ASU Men’s Basketball: Senior day ends Sun Devils season on sour note

(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)

ASU fell to Stanford 84-83 on senior day in a game that was a microcosm of the team’s Pac-12 season.

The Sun Devils were slightly outplayed in the first half, fell further behind, trailing Stanford by as much as 55-36 minutes into the second, before chipping away over the last 15 minutes and getting a chance to win the game with the last shot.

Remy Martin’s catch-and-shoot look from the baseline, with about one second to shoot, bounced around the rim before falling to the floor, leaving Kodi Justice, Tra Holder, Austin Witherill and Shannon Evans II with a loss in their final game at Wells Fargo Arena- save for a return in case of an NIT berth.

The defeat leaves the Sun Devils 9^th in the Pac-12 with their 8-10 conference record. But with a 20-10 overall mark, ASU will be playing for bigger things at next week’s Pac-12 tournament.

“We’ve proven that we could beat some of the best teams in the country handily,” coach Bobby Hurley said.

“We’ve already won a championship in Vegas…even though there are some that might want to say that part of the season was so long ago that it shouldn’t count, but it does count you know so everyone this is a season, this is a Pac-12 season and there’s an entire season. Everything we’ve done goes into the team that we’ve been.”

Today’s loss to Stanford reminded everyone of ASU’s lack of raw size, its kryptonite since the conference season and the team’s subsequent tumble began in late December.

The Cardinal took advantage early, grabbing seven of the game’s first 10 rebounds and outscoring ASU 10-2 in the paint through the game’s first eight minutes.

The Sun Devils evened out those number by halftime but let Stanford’s bigs wear them down again to start the second half. The Cardinal were outrebounding ASU 35-17 by about the midpoint of the second half and finished with 22 more boards than the home team.

The Cardinal also outscored ASU 13-4 in second chance points as a result of beating them 12-4 on the offensive glass.

“They’re the biggest team that we’ll play against,” Hurley said. “(Stanford forward Reid) Travis, not many people, teams are going to be able to deal with a guy like that. (Guard Dorian) Pickens, I think he had 20 (points) in the second half, he was hitting threes and doing his thing. I mean they’re a very good team, I think.”

Pickens and Travis combined to shoot 14-16 from the field and 7-14 from three while the Sun Devils (10-27) struggled from deep for most of the afternoon.

Freshman forward KZ Okpala joined Travis (team-highs with 24 points and 14 rebounds) as the only players to achieve a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, scoring mostly in the game’s early minutes and throughout the first half.

ASU stayed in the contest, nearly getting the win, by playing press defense and creating turnovers for most of the game’s final 30 minutes. The Sun Devils outscored Stanford 30-11 in points off turnovers and forced the Cardinal to 21 giveaways, while only committing 6 themselves.

“The enthusiasm that we defended with and the urgency that we defended with really helped boost our offense in the second half and the ball was going in a lot more frequently,” Hurley said.

Unfortunately for ASU, the ball didn’t go in when it counted most. Justice missed three of four free throws in the game’s final minute despite making a pair of clutch threes in the minute prior, and Holder missed an open three to tie the game just under the two-minute mark.

Although it wasn’t the finish the team envisioned, the native of Mesa, Arizona, talked about how grateful he is for his time as a Sun Devil.

“It’s given me an opportunity to grow as a man, as a leader, as an athlete, as a student,” Justice said. “The fans, everyone’s accepted me for who I am so this last four years will be a memory I’ll never forget.”

Despite ending the season on a sour note, Hurley still believes his team is a serious threat going into postseason play.

“You’re going to have to play for 40 minutes so get ready to play in the last minute or two,” Hurley said addressed to any future opponents. “No team has defeated us where we’re just playing the last two minutes out…if you want to beat us you better bring your ‘A’ stuff and be ready to play for 40 minutes.”