ASU Men’s Basketball: Strong second half defense leads to clutch finish over USC

(Photo: Susan Wong/WCSN)

With 30 seconds remaining, ASU’s Remy Martin dribbled the basketball at the bottom of the pitchfork logo in the middle of Desert Financial Arena.

As the clock wound down, ASU’s star point guard cut to his right, passing Rob Edwards on a guard-to-guard screen and put up a moving jumpshot from one of his favorite spots on the court, the right elbow. Time seemed to stop as the ball hung in the air.

The shot looped into the rim and rolled, making a full rotation before clanging off the backboard. Another two revolutions of the iron later, the ball fell through the net, giving ASU a 66-64 lead with 16.2 seconds left on the clock. It was a lead they wouldn’t relinquish, as the Sun Devils came away with their fifth win in the last six games they’ve played.

“(Martin) is about the right things,” head coach Bobby Hurley said. “He’s worked on his game like no other guy I’ve been around…He put the work in and karma and the basketball gods were with him.”

Up until Martin’s jumper, it had been 11 minutes since the Sun Devils had converted a shot from the field, the most recent being a huge 3-pointer in transition from senior guard Rob Edwards to give ASU it’s first lead of the game. However, when it came to crunch time and they needed it most, Martin delivered, however, his impact on the contest reached much further than the Sun Devils’ final shot of the night.

Martin scored 22 points, captured five rebounds and dished three assists, but most importantly, sank all six of his attempts from the free throw line. With just over two minutes remaining, Martin was fouled behind the arc. With ASU trailing by three, Martin went to the charity stripe and sank all of his foul shots to tie the game.

While Martin may have led the way for the Sun Devils in the scoring column, it wasn’t a pretty night from the field for anyone wearing maroon and gold. ASU shot 31.3 percent on the night and 28 percent in the second half alone. Guards Rob Edwards and Alonzo Verge Jr. each put up 13 shots from the field, only sinking three and five of them, respectively.

Despite ASU’s 11-minute second half scoring drought from the field, the Sun Devils still managed to hold their weight on defense, only allowing six points in the last five minutes, all coming from the hands of the Trojans’ senior guard, Daniel Utomi.

“We didn’t let our offensive inefficiencies filter over to our defense,” Hurley said. “Our defense was pretty rock solid.”

ASU’s lock-down defense on Saturday night started with the precedent set by junior forward Romello White. The Sun Devil big man was a force in the middle, pulling in 10 rebounds, three steals and a pair of blocks.

Not only was White a force down the stretch, but he also managed to outshine his USC counterpart, a player who has contented with White for the top spot in the Pac-12 for field goal percentage and rebounds per game, Onyeka Okongwu. White scored more than Okongwu, doubled his rebounds, and logged more steals than his opponent down low.

“He’s a great teammate,” Verge said of White. “He has a lot to do and only gets a certain amount of touches and still works hard…He battles and he wants to win.”

Paired with strong defensive performances from freshman guard Jaelen House and sophomore forward Taeshon Cherry, who both were scoreless from the field, the Sun Devils held the Trojans to a 33 percent shooting clip in the second half.

“Jaelen House comes in and gives us energy every time he gets on the floor,” Martin said. “(Taeshon) has been doing a great job of playing defense and not worrying about the offensive end. Those two are the guys that come in and put in work.”

With the tough defensive effort from players like White, House and Cherry, the Sun Devils managed to escape the contest with their first weekend sweep of the season and their third straight conference victory. ASU now sits at 6-4 in conference play, good enough for fourth in the Pac-12.

“We had the will to win, we found a way,” Hurley said. “We are trending upward in the standings right now; we just have to take that on the road this week.”

Arizona State will head to California next week to face Stanford on Thursday and Cal on Saturday.