ASU overcomes its past to advance in Big 12 Tournament

(Photo: Emma Jeanson/Sun Devil Athletics)

A few short weeks ago, on Feb. 21, Arizona State men’s basketball found itself in Waco, Texas, playing controlling basketball against Baylor.

The Sun Devils weathered a slow start from their leading scorer, senior guard Moe Odum, to enter halftime up by eight. On the other side of the break, though, it all fell apart. Scoring crumbled, and the Bears went on a slew of small runs, stealing the lead on a 3-pointer with just five minutes to go.

When the final buzzer blared, it was BU that was celebrating.

History had the potential to repeat itself on Tuesday afternoon in the opening game of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament, when the Bears found themselves within three points of ASU and just under six minutes to go in the second half after Sun Devil freshman center Massamba Diop accidentally tipped the ball into the opposing net.

ASU had to respond to avoid falling to the same fate twice.

Odum found redshirt sophomore forward Santiago Trouet down low, who found the bottom of the basket with a hook shot to stop the Bears’ 6-0 run. What followed was a 3-pointer from the left wing out of the hands of sophomore guard Noah Meeusen and mid-range floater from Odum, bringing the lead back up to 10, and proving that things might just be different this time around.

Arizona State (17-15, 7-11 Big 12) was, in fact, able to hold on, fighting back-and-forth with Baylor (16-16, 6-12) the rest of the way, but never giving up the lead, defeating the Bears 83-79 on neutral court at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, advancing to the next round of the tournament, where it’ll play No. 5 Iowa State.

Here are three takeaways from the win.

UNUSUAL OFFENSE

ASU’s tally of 83 points – which it achieved on 57.4% from the field, well above its season average of 44.6% – is the most the team has scored since Feb. 10, against Oklahoma State, a game in which it scored 85.

Unlike that matchup, however, where the young and talented Diop led the way with 17 points, or the Sun Devils’ 82-point outburst against Cincinnati two-and-a-half weeks before that, where Odum dropped 33, the team’s leading scorers took a backseat against the Bears.

Odum once again struggled against BU’s defense, being held scoreless for the entire first half, and not getting on the board until the 14:48 mark in the second.

Diop, on the other hand, got his scoring started within the first 10 minutes of the game, but his opportunities came sporadically afterward, and when they did, he couldn’t always convert.

By the game’s end, Odum registered just nine points, while Diop mustered 11. Both finished outside the top four in Sun Devils scoring, and it was only the second time all season that at least one of them wasn’t in the top two.

With ASU’s greatest offensive threats neutralized, the squad’s role players stepped up to carry the burden.

Senior guard Anthony “Pig” Johnson, who sits just behind Diop and Odum in the season points count, led the way with 19, just five off his season high. His first two baskets, a 3-pointer from the left wing and a fastbreak layup, helped the Sun Devils extend their first-half lead to a comfortable position.

Junior forward Andrija Grbović, who tied his season-high with 14 points, Trouet, who scored 13, and Meeusen, who had 12, were the other Sun Devils in double-digits.

Grbović and Meeusen were particularly important to the Sun Devils entering the break with a 44-35 lead. Both hit a pair of 3-pointers, which, alongside Johnson’s two, put the team at six for the half, converting at 42.9% rate from beyond the arc and helping the team record a first-half season high 61.3% from the field.

Interestingly, the Sun Devils didn’t get a single free-throw attempt in the first 20 minutes, setting an NCAA Division I record for most points in a half without one.

BEAR TRAP

ASU seemingly captured BU’s offense in a bear trap Tuesday.

The Bears, of course, were still able to score, finishing the game with a respectable 79 points, but the fight to get there was rough and ugly.

Redshirt sophomore guard Cameron Carr, BU’s leading scorer and ESPN’s No. 23 NBA Draft prospect, led the way with 25 points, but got there on 35.3% shooting from the field and 35.7% shooting from beyond the arc on 15 shots, considerably below his usual 51.0% from the field and 39.4% from deep.

Freshman guard Tounde Yessoufou, BU’s second leading scorer and ESPN’s No. 24 NBA Draft prospect, only managed 14 points on 37.5% from the field, and went 0-for-7 from beyond the arc.

Their misses led to chances the other way that the Sun Devils didn’t let go to waste.

There were bright spots for the Bears, like sophomore guard Isaac Williams IV, who ran the offense while scoring 15 points on 50% shooting. But unfortunately for BU, he fouled out with 4:46 to go in the second half, leaving the team looking disorganized offensively without its point guard.

Offensive and defensive mistakes committed by the Sun Devils down the stretch allowed BU to go on short runs and stay in the game, but ultimately, the Bears’ poor shooting day was too much for them to overcome.

CONVERGING SCRIPTS

Before Tuesday, the last time that the Sun Devils had beaten the Bears in men’s basketball was Nov. 26, 1988, at the now-closed Richmond Coliseum in Virginia, as part of a neutral site tournament. It’s one of just two wins ASU holds over BU, with an all-time record of 2-9 against the Texas school.

Recent history is even tougher to look at, with the Sun Devils going 0-7 since 2003, the year that current Bears head coach Scott Drew was hired.

ASU, however, entered Tuesday with a 4-1 record in neutral-site games over the 2024-26 season and a 9-3 record in the past two campaigns.

Something had to give.

BU’s late-game runs made things interesting, but the Sun Devils tendency to blow games late, something they even showed the first time they played the Bears this season, didn’t rear its head, and the winning streak crumbled away.

For the first time in nearly 40 years, ASU secured a win against BU, once again at a neutral site.

The Sun Devils will have to hope that their positive record in neutral environments can help carry them deep into the tournament, and head coach Bobby Hurley will hope that will be enough to overcome the reports that the university is planning to move on from him at the conclusion of his 11th year at the helm.