ASU Men’s Basketball: Defense strong, not enough in 58-53 loss to USC

(Photo: Marlee Smith/WCSN)

Arizona State Men’s Basketball fumbled down the stretch to the No. 19 ranked USC Trojans on Thursday night, falling 58-53 in front of an energetic crowd at Desert Financial Arena.

Junior forward Jalen Graham made a layup to polish off an 8-0 run for ASU that pushed its lead to 40-32, its biggest lead of the contest halfway through the second half. USC then turned it over, but a quick shot on the other end by freshman guard/forward Jamiya Neal rimmed out and things began to go downhill for the Maroon and Gold.

USC senior guard Drew Peterson missed a free throw but an offensive rebound, a category USC won 20-9, and put-back by redshirt senior forward Chevez Goodwin immediately got the Trojans within striking distance. It set off a 5-0 spurt that cut the deficit to three and throughout the next three minutes thereafter, the Trojans ended up notting things up at 44.

The teams then traded baskets for three more minutes until USC got a lead thanks to a three-pointer from junior forward Isaiah Mobley with 2:06 to play.

With the game tied at 51 with 45 seconds left, a foul from ASU sophomore guard Jay Heath immediately after a missed shot by Graham gave USC junior guard Boogie Ellis two free throws that put the Trojans in front for good.

Ellis hit two more free throws with 12 seconds to play as the Sun Devils trailed by three, but sophomore guard DJ Horne took a questionable floater inside the paint which rimmed out, and Ellis finished his 21-point outing with an emphatic dunk.

“In the timeout, we talked about trying to get a three because we were down three and you know, maybe he was anticipating them failing again,” ASU Head Coach Bobby Hurley said. “It wasn’t the right choice.”

Quick shots looking for the extra momentum boost turned into missed opportunities for the Sun Devils to create some distance between them and the Trojans, something Hurley was disappointed with.

“We could have really extended our lead and we just didn’t handle the zone well for two to three minutes and stopped making shots,” Hurley said. “When they went to that zone, they took away our inside game and we couldn’t hit perimeter shots and that’s kind of been the theme for us this year.”

For the first 12 minutes of action, it was a tale of two beginnings. USC opened the game with a 14-2 start by making three of their first five shots from beyond the arc. Ellis was the main culprit, as he hit his first two three-pointers and it looked like the Sun Devils were in for another easy defeat at home.

However, ASU has been a team that’s seemed to play with a little more life since its 18-point loss to Colorado back on Jan. 15. Although it is just 1-3 since that game, the team has shown a renewed energy since its two separate long breaks from games. The Sun Devils responded with an 11-1 run over the next seven minutes to cut the Trojans’ lead to just 15-13.

USC junior forward Max Abonkpolo hit his first and only three of the first half to put the Trojans up five, and they would hold a 26-20 lead with two and a half minutes to go in the opening half.

But the resilient Sun Devils made a run to grab momentum going into the intermission. Their defense was superb following the Trojan outburst at the beginning of the game. Freshman center Enoch Boakye blocked two shots down the stretch and Heath recorded a steal and a bucket to cut the score to 26-24, which had the crowd at Desert Financial Arena on their feet going into the half.

The shooting was not great – both teams were shooting around 25% from the field and 25% from the three-point line, although USC had taken 16 three-pointers to ASU’s eight.

Another statistic that jumped out was the turnover battle. ASU’s season-low for turnovers was eight, and at the half they only had given it away three times. In the four games they had their season-low of eight turnovers in, the Sun Devils had lost three of those games, with one of them coming against USC in Los Angeles just 10 days ago.

Three minutes into the second half, ASU had taken a one-point lead thanks to more great defense. Senior forward Kimani Lawrance and junior forward Alonzo Gaffney both blocked shots that set up Lawrence’s transition layup, which gave ASU its first lead of the night. Gaffney, Lawrence, Neal, Graham both finished with two blocks apiece, with Baokye recording three blocks. For Hurley, it was Graham’s offense that stood out, as he recorded a career-high 19 points.

“His footwork was special, his touch around the basket, and he looked like the best player on the court tonight,” Hurley said. “He’s just making huge strides and has really been great the last few weeks and just has a great attitude and is always practicing.”

Lawrence, constantly competing against Graham every day, has seen the progression.

“I just think he is just slowing down and just taking what the defense gives them and being aggressive,” Lawrence said. “He is a really talented kid.”

ASU’s defense seemed to be the main reason USC scored their season-low of 58 points, the second such time this season. A team-wide 11 blocks on the night – the second-most in a game this year for the Sun Devils – got ASU’s home crowd fired up.

Lawrence said they fed off of the energetic support in Tempe.

“Our fans definitely play a big part and the way we played today, I was definitely happy that they came and supported us,” Lawrence said. “Going forward we gotta keep feeding off that energy, the energy that our bench brings and the big plays that we make.”

With highly-ranked programs like UCLA and Arizona coming to town, ASU will look to continue some of the momentum it may have established on Thursday.