(Photo: Scotty Bara/WCSN)
After a game where we may have seen the rebirth of the Arizona State Sun Devils, they fell at the hands of a talented Stanford team, but now look to bounce back against Oregon State. Despite winning their last two matchups before that game, they found troubles on the defensive end of the floor versus the Cardinal, something Sun Devil fans aren’t used to seeing.
Sophomore forward Savon Goodman was the leading scorer for ASU in the loss, with 18 points and four rebounds. Stanford had three players score at least 20 points, with senior guards Chasson Randle and Anthony Brown scoring 21 points each.
Oregon State’s last matchup was with the USC Trojans, and the Beavers got the win 59-55. Junior guard Gary Payton II was the high point man for the Beavers with 21 points and collected a game-high 10 rebounds as well.
During the Stanford game, freshman guard Kodi Justice suffered a foot injury in only his third minute on the floor, only to later find out that Justice had suffered a fracture and will be out for the remainder of the season. ASU will not only be missing Justice for the Oregon State game, but the Sun Devils will still be without freshman forward Connor MacDougall and junior guard Roosevelt Scott due to a violation of team rules.
Keys to the game
Take care of the basketball
Turnovers have been one of the biggest keys to the Sun Devils’ success this season, when they have a lot, they typically lose. When they’re limited, they have a much better chance to win. Oregon State has the third-best on-ball defender in the country in terms of stealing the ball in Payton II (taking after his father, NBA Hall of Famer Gary Payton), averaging three steals per game. With Justice out, it puts a lot more pressure on the other ball handlers to play more minutes and keep control of possession.
Get good looks from the outside
In the last matchup between these two teams, ASU only made four three-pointers the entire game, and the Sun Devils ended up losing by eight points. In a close game like that, a couple more threes makes a huge difference not only on the scoreboard, but the energy on the court as well. When the team is dialed in from long range, it has the ability to compete with most teams offensively.
Take advantage at the free throw line
ASU is shooting 66 percent on the year from the foul stripe, and in its last game against OSU, the Sun Devils shot 56 percent. If they made 75 percent of their free throws in the last OSU game, it would have been a different ball game. This is something that ASU has struggled with all year, and the team has lost some close games because of it. The way ASU has been playing lately, this could very well come down to the wire.
Prediction
ASU is missing three players, including debatably its best perimeter defender in Scott, and a fearless offensive player in Justice. Everyone is going to have to step up and fill in some valuable minutes, but the key to this game is not letting Payton II make a huge impact on the game. If that happens, ASU should have a good shot at winning this game.
