Five takeaways from Sun Devils’ 79-59 loss to TCU

(Photo Credit: Alyssa Buruato/WCSN)

Despite an impressive debut from redshirt junior guard Adam Miller, Arizona State men’s basketball was outmatched by TCU once again Saturday night, failing to get revenge for last season’s first-round defeat in the NCAA tournament.

In March, the Sun Devils played a back and forth contest against the Horned frogs, former player DJ Horne scored a team high 17 points leading them through a down to the wire matchup, until then sophomore JaKobe Coles hit the go-ahead floater for TCU with 1.5 seconds left, sending the Sun Devils packing 72-70.

On Saturday night, TCU (8-1) cemented its dominance over ASU (6-4) once again in a 79-59 blowout victory in Fort Worth.

The Sun Devils started the night off hot, going up 23-9 in the opening 10 minutes of action. But a 53-point second half for TCU proved to be too tall a mountain for them to climb, as they fell to the Horned Frogs for the second time in 2023.

Here are five takeaways from ASUs tough night versus a familiar opponent.

Road Game Struggles Continue

TCU was able to climb back into Saturday’s matchup during the final 30 minutes of action, going on a 70-36 swing and proving it wasn’t rattled by a scorching-hot start from ASU. Scoring points on the road has been a common issue for Hurley’s team, as it has scored less than 60 points in three of five games away from home.

ASU’s season has been night-and-day between Desert Financial Arena and its away matchups — in five games on home court its record is a perfect 5-0, yet its road record thus far is a measly 1-4.

A reason for this could be strength of competition. Four out of the Sun Devils’ five away contests were against schools competing in Power Five conferences, with San Diego being the lone exception. Comparatively, none of their home opponents thus far have been power five teams.

Despite the quality of the competition, ASU’s style of play has relied heavily on defensive intensity turning into offensive production. High pressure basketball and turning teams over has proven to be an avenue for success and home court advantage has played a key role in that.

In the Sun Devils’ five road games, they’ve forced exactly 12 turnovers per game. Yet when they play at Desert Financial Arena, opponents average 16.8 giveaways when the crowd is against them and ASU’s energy is at its peak.

Graduate guard Jose Perez acknowledged his team’s home-court success after a 76-74 win over SMU on Dec. 6 saying,“The louder it is the more energy we’ll have.” So far the season has shown the louder it is the more successful ASU will be. – Ryan Myers

Four-Guard Lineup Pros and Cons

Head Coach Bobby Hurley deployed his sixth variation of a starting lineup Saturday night against the Horned Frogs, albeit the first change in five games. Junior big man Bryant Selebangue was dropped to a bench role to make way for Miller in the opening five.

That starting group of Miller, junior guards Jamiya Neal and Frankie Collins, graduate wing Jose Perez and graduate forward Alonzo Gaffney collectively averaged just 6 feet 4 inches in height. For comparison, TCU’s lineup averaged 6 feet 7 inches. The Sun Devils starting five featured three players who primarily identify as guards and Jose Perez, who may not classify as a guard but is a primary high-post, on-ball scorer standing just 6 feet 5 inches tall.

Possibly the only positive in the aforementioned four-guard lineup shown against the Horned Frogs was floor spacing. The presence of five willing three-point shooters who hover over the perimeter forced TCU to allocate all of its defensive resources farther away from the basket. This creates driving lanes for the likes of the speedy Collins and the shifty Neal.

When the guards did penetrate the lane, it forced TCU into defensively rotating over larger distances, creating more looks to shoot for the Sun Devils. Miller benefited from the smaller lineup, shooting hot out of the gate with two early triples to open the scoring for ASU and contributing 13 of his team’s first 16 points, scoring another three-pointer during that stretch.

While early returns may have suggested Hurley had produced a master stroke of genius implementing small-ball, the final box score will confirm that the cons outweighed the pros in this game. The foremost drawback of playing a shorter group is surrendering inside presence. The lack of size manifested itself in the form of ASU getting out-rebounded by eight and outscored in the paint by 14. TCU’s propensity on the glass especially offensive rebounds also fueled their 10 second-chance points differential against the Sun Devils.

