ASU Men’s Basketball: Sun Devils battling inconsistency despite 2-1 start

(Photo: Dom Contini/WCSN)

The phrase “consistency is key” is one that is preached to successful basketball teams.

Arizona State Men’s Basketball’s season thus far has been a model of this, as they have struggled against lower-level teams early this year due to inconsistency in their lineups.

Although the Sun Devils regained two key pieces of their rotation on Monday night, they were without another for the entire night, and one for most of the night, in their 72-63 win over North Florida.

The return of junior forward Jalen Graham, and sophomore transfer guard Jay Heath proved to be crucial in the Sun Devils’ victory over the Ospreys.

Graham and Heath missed the Sun Devils’ first two games against Portland and UC Riverside after being placed into COVID-19 protocols prior to the start of the season.

ASU head coach Bobby Hurley gave Graham the starting nod on Monday night, and was impressed with how the junior played.

“I thought (Graham) was solid, he had some good moments,” Hurley said. “Offensively he made some things happen for us, challenged shots, and battled.”

Graham ended the night playing 21 minutes, scoring 10 points, while shooting 5-for-7 from the field.

Although Heath wasn’t as productive as Graham on the stat sheet, as he only notched four points, he brought a different attribute to the court: energy.

“Jay, first game back, he came off the bench and gave us that spark we needed,” fifth-year guard Marreon Jackson said. “He dove for the ball, but that just got everyone’s energy up, and plays like that are very crucial, especially with the team that we have now with new guys.”

A player who usually brings energy to the court was unable to lace up for Monday night’s game in ASU’s redshirt junior guard Luther Muhammad. Muhammad, who averaged 30.5 minutes and 10.5 points in the Sun Devils first two games, was forced to sit out due to a team policy violation.

Another player who sat for an extended period of time was sophomore forward Marcus Bagley. Bagley started the game for the Sun Devils, but only ended up playing nine minutes, all of them coming in the first half.

“When Marcus (Bagley) wasn’t moving good there in the first half, I owed it to him to make sure that I don’t try to put him back in the game until he gets the opportunity to get looked at,” Hurley said.

Although the Sun Devils have struggled early in their last two games against UC Riverside and North Florida, it could be considered a tough task to be consistent when they haven’t been able to put their best players on the floor.

“It’s a brand new team, it’s just gonna take some time, and we can’t look too deep in the little mistakes that we’re gonna have early on,” sophomore guard DJ Horne said.