(Photo Credit: Evan Baranic/WCSN)
In a season filled with ups and downs, Arizona State men’s basketball was riding high at the start of Pac-12 play, winning its first four games. ASU (10-6, 4-1 Pac-12) had a chance to achieve its second 5-0 start in the Pac-12 since it joined the conference in 1978, but the Sun Devils squandered that opportunity against Washington (10-6, 2-3 Pac-12).
Even though the Sun Devils started Pac-12 play undefeated, three of their four wins were one-possession games, so they knew they were in for a battle against the Huskies. ASU normally plays both Washington schools when they travel to the Evergreen State, but not this time as it only plays one game this week against UW, which makes the road one-off that much more important. In fact, it was an opportunity for ASU to get an all-important Quadrant 1 victory — it was 1-3 in such games entering Thursday — against a team in the top-75 of the NET rankings on the road, but it squandered this chance, losing to UW 82-67 in Seattle.
The Sun Devils competed in the first half, especially toward the end when they went on a 13-7 run to take the lead at halftime. It ended up being all for naught as graduate forward Keion Brooks Jr. and graduate guard Sahvir Wheeler — both transfers from Kentucky — went ballistic in the second half to catapult the Huskies into scoring 49 points in the final 20 minutes and securing the win. UW was down by one midway through the second half, but it scored 13 unanswered points in less than three minutes midway to take a commanding 12-point lead and never looked back.
WCSN writers Justin de Haas and Ryan Myers analyze ASU dropping its first conference game of the season with five takeaways from the matchup.
Three-Point Dichotomy
A major reason why ASU won its last four games is because the team has shot significantly better as of late from behind the arc. The Sun Devils shot 35.4% from three during their four-game win streak, making 10 or more three-pointers per game in three of the four. However, the hot streak went dry for ASU, as it only made four threes in 17 attempts against UW.
While the Sun Devils couldn’t hit water if they fell out of a boat, the Huskies caught fire from three-point land. UW converted on over half its three-point attempts, which is extremely impressive considering that it was also on a high volume of 25 attempts. It seemed like the Kentucky transfers could not miss from three-point range as they combined to make all but one of their attempts, including Wheeler hitting all five of his threes and tacking on a game-high eight assists to his statline.
As alluded to earlier, Wheeler and Brooks Jr. were the catalysts UW needed, scoring 24 and 22 points respectively to break the game open. The graduate students combined for 31 points on 73.3% shooting from the field in the second half. The duo led the Huskies down the stretch, but that should not be shocking considering that they are the two highest scorers on UW’s roster, combining to average 35.7 points per game. – Justin de Haas
Frontcourt Battle
Even though Brooks Jr. and Wheeler were expected to produce for the Huskies, that may have not been the case for senior center Braxton Meah. The big man entered the matchup with the Sun Devils averaging 3.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, but he exited with a double-double consisting of 10 points and 14 rebounds. The senior doubled his season-high in rebounds and scored his most points in a game since notching 14 points against UC San Diego on Nov. 28.
Meah also played a season-best 31 minutes and has been utilized more frequently of late, logging double-digit minutes in five of his last six games. This is because UW is still without the services of senior center Franck Kepnang, who has not played since he injured his knee against Seattle on Dec. 17. Despite the loss of their starting center, the Huskies still outrebounded the Sun Devils by 11 boards.
The Sun Devils were fortunate that they did not face Kepnang because they could not even handle Meah. The latter had more rebounds than all of the ASU forwards and center combined. This includes graduate forward Alonzo Gaffney because even though he only had a paltry two rebounds, he did have seven stocks, leading the team in both steals and blocks.
Sophomore center Shawn Philllips Jr. also had a meager two rebounds, but he shot the ball efficiently in his limited 13 minutes, making all three field goals. The sophomore scored eight points against UW, which is the second-most he has had in a game this season. ASU head coach Bobby Hurley credited his bigs for helping the team defeat Colorado in its last game, and even though there were some positives in the team’s frontcourt performance against UW, they were simply outmatched by Meah on Thursday. – Justin de Haas
Four-Guard Redundancy
The Sun Devils have found a clear starting five consisting of four players listed as guards — juniors Frankie Collins, Adam Miller and Jamiya Neal along with graduate Jose Perez. While all four players have different roles and strengths, it’s clear that having four ball-dominant players comes with challenges as well.
