Frustrations continue to mount for Sun Devils in 74-70 loss to TCU

(Photo: Spencer Barnes/WCSN)

A double overtime loss, a late game collapse to your in-state rival at home, a 13-point half, and a multitude of “you almost had it” losses, the Arizona State men’s basketball season has reached its peak in terms of frustration, and optimism is at an all-time low. That was the energy looming coming into a Saturday night matchup against the TCU Horned Frogs.

That frustration has been evident both on and off the court, as evidenced by a senior guard Adam Miller’s ejection in tonight’s game, which adds to a total of three ejections and a senior forward BJ Freeman suspension in the span of a month, indicating that the season’s disappointments have been reflected in players’ actions.

It’s hard to know what’s going through head coach Bobby Hurley’s and the rest of the Sun Devils’ heads after so many disappointing losses, there are postgame press conferences where they appear calmer than they should, maybe withholding the true emotions of the difficult season.

“My players didn’t even want me to talk to them after the game,” Hurley said “What do you want me to say at this point?”

A game against a middling TCU provided an opportunity to either vent those frustrations or set them back much farther. ASU’s early game hangovers after these streaky losses has been a pattern throughout the season, and tonight was no exception, as a first half that included a period without an ASU field goal for seven minutes at one point gave TCU far too much cushion.

Despite a late-game comeback attempt, the Sun Devils (12-13, 3-11 Big 12) were unable to find much of a fighting chance, as TCU (14-11, 7-7 Big 12) took this one 74-70.

Coming into tonight, ESPN listed ASU as having the fifth toughest remaining schedule in the country, but when you’ve lost 11 of your past 13 games, you quickly become bored of the term “moral victory” based on the caliber of team you lose to.

“We’ve been saying (moral victory) since Gonzaga,” Freeman said. “Once we keep hearing it does get tiring. It’s just about us. It’s never Coach Hurley, nobody. They always have a great game plan. We just got to go out there and execute it. That’s what it all comes down to.”

The Sun Devils have quickly grown tired of a lot of things, the continuous injuries they can’t seem to catch a break from, the late game loses, the slow first halves, it has all meshed together into one season long fury that we’ve seen slowly unravel over the last few weeks.

First, it was BJ Freeman’s ejection versus Colorado on a flagrant two foul, then his head butt of senior guard Caleb Love versus Arizona, then Miller’s ejection versus Kansas State for slapping a player, then Freeman’s one-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team, and then today Miller was caught using vulgar language to a ref, resulting in his ejection from this game, their fifth “incident” since January 4th.

“I’m very reluctant to want to say anything negative about (Miller),” Hurley said. “Because I just think he’s been a terrific guy for me to coach, but I mean we have to find a way to use a little better judgment and resist the temptation of losing our cool.”

His premature ejection tonight ended his six-game double-digit scoring streak, which came after a season-high 22 points against No.12 Texas Tech, and he has grown to be one of the Sun Devils’ best scorers despite the losing streak.

In a game where ASU lost by only four points, Miller could have been a difference maker down the stretch, but his outburst forced him to watch the loss from the sidelines.

The Sun Devils’ inability to control their emotions as of late has sent this team into a spiral, a spiral that is being noticed across the league, according to Freeman. Hurley addressed the team that they’ll have a target on their back going forward, and when you’re a team that consistently proves why that is the case, you shouldn’t expect anything different until this team proves they can control their emotions.

So where does a team go from here, and what does a coach like Bobby Hurley, with so much looming about his future, say to his team to attempt to keep these growing frustrations from reaching a breaking point?

You may think some optimism instills in the potential of this squad when you fight and fight with some of the best teams in the country, but when it consistently results in a defeat, you begin to wonder whether these losses are truly inevitable.

“If we were just getting smacked by 30 every night and we were a disaster of a team, then they probably wouldn’t care enough to be issued some of these violations and some of the conduct stuff,” Hurley said. “But I believe the group truly cares and they want to win. Been in a lot of hard games that we haven’t been able to win. So I’m very conflicted again about how I feel about it.”