(Photo: Brady Klain/WCSN)
In the midst of what would become a 20-4 run, Bobby Hurley stood on the Arizona State sideline, arms crossed as he watched junior guard Alonzo Verge’s lob attempt fall short, landing in the arms of Washington forward Isaiah Stewart.
Moments later, Hurley stood with hands on hips as Taeshon Cherry’s 3-point attempt from the corner came up short, just grazing the rim. After taking a 61-49 lead on a Kimani Lawrence 3-point attempt, the Huskies had reeled off a 9-0 run. Verge appeared to stem the tide when the Sun Devils’ junior guard hit a fadeaway jumper to give ASU back a 63-58 advantage, but the Huskies continued their comeback.
“We stopped running back on defense if there was something that happened on offense that wasn’t good,” Hurley said. “A missed shot, or [Washington guard Nahziah] Carter was streaking down the sidelines. Stewart got one. We were not running back hard.
“That’s hard to explain why you would choose to do that when you’ve done a lot of things well not only in this game but throughout the season.”
The Washington run continued as the Sun Devils failed to hustle on defense and threw up deep 3-point attempts with regularity on offense. With three timeouts in his pocket, Hurley elected not to use one until a streaking Nahziah Carter took a Remy Martin pass for a fast-break dunk to give the Huskies a 69-65 lead with 8:04 remaining.
“I resisted calling a timeout and maybe I should’ve called one a minute or two sooner,” Hurley said following the Sun Devils’ seventh loss in conference play, one that puts ASU in danger of losing their first-round bye at next week’s Pac-12 tournament. “I was trying to get to the under 12 [timeout].”
As the Sun Devils allowed the Huskies to continue their run en route to a 90-83 victory, Arizona State (19-11, 10-7 Pac-12) fell victim to underwhelming results from beyond the arc.
Sophomore forward Taeshon Cherry made a floater with 11:59 to play to give ASU a 65-61 lead. The next six Arizona State shots were all of the 3-point variety. All six missed.
“We could’ve done a better job getting [Romello White] the ball,” said Martin, who went 2-of-14 from the field including 1-for-10 from 3-point range.
Martin said the Sun Devils could’ve done a better job of being aggressive and attacking the paint, but also said he believed they took similar shots to the rest of the season. Over a seven-minute span, the Sun Devils did not attempt a shot inside the paint, despite shooting 8-of-11 on such shots during the first 10 minutes of the second half.
“I just think that the ball didn’t go in the basket in the second half,” he said. “Especially my shots, they’ve been going in a good amount this year, it just wasn’t falling.”
“This was more of a players game,” said Hurley of ASU’s offensive execution against UW’s lenghty zone defense. “It’s hard to script offense against their zone. You’ve gotta have movement. You’ve gotta move the ball and you’ve gotta try to get into a seam off the bounce if you can.”
When Martin missed another deep 3-point attempt with 4:11 to play and the Sun Devils trailing by a point, boos could be heard from fans at Desert Financial Arena. Carter capped off a 23-point night by knocking down a 3-pointer that gave the Huskies a nine-point lead with 1:51 to play and sent Sun Devil fans heading for the exits minutes before the clock wound down on a loss to the last place Huskies.
Despite the lackluster shooting night from ASU’s lead guard, Hurley defended his point guard’s play, citing the Huskies’ defensive length as a reason for his struggles.
“Remy had this game, but we would never be in this position to have the season we’ve had without Remy,” Hurley said as the Sun Devils now get set for a senior day matchup with Washington State. “Did not have it. This defense in particular is not built for him because of the size and quickness of their four guys.
“He’ll get it straight. I’m not worried about him.”
With the Huskies sitting outside the top-100 in the NET rankings, Thursday night’s loss is sure to hurt the Sun Devils tournament seeding – or hopes. Heading into Saturday’s matchup with Washington State, the Sun Devils will be looking for the 20th win of their season after losing to the Cougars by two in Pullman earlier this season.
“We’ll try and finish the season strong and get ready for the Pac-12 tournament.”
