(Photo: Brady Klain/WCSN)
For the Arizona State Sun Devils (15-6, 6-3 Pac-12), it’s back to reality this weekend as they welcome in the Washington State Cougars (8-14, 1-8) and the Washington Huskies (18-4, 9-0) on Thursday and Saturday night, respectively.
ASU will be coming off a deserved week of rest after defeating Arizona for the first time in four years, good for its fourth win over the last five contests. The recent success has propelled the Sun Devils into a three-way tie for second in the conference, with this weekend presenting another opportunity to gain separation.
“I feel good about how we’re playing right now, the last couple weeks,” coach Bobby Hurley said. “We have to get other guys to step up this week, you know not having (freshman forward Taeshon Cherry) in the fold, especially a guy that can really shoot it versus zones.”
ASU has been able to overcome Cherry’s absence thus far- for the most part- as he’s been limited to eight minutes over the last three games after combining for 27 points in the pair of games before that stretch.
“He dove on that loose ball and then reaggravated his symptoms from the concussion,” Hurley said. “He’s now in a more extended concussion protocol and we’re taking all the necessary safety precautions with him to make sure that he’s symptom-free, and this is a longer one so he’ll miss this week at a minimum and we’ll reevaluate him early next week.”
Regardless of the opponent, this hurts ASU’s depth for a stretch of two games in three days, especially considering the team’s biggest test of the season in conference play will be that second one.
But the Sun Devils know better than to overlook the Cougars, who are currently on a five-game losing streak. After all, WSU has the Pac-12’s leading scorer in senior forward Robert Franks. The 6-foot-9, 225-lb big man’s 21.4 points per game are tied for 23rd in the nation, and his team has its strengths.
The Cougars rank third in the conference at 35.5 percent from three (compared to ASU’s 34.5 percent), led by senior guard Viont’e Daniels, shooting 38.8 percent, and freshman forward CJ Elleby, shooting 38.3 percent.
However, WSU lacks consistency beyond those top two scorers. The team’s next highest scorer is junior starting point guard Ahmed Ali, who averages 8.1 points per game and leads the team with three assists per contest. Beyond that, nobody averages more than 7.1 points, which may explain why the Cougars have lost by margins ranging from nine to 20 points over their current losing streak.
“We got to make sure that when we are up in a game, don’t give them any confidence and let them get back into the game,” sophomore guard Remy Martin said. “That’s what we’ve been doing lately, and that’s something that I think that we need to improve on, but that’s one of the keys that I think that we will need going into the game.”
While the Cougars are the second-worst team in the conference by record, their in-state counterparts are riding an 11-game win streak, unscathed thus far in Pac-12 competition.
“Washington is one of the best defensive teams, not only in the Pac-12, but nationally,” Hurley said. He pointed to Washington’s head coach Mike Hopkins effectively applying what he learned from Jim Boeheim, whom he coached under for over two decades before taking the Washington job in 2017, as well as one player that leads the way.
“It’s also having the personnel to execute it, having a guy like (senior guard Matisse) Thybulle that could steal the ball like 10 times in a game, and just his anticipation and his athleticism- big time defensive player,” Hurley said.
To be exact, Thybulle averages 3.23 steals per game, which leads the conference by a landslide and is only 0.01 steals per game behind the national leader. The 6-foot-5 guard also adds two blocks per game and 9.7 points, which doesn’t even have him amongst the team’s top three scorers.”
The Sun Devils lost to the Huskies 68-64 a year ago in what was their second-worst offensive showing of last season. The only one to top that- the 60-56 defeat at the hands of Syracuse that ended the team’s season in the NCAA tournament first four. As much as the Sun Devils roster has changed since then, Washington’s really hasn’t.
The Huskies still have sophomore guard Jaylen Nowell, the team’s leading scorer at 16.7 points per game, and senior guard David Crisp, third with 11.9 points per game, flanking Thybulle with senior 6-foot-8, 245-lb forward Noah Dickerson as the go-to guy down low.
Of course, it’ll be different this time around now that sophomore forward Romello White has the Pac-12’s rebounding leader in senior Zylan Cheatham by his side.
The 6-foot-8 forward has notched 56 total rebounds in his last three games. But those two will have a tough time handling Franks and Dickerson by themselves in back-to-back contests, which is why Hurley should look to tap into his bench again.
Additionally, ASU will look for Martin to continue leading the way, coming off a 31-point game in the victory over Arizona, as he’s combined for 26 assists over the last three games.
The other guards will look to continue playing well too. Freshman guard Luguentz Dort will look to score at least 15 points for his third straight game, and redshirt junior Rob Edwards, coming off 19 points versus Arizona, has shot at least 40 percent from three in all but one game in Pac-12 play while making multiple threes in all of those games.
Thursday night’s tilt begins at 6 p.m. and will be televised on Pac-12 networks, while Saturday night’s game tips off at 8 p.m. on ESPN.
