(Photo Credit: Alyssa Buruato/WCSN)
After an embarrassing second half performance against Oregon that saw Arizona State men’s basketball allow 52 points in the second half, the Sun Devils had the opportunity to salvage a weekend split with a win over Oregon State.
Despite a 2-6 Pac-12 record entering Saturday night, the Beavers were riding the high of a monstrous 83-80 win over No. 9 Arizona that saw sophomore guard Jordan Pope drain a buzzer beater to cap off a career night.
The Beavers (11-9, 3-6 Pac-12) carried that momentum into the game against the Sun Devils (11-9, 5-4 Pac-12), dominating in the first half and never looking back on the way to an 84-71 victory.
Here are five takeaways from ASU’s second straight loss.
First Half Stumble:
In Thursday’s game against Oregon, ASU was extremely competitive throughout the first half, but it all fell apart for the Sun Devils in the second half. A five-point halftime deficit became a 19-point loss when Oregon rattled off 13 straight made shots while limiting ASU to just five points over a run that spanned nine minutes and twenty-seven seconds.
The run completely took the Sun Devils out of the game, as they played one of their worst stretches of basketball so far this season. ASU entered the game against Oregon State hoping to turn it around from the last half of basketball that they played. Instead, the Beavers opened the first ten minutes of the game with a 23-8 lead.
Oregon State remained in front for rest of the first half, entering the break up 44-29. In back-to-back halves — the second half against Oregon and the first half against Oregon State — ASU allowed 52 and 44 points respectively. The Sun Devils shot just 32.1% from the field in the first half and hit just one of their 10 three-point attempts.
Oregon State sophomore guard Jordan Pope built off his career high 30-point performance two days ago, scoring 13 points in the first half including a near half-court buzzer beater to close out the half. – Sammy Nute
Sun Devils’ Difficult Shooting Night
So far this season, the Sun Devils have created an identity around their defensive prowess. This high-tempo scheme has worked well, with junior guard Frankie Collins being top five in the NCAA in steals. Getting stops and running in transition has become Hurley’s bread and butter, but putting the ball in the basket is necessary to win basketball games.
Offensive output was a problem for ASU on Saturday, as it scored 71 points on just 34.8% from the field. Only three players finished the night in double figures. Collins had 14 points on 5-of-16 shooting and graduate guard Jose Perez finished the game with 19 points shooting 5-for-12.
One player who did have an impressive offensive night for the Sun Devils was sophomore center Shawn Phillips Jr. He scored 13 points off the bench on only seven shots and grabbed two offensive rebounds, making an impact offensively.
ASU has consistently been a subpar team from three-point range, as it ranks 10th in the Pac-12 in three-point percentage. It is 1-7 on the season when shooting under 25% from beyond the arch, and against Oregon State, outside shooting was again a struggle. The team finished 3-of-26 on Saturday for its second-worst three point performance this season, above only a 2-for-20 (10%) showing in November against BYU. – Ryan Myers
Road Struggles Becoming A Trend
Playing on the road in college basketball can be a challenge for any team in the NCAA. But for ASU the difference between playing at Desert Financial Arena has made all the difference for Hurley’s team. Its home record now sits at 8-1, a stark contrast to its 3-8 mark in neutral site and away games.
Speeding teams up and forcing turnovers has led to success for the Sun Devils this season. In all eight of their home wins, opponents have committed at least 13 turnovers, with no game more telling than USC last week, who had a season-high 22 turnovers in a loss to Hurley’s team.
ASU not only speeds teams up on the defensive end, but it’s offensive consistency is much better at home as well. Of ASU’s seven games where it’s shot 40% or worse from the floor, only two took place in Tempe. It’s even worse beyond the arc, as six its seven of its worst games from three all took place on the road as well.
Fortunately for the Sun Devils, just over half of its remaining schedule will be at home, with an upcoming home stint against two teams it’s already beaten on the road this season — California and Stanford. However, five road games still remain, including a two-game trip to Los Angeles and rivalry game down in Tucson. – Ryan Myers
Rebounding Woes continue to show
Despite an impressive offensive performance for Phillips Jr., ASU had a long night on the glass against Oregon State, losing the rebound battle 26-to-47.
For the Beavers, sophomore forward Michael Rataj carried the brunt of the workload, snagging 10 boards of his own. However the team did an excellent job rebounding by committing with seven players having at least three rebounds to their names.
ASU’s four-guard lineup made crashing the glass a difficult task, and only two of its starters — Perez and junior guard Jamiya Neal — had at least five rebounds. Perez had four of the teams eight offensive rebounds and Neal had five of just 18 rebounds on the defensive end.
Despite the large disparity, Oregon State had just one more offensive rebound than ASU, ending with 9-8 advantage. Much of the Beavers’ 38 defensive boards can be attributed to poor shooting from its opponent, who missed 43 shots on the night.
Saturday’s struggles are nothing new as the Sun Devils have lost the rebound battle in 17 of their 20 contests this year, not including an even count versus Sam Houston State. They are 3-0 in games where they have crashed the glass as well as their opponents, but the rebound margin is only +5 in those games.
While rebounding has not been a focal point for Hurley’s team, ASU will likely struggle in games against good rebounding teams, it’s currently 0-5 when losing the rebound margin by 11 boards or more. – Ryan Myers
Big Picture for ASU
This season, the Pac-12 is arguably the tightest it’s ever been, as Arizona, best team in the conference, already with three losses still having three losses. Because of this, ASU still has a chance to battle its way back up in the conference. Even so, Saturday’s loss was a tough one for the Sun Devils.
ASU still has both games against the Wildcats remaining on its schedule in addition to road trips to both the mountain schools and the LA schools, and splitting the weekend in Oregon could have been key to keeping their tournament chances alive. The Sun Devils are currently sitting at 113th in the NET Rankings, and this loss comes to the 166th-ranked Beavers, so it will go down as a Quad 3 loss.
The Sun Devils best chance at a NCAA Tournament might now come by winning the Pac-12 Tournament in a year that nine of the conference’s 12 teams are within two games of each other. – Sammy Nute
