(Photo: Aiden Longbrake/WCSN)
TEMPE– “We failed, I’m failing. I can’t get through to the team,” ASU men’s basketball head coach Bobby Hurley said.
“Doomed.”
The words of what Hurley claimed in regards to his mindset with eight minutes left in his team’s Wednesday night defeat to West Virginia.
Just seconds earlier, WVU’s Jasper Floyd sprinted to the wing, took one dribble and stepped back from the outstretched arms of forward Santiago Trouet. With no regard for the reach of the 6-foot-10 Sun Devil defender, Floyd let the ball fly. His 3-pointer put the Mountaineers ahead five points, killing ASU’s hope for victory.
The Mountaineers (13-6, 4-2 Big 12) extended their lead over the final eight minutes for a 75-63 victory in Tempe over the Arizona State men’s basketball (10-9, 1-5 Big 12) on Wednesday night.
This wasn’t just another game for the Sun Devils. It was a chance for them to bounce back after losing to consecutive ranked opponents on the road. Coming up short against an unranked, middle-of-the-pack conference opponent puts their chances at postseason basketball in jeopardy.
“It definitely affected us emotionally,” Trouet said. “But we try to stay together. We approached this game like it was a season breaking game, but we couldn’t get it.”
Opening the game, ASU came out ready to earn its season back. It jumped out to a 26-13 lead via their fast pace and aggression that this team is known for. Ultimately that wouldn’t hold.
Hurley pointed to the Honor Huff’s made 3-pointer to end the half as one of the small mistakes that buried the team. The Mountaineer senior guard was scoreless until the final seconds of the half when he made the deep shot over Noah Meeusen’s coverage.
While Bobby Hurley praised Meeusen’s impact on the team and even his performance tonight, he said the guard’s inability to follow his instructions was critical.
“There isn’t a commitment to listening and we lack discipline in terms of listening to some of the things that I’m trying to get across to the team,” Hurley said. “My voice is not working with this group and that was a great example of it.”
The Sun Devils tied the turnover battle thanks to Diop’s two blocks and two steals, but they struggled immensely at the free throw line. Prior to the game they led the Big 12 in free throw shooting at 77.2 percent. Tonight, they shot just 55.6 percent.
Free throw shooting is one of the few categories ASU isn’t near the bottom of its conference in. Without that it’s a struggle for it to stay competitive.
West Virginia head coach Ross Hodge said that the Big 12 is the third-best league in the world, behind only the NBA and EuroLeague. Whether that’s true or not, the Sun Devils are feeling the struggle of facing such difficult opponents.
To start the season they were 9-2 before losing their final two non-conference games. Those two games combined with the Big 12 contests delivered the Sun Devils losses in seven of their last eight games.
“A couple of months ago, a couple of weeks ago, we were beating good teams,” Trouet said. “Then we came here, lost two games we shouldn’t have lost and everything went downhill.”
Even with the loss and ASU’s position near the bottom of the conference standings, Hurley said he is proud of the effort his team gave. He said his frustration is less about the players and more about their bleak outlook for the rest of the season.
“This group of people are very willing to try and give what they have. I’m not overly disappointed in that regard, it’s more of just the hope.
