ASU Men’s Basketball: Sun Devils blown out by Stanford after lethargic second half

(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)

The Stanford Cardinal (8-8, 1-3) dominated the Arizona State Sun Devils (11-5, 2-2) in the second half, expanding on a two-point halftime lead to an 85-71 victory.

In their worst showing of a young Pac-12 season, the Sun Devils were most notably outdone at the free throw line and in the paint. ASU shot 6-for-17 on free throws, compared to Stanford’s 12-for-19 effort, and only blocked one shot while the Cardinal blocked seven.

In spite of what turned out to be a one-sided affair, the Sun Devils showed promise of being competitive throughout the first 20 minutes.

After Stanford started the game on a 12-4 run, freshman guard Luguentz Dort strong-armed the team back into the game with three straight three-pointers, part of a 14-3 Sun Devil run.

The teams went back-and-forth for the remainder of the half, as Dort led both teams in scoring at the break with 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting, including 3-for-5 on threes.

However, the Cardinal had three scorers in double digits by halftime in sophomore forwards Oscar da Silva, 14 points, and KZ Okpala, 10 points, as well as sophomore guard Daejon Davis with 10 points.

The Sun Devils only trailed 40-38 at halftime despite accruing five more turnovers than Stanford to that point.

But once the second half got underway, ASU came out flat- continuing to turn the ball over and failing to score until 4:33 into the second half. Meanwhile, Stanford had their way with ASU down low, fueling a 12-0 run over that time span.

This was in large part due to the continued consistency of da Silva, who finished the night with a double-double at 21 points and 10 rebounds plus four assists and two blocks, as well as Okpala, who was tied with a game-high 21 points and added nine rebounds and two steals.

Although the Sun Devils let a two-point deficit turn into double digits early in the half, sophomore guard Remy Martin (eight points on 3-for-12 shooting, three rebounds, two steals) led a comeback effort in the form of an 11-2 run from the 14:32-10:00 minute mark to go in the game, drawing ASU as close as five points down.

Sophomore Kimani Lawrence was a big beneficiary of this comeback attempt, as he scored a couple of buckets- one off a great transition pass from Martin- to finish with a respectable 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting plus six rebounds.

He joined Dort and Edwards as the only Sun Devils in double figures, although Dort was neutralized in the second half- scoring only one point- and Edwards scored 13 points on 5-for-16 shooting.

Around the turn of the 10-minute mark to go in the game, the Cardinal took charge again by going on an 8-0 run in a span of fewer than two minutes, leading 62-49 by the 8:23 mark when coach Bobby Hurley called a timeout.

Stanford never let ASU back into the game after that, as the Cardinal went on a 7-0 run between the seven and five-minute marks, leading by as much as 19 points.

The presence of seven-foot senior center Josh Sharma proved lethal for ASU’s big men, as he missed one shot between four field goal and two free throw attempts to finish with eight points on top four rebounds, two steals and a team-high three blocks.

The duo of redshirt sophomore Romello White and senior De’Quon Lake had no response. White scored 3 points on 1-for 5 shooting and managed 3 rebounds plus 1 block, while Lake scored 4 points and added 4 rebounds.

The Sun Devils return to action Thursday night when they host the Oregon State Beavers (10-4, 2-0) at 8 p.m.