getting 50/50 balls and they were getting 3-point plays. So [we] can’t really afford to do that.”

In the second half, both Bradley and ASU senior guard Remy Martin started to heat up for their respective squads. The two played in similar fashion, slashing downhill and yearning for contact in the lane. With their veteran craftiness, they both earned double digit chances at the charity stripe in the second half. Martin got all 11 of his free-throw attempts in the second half, and ended the game with a team-high 19 points on 6-14 shooting. Bradley got ten chances at the free-throw line in the second half after going 1-1 from the line in the first frame. Bradley’s second half also included 19 points on 3-5 shooting from three-point range.

ASU was able to patch up their second half rebounding efforts and avoid Bradley’s success translating into a win for Cal though, while playing tough team defense to avoid a seventh straight loss.

“I’m just very excited the guys had an opportunity to win. We’ve been knocking on the door in several games over the last couple weeks,” Hurley said. “I’m glad we were able to break through tonight.”