(Photo: Scotty Bara/WCSN)
In their first game of the Tire Pros Invitational, the Arizona State Sun Devils were blown out Thursday as they fell to Northern Iowa 82-63.
This was the first true test for the Sun Devils (2-1) this season as their first two opponents had a combined record last year of 23-38, while Northern Iowa made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
The game did not initially start as a blowout, with a back and forth battle between the teams up until the four-minute mark. With Northern Iowa (2-0) holding on to a slim 27-24 lead, the Panthers began to pull away behind the play of junior forward Klint Carlson.
Carlson, who had 19 points, hit two smooth jumpers on consecutive possessions to give Northern Iowa a 31-24 lead. Northern Iowa freshman guard Spencer Haldeman started to heat up, notching two threes in a row to grow the Panthers lead to 39-27 at the half.
An 11-1 Northern Iowa run mid-way through the second half put ASU away for good.
Northern Iowa senior guard Jeremy Morgan led the way for the Panthers with a team-high 20 points, four assists and 12 rebounds. Haldeman was huge coming off the bench, scoring 17 points with five makes from behind the arc.
Northern Iowa was extremely effective shooting the ball, going 29 of 57 from the field (13 of 30 from three). ASU had no answer for the Panthers offense and their attempts to shoot their way back into the game were unsuccessful.
ASU senior guard Torian Graham was the lone bright spot for the Sun Devils. Graham’s phenomenal play this year earned him his first start of the season and he turned in another good performance, scoring 19 points but failing to record a single rebound or assist.
Arizona State as a team did not rebound or move the ball very well throughout the game. The Sun Devils only secured 29 rebounds and had just nine assists.
This was the first game ASU has been outrebounded this season, as their lack of depth in the frontcourt was somewhat exposed.
Another missing component tonight for ASU was a failure to draw fouls. After getting to the free throw line 42 times against Cal Poly, the Sun Devils only attempted 15 free throws Thursday. Only three Sun Devils scored in double figures and the lack of offensive output against their toughest test so far this year is somewhat disconcerting for ASU.
The Sun Devils will now look ahead to their next game in the tournament against Tulane, Saturday, Nov. 18. Tulane also came away with a loss against the Oklahoma Sooners.
Arizona state will face off against The Citadel at home on Nov. 23 at 4 p.m.
