(Photo: Alyssa Burato/WCSN)
ASU men’s basketball began the season with a a 9-2 in non-conference play, the program’s seventh best preseason start since 1999. ESPN ranks ASU’s strength of schedule as the 25th toughest in the country, a blazing start for a promising Sun Devil team. The Sun Devils would begin conference play on New Year’s Eve against the comparable 9-2 BYU Cougars.
Despite a similar record, BYU’s start hasn’t been nearly as impressive, considering that their strength of schedule ranks 350th out of 364 according to KenPom. A loss to Providence highlights the season’s ups and downs so far, but a game against ASU, which has played a top 50 non conference schedule, would be a serious test for the Cougars. Unfortunately for ASU, the Sun Devils looked more like the untested team on the court tonight, as junior forward Richie Saunders scored a career-high 30 points to help BYU (10-2, 1-0 Big 12) lap ASU (9-3, 0-1 Big 12) by a final score of 76-56.
The Sun Devils led this game for exactly zero minutes and were unable to string together multiple strong possessions in a row, failing to match the Cougars’ high volume offense. Only two ASU points were scored in the first six minutes of the game, followed by only eight in the first 10 minutes, resulting in ASU’s second-lowest total points of the season.
BYU devised a game plan that the Sun Devils had no real way of countering, as 20 of the Cougars’ first 30 shots were three-pointers, and an ASU team that ranked 13th in the country in blocks not only didn’t have a block in the first half, but didn’t record a block the entire game, the first time the Sun Devils had done so this season. BYU wasn’t going to let Jayden Quaintance, who was previously second in the nation in blocks per game, dominate this game on defense.
Although ASU lost this game by 20, BYU didn’t really get going until the second half. ASU shot 2-for–15 from three in the first half, but despite that, the Sun Devils only trailed by five after finishing the half on a 6-0 run and appeared to be gaining momentum heading into the intermission. Bobby Hurley and the Sun Devils have developed a tendency of gaining momentum in the second half. After rough starts in each, three of ASU’s last five games have been halftime comebacks.
Although BYU had a slow start to the game, it did not continue that way as the Cougars dominated the Sun Devils 45-30 in the second half, forcing ten turnovers while shooting 17-for-28 from the field. ASU failed to find any consistency on offense or defense to rally.
Senior forward BJ Freeman was the only Sun Devil to reach double digits, and he did it late in the game when it was already out of reach. Senior forward Basheer Jihad scored only six points, his lowest total since the season’s second game. Freshman guard Joson Sanon’s funk continues, as his eight points today make it the third game in a row he has failed to reach double figures, averaging 6.3 PPG over the period. Prior to the stretch, he had only gone under ten points in one game this season.
Taking advantage of ASU’s errors was where the Cougars truly excelled in this game. BYU scored on 51.6% of possessions, had 19 points off turnovers, and had 16 second chance points on 13 offensive rebounds. The Cougars took advantage of every mistake made by ASU tonight, giving the Sun Devils a true taste of what conference competition will be like for them all season long.
Seven Big 12 teams are currently scoring more than 80 points per game this season, including No. 3 Iowa State (87.7 PPG), which defeated ASU’s next opponent, the Colorado Buffaloes, by 10 points. Big 12 opponents won’t slow down to let a team like the Sun Devils get back into a game, so these bad offensive beginnings can’t continue.
With this setback, ASU is currently 0-1 in conference play has a long way to go if they hope to make any noise in this star-studded conference. Three of ASU’s next five opponents are in the top 25, with including No. 7 Kansas. The schedule doesn’t get easier, but you’d like to think that with some steady games where the Sun Devils can create a rhythm, rather than games every ten days in December, this extremely talented Sun Devil squad will be able to improve.