Additionally, while ASU did create better looks from downtown, they still struggled to convert said three-point shots and ended the game shooting 5-for-20 from deep. Overall, TCU’s creation of a more efficient offense down low — largely due to its size — outweighed the Sun Devils’ focus on floor spacing. – Devon Henderson

Lacking Fast-Break Defense

Counterintuitively to the size of each lineup, the bigger Horned Frogs got to the races and significantly outpaced ASU on the break. While the seemingly quicker Sun Devils being dominated on the break by the seemingly stronger Horned Frogs was surprising — on paper at least — TCU controlling a game in that fashion was far from unexpected. They entered the game as the far and away best transition-scoring team in the country averaging 27.8 fast-break points a contest which was over six and a half more than the next best team.

TCU outscored ASU 21-9 on the break and effort and energy seemed the main cause. Big man and senior forward Emmanuel Miller was routinely beating any Sun Devil player down the floor in transition and getting easy dunks and finishes. ASU frequently got caught in two or three-on-one defensive situations with no support arriving to help.

ASU’s inability to effectively drain shots — along with 19 turnovers — also aided TCU’s fast style of play. ASU shot just 38 percent from the field which allowed for many rebounds and quick kick-out passes going the other way. The missed shots coupled with the Horned Frogs’ 13-7 advantage in steals put Hurley’s men in a perpetual state of recovery defending, a state usually not conducive to winning basketball.

Another catalyst to TCU’s success on the break was the playmaking of senior guard Micah Peavy. Peavy, standing six feet eight inches tall frequently grabbed rebounds and pushed the ball upcourt himself. He then used his vision and passing ability – to consistently unravel any resemblance of transition defense the Sun Devils pitched – and find open cutters or shooters for fast break buckets.

Peavy finished the game with 13 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists, becoming the third player in program history to post a triple-double. His all-around dominance propelled TCU to speed away from ASU on Saturday night and handed them their fourth loss of the season. – Devon Henderson

Miller vs Peavy

It has been a struggle, to say the least, for Miller to get on the court for the Sun Devils, but the saga is finally over. Hurley inserted the LSU transfer into the starting lineup right away, moving junior forward Bryant Selebangue to the bench and opting toward the four-guard lineup.

The lineup change worked initially with the former Tiger starting red-hot, scoring 13 of his team’s first 16 points of the game, including the first six points off a couple of threes in the opening two minutes. The guard has yearned to play all season and he was the spark plug the Devils needed — leading the team with 20 points and three three-pointers — after an embarrassing loss to San Diego on Dec. 9.

Miller’s debut was the main storyline coming into the game, but his performance was overshadowed by senior guard Micah Peavy etching his name in the Horned Frogs’ history books. The guard joined Kurt Thomas and Kenrich Williams in TCU lore as the third Horned Frog in program history to record a triple-double, notching 13 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.

Under normal circumstances, it would be peculiar to see a starter still in the game with a minute left when the team is up by nearly 20 points. However, the Horned Frog was chasing that tenth assist and when he got it, the Fort Worth crowd went wild despite the outcome already being decided. The box score portrays a dominant second half for TCU, but the Miller vs. Peavy matchup was must-see TV all night long. – Justin de Haas

Technical Fouls

With 13:32 left in the game, ASU took a 38-37 lead thanks to a Selebangue layup off an assist from Miller. However, chaos commenced seven seconds later. Graduate forward Alonzo Gaffney received a technical foul for celebrating the lead-altering layup by standing up from the bench, presumably saying some words and making a gesture. The graduate student scored no points in 18 minutes after the technical disqualified him from the game with his fifth foul, which certainly irritated his coach.

Hurley has been known as a fiery competitor since his playing days at Duke, so when he saw one of his starters foul out on a questionable judgment call, the coach quickly became animated. Hurley had to be held back by half his squad to prevent him from receiving a technical foul of his own, but it was not enough as the referees issued another tech to the team.

Not only did senior forward Emanuel Miller hit all four of the free throws rewarded from the technical fouls, but TCU also received the ball and Peavy hit a three to give the Horned Frogs a six-point lead. A seven-point swing is something that seldom happens in basketball, but it ignited a 53-point second half for the Horned Frogs.

TCU scored nine more unanswered points to take a 17-point lead with over 11 minutes left, and the Sun Devils never recovered. It’s safe to say those technical fouls were a turning point in the game and were a factor that caused ASU to lose its second-straight game despite having a halftime lead in both. – Justin de Haas