(Photo: Brady Klain/WCSN)
Romello White set the tone. A leaner, lighter, more explosive version of the Arizona State (6-2) junior forward has resulted in what he said has been some of the best basketball of his Sun Devil career.
On Saturday night White scored a game-high 19 points, while adding 14 rebounds to lead the Sun Devils to a 77-65 win over Louisiana-Lafayette. White opened the contest with three of the Devils’ first four made baskets, showcasing a quick leaping ability, a byproduct of his offseason workouts.
“Good things happened when he had the ball,” head coach Bobby Hurley said of White’s play. “Bottomline, the percentages, some of his really good passes out of the post, he went to the offensive glass. He battled in the paint to rebound. He was one of the primary reasons why we were in the position we were late in the game.”
Yet while White helped propel the Sun Devils to a 38-26 halftime lead, Hurley wasn’t pleased with the Sun Devils defensive effort in their return to Tempe. White’s improved athleticism helped on a putback slam in the second half, and moments later, the junior from Atlanta, Georgia, secured his second-straight double-double – the 10th of his career.
Arizona State forced 13 first-half turnovers, but a second half full of defensive lapses and a lackluster effort left Hurley in a dissatisfactory mood postgame.
“When we play teams that are better than that team, it’s going to be harder for us to stop them,” White said. “We’ve gotta lock down on defense. Our defense was kind of shaky today, so we definitely have to improve on our defense and we just gotta hit more shots.
“I feel like we took a lot of shots but we really didn’t make a lot of them. When we play really good teams we’re going to have to make shots and lock down on the defensive end, too.”
With 12:02 remaining in the second half and the Sun Devils comfortably leading 55-38, ULL junior forward Dou Gueye grabbed a rebound and went coast-to-coast for a layup. Gueye’s baseline-to-baseline drive prompted an Arizona State timeout and mass substitution for Bobby Hurley’s squad.
“Anytime that happens there had to be someone between Point A and Point B to make an impact there,” Hurley said. “When five guys don’t do that, then in that instant that was my call. I don’t do that all the time, but it was frustrating to see that.”
Hurley’s frustration stems from an ASU defense which allowed the Ragin’ Cajuns to play the Sun Devils to an even score in the second half. Leading by 12 at halftime, the Sun Devils allowed 39 second-half points, and sent ULL to the free throw line 18 times in the final 20 minutes of play.
“I thought our defense was poor relative to how we guarded in the first half and most of the season,” Hurley said. “We just allowed them to go off the bounce and beat us, and put them on the free throw line way too much. It was a really poor defensive effort in the second half.”
Given how the Sun Devils have played in recent weeks, Hurley said a 6-2 record hasn’t felt as rewarding as it should.
“We have to start getting it in gear,” Hurley said. “And start trying to strive to play well so that regardless of what the scores is you feel good about yourself after the game. As much as we’ve been winning, I just haven’t really felt like ‘wow, this really looks great. This feels good.’
“We have to get back to the drawing board and get back to practice and play better.”
Among Arizona State’s greatest deficiencies remains 3-point shooting. Against ULL, the Sun Devils shot 6-for-26 from behind the arc. For the season, ASU is shooting 31.6 percent from deep. Senior guard Rob Edwards scored 17 points in Saturday’s win, but shot 3-for-9 from 3-point range.
As the Sun Devils prepare for a visit from Prairie View A&M Wednesday night, Hurley said his squad has plenty to improve upon.
“As a coach, you do have a big picture look at the whole year,” Hurley said. “Right now, we’re just not developing like I think our staff would hope we would be at this point.”
