“I don’t even know when it slipped away”: ASU falls in Tournament

(Photo: Rebecca Striffler/WCSN)

DENVER — The 2022-23 Arizona State men’s basketball team can be characterized by its constant ups and downs, with celebratory highs and crushing lows.

In their final game of the season, the Sun Devils (23-12) went on one final rollercoaster ride, experiencing both highs and lows, concluding in a heartbreaking 72-70 loss to TCU (22-12) on a last-second floater from sophomore forward Jakobe Coles.

I’m just heartbroken for these guys,” head coach Bobby Hurley said. “They gave me everything they had all year, just really advanced Arizona State basketball. Played winning basketball all year, played unselfishly, played resilient, battled and fought, and it would take the last shot to put us away.”

In the end, the Sun Devils came out on the losing end that epitomized what it means to be playing in March. The game held a total of 12 lead changes, with each team’s largest lead being 11. Although both teams led by 11 at one point, neither could keep a significant lead for long, but Hurley and his squad managed to hold the lead for 25 minutes but lost it as the game neared its conclusion.

Coming into the game, ASU trusted its defense to be its strength, but out of the gates, the Horned Frogs shredded apart the Sun Devil’s defense. Over the first five minutes, TCU scored points on each of their first eight possessions, extending their lead to as high as 15-4.

One of the many storylines of the ASU team coming into Friday’s game was the play of sophomore guard/forward Jamiya Neal. He was integral in the Sun Devils’ First Four win, scoring a season-high 16 points. Neal brought his hot streak from Dayton to Denver, as when his team was down 11, Neal subbed in and immediately made an impact, immediately scoring five points.

“I think we proved all year that we have our starters back,” Neal said. “They didn’t start off as we wanted them to, so we had their backs and picked it up for them. We weren’t panicking because we’ve been in this spot many times before being down early and had to come back into the game, so it was nothing new for us.”

It wasn’t just Neal coming off the bench and making an impact. Senior forward Alonzo Gaffney and redshirt senior guard Luther Muhammad also contributed five points off the bench. The trio was integral in getting the Sun Devils out of a large deficit early.

“I’ll start with Luther Muhammed,” Hurley said. “He started last year early in the season, lost his job and wasn’t shooting well, had some really good games for us early, and went through a bad phase. And as a senior, he did not mail it in, and that kid down the stretch was big, big, and these games. Didn’t give up and just played with a ton of heart our last couple of games.

“Alonzo Gaffney, what he’s done the last few weeks is just his activity and just his defense and the block at the end of the first half and just the plays he’s making.”

By the end of the first half, eight of the nine Sun Devil players had scored at least three points, all culminating in a 44-37 lead going into the break.

The Sun Devils were riding that high into the second half, pushing their seven-point lead at the break to an 11-point lead. But, ASU failed to keep that 11-point lead as the offense went cold, unable to score a single field goal over the next 7:24. The drought sparked a 13-2 TCU run that brought the Horned Frogs back level at 54 with a little over nine minutes remaining.

During the 13-2 run, the Horned Frogs excelled at getting to the line, with eight of their 13 points coming at the charity stripe. Giving up points at the free throw line is a familiar problem for ASU this year, as according to College Basketball Reference, the Sun Devils are No. 261 in opponent free throw attempts this year. On the night as a whole, TCU got to the line 28 times, with junior guard Mike Miles Jr. accounting for 14 free throw attempts all on his own. He finished the night with 26 points, going 6-for-15 from the floor and 12-for-14 from the line.

“You could really point to the free throw differential in a game like this,” Hurley said. “Miles is a heck of a player in the Big 12, and we knew from scouting he was going to drive it. We talked to our guys knowing that they were gonna be very aggressive drivers to the pain. He really initiated a lot of contacts and was able to get himself to the free throw line.”

While converting at the free throw line was a big reason TCU pulled it out in the end, the Sun Devils’ lack of consistent free throw shooting was one of the main reasons the Sun Devils aren’t going to the round of 32 for the first time in the Hurley era.

Sophomore guard Frankie Collins played well, scoring eight points, and had a highlight play when he posterized redshirt senior Chuck O’Bannon. But with under three minutes to go, Collins went to the line. Collins, who is 62% from the line, had the chance to put the Sun Devils up seven points but missed both shots leading to a TCU layup on the other end.

“I don’t even know when it slipped away,” Neal explained about how ASU lost the lead.

With 1.5 seconds on the clock, Coles hit the floater that ended ASU’s rollercoaster ride of the season on one of those crushing lows. The Sun Devils were in control the whole game until the final moments, culminating to a heartbreaking end to their season.

“But it’s disappointing, and I just don’t have much more to say,” Hurley said. “I feel awful for these guys because you hate to see them lose like that. But they put their heart and soul into it, so it makes it even feel worse.”