On the offensive side of the ball, a pace-and-space style suits ASU well in its approach allowing all four players to generate their own offensive and fill up the box scores. In Pac-12 play all four guards are averaging in double figures in points per game — Neal with 11.2, Collins with 16.2, Miller averaging 12.8 and Perez logging 12.2. This high spread offensive production is responsible for 52.4 of the teams 74.4 points a game in conference play or 70%.
Hurley has found an offensive groove with all four of the guards, but one of those guards coming off the bench could add a sixth man that the Sun Devils would highly benefit from, as they only average 15 points a game off the bench in Pac-12 play.
Inserting a strong defender like Kamari Lands into the lineup could also help improve the team’s balance. Lands already plays over 20 minutes per game, and although he only averages five points per game, his 6-foot-8, 220-pound frame allows for essential versatility when defending some of the best players in the Pac-12. This might have helped the Sun Devils against Brooks Jr., a 6-foot-7 forward who had an easy time scoring on Thursday night.
So who is the perfect player to come off the bench? The ideal candidate would be a player that can generate offense and create scoring opportunities for himself and his teammates, and despite having a very impressive start to his season, Jose Perez has the best style of play for the role.
Perez is not a high-flying athlete and doesn’t necessarily fit ASU’s fast-paced playing style quite like the other three guards, but is smart and strong, using post-ups and isolations to generate free throw opportunities and find his teammates. – Ryan Myers
Bench Depth
College basketball takes a physical toll on every athlete, and injuries can plague any team at any point in the season. With sophomore center Phillips Jr back in the rotation ASU is now likely to continue with an eight-man rotation that could jump to ten in a heartbeat.
Freshmen Akil Watson and Braelon Green are finding themselves getting consistent floor time for the Sun Devils. While neither is averaging double-digit minutes, they’ve both played in at least 12 of 16 games this season, and Green has been on the stat sheet in every Pac-12 game.
The aforementioned Lands has made an impact all season off of the bench for ASU. While his shooting splits have decreased across the board from his freshman campaign at Louisville, he has shown increases in rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals.
Having more bench scoring could make ASU an unpredictable team that can always punish opponents on offense, the defensive end of the floor has security off the bench, possessing much more length and size than the starting five has at its disposal. – Ryan Myers
Rough Ending, Favorable Road Ahead
ASU was frustrated by how the second half turned out, and that boiled over with it receiving three technical fouls in the last two minutes of a game that was all but over. A scuffle below the basket with 16 second left pinned technical fouls on two freshmen — Green and Watson — as well as UW graduate guard Moses Wood.
Things getting chippy with the score already decided is not a good look for ASU, but it can move on by coming back home, where it has done its best work so far this season. The Sun Devils are 7-0 at home and host UCLA and USC on Jan. 17 and Jan. 20 respectively. These have proven extremely tough matchups in recent years, but both LA schools have been underwhelming so far to say the least.
UCLA and USC have made the NCAA Tournament in each of the last three seasons, but both schools are at risk of missing the Big Dance this year with the Trojans ranked No. 92 and the Bruins at No. 209. Both teams are coming off losses, with USC losing to Washington State in a more competitive game than the eight-point defeat indicates, and UCLA getting annihilated by 46 points in Utah. For the Trojans, losing the game to WSU was overshadowed by the fact that freshman phenom guard Isaiah Collier is expected to miss the next 4-6 weeks with a hand injury.
ASU is now 1-4 in Quad 1 games after the defeat in Seattle, which is not a good look for its tournament hopes. However, if the Sun Devils want any chance of making it to March Madness, they need to take care of business against two downtrodden programs before a big matchup with Oregon — the Pac-12’s lone unbeaten — in Eugene on Jan. 25. – Justin de Haas
