(Photo: Alyssa Buruato/WCSN)
Arizona State men’s basketball season has had anything but a smooth ride, as peaks and valleys have been highlighted through inconsistent performances, highlighted in Thursday night’s defeat to USC and sliding down the Pac-12 standings to No. 9.
The Sun Devils have a final regular season opportunity to advance their rank, before the Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament in Las Vegas, when they face UCLA in Los Angeles.
ASU is one of many teams in the conference that struggled for consistency all season, as only four teams in the league will finish the regular season with winning conference records. A Saturday win and a Utah loss could see head coach Bobby Hurley’s squad finish No. 7 in the standings at best.
For the Sun Devils finishing at No. 7 instead of No. 9 could make all the difference in Las Vegas. Placing at No. 7 would still require a first-round game for them as teams seeded 5-12 play in the initial pool to decide the top 8 that advance.
At No.7 if ASU was able to win its first matchup, the next opportunity in the bracket would be No.18 Washington State, a team that struggled heavily in Tempe losing 73-61 to ASU on Feb 24.
For the Sun Devils to achieve this they must knock off the Bruins on Saturday — with some help from others in the league — and some necessary improvements will be needed from their last meeting in Tempe when the Bruins closed out a 68-66 victory.
In that matchup both sides from the field, with the Bruins knocking down 22 shots on the night, and the Sun Devils 23, and both teams shot well from the outside at 37 percent for the Bruins, and 41 percent from the Sun Devils.
The big key of separation was the second-half free-throw battle. UCLA scored 45 second-half points while shooting 16-21 from the free-throw line. Late-game conversions from the charity strip from players like 6-foot-7 junior Lazar Stefanovic, or freshman guard Sebastian Mack, made all the difference in Tempe.
ASU was able to convert on just 5-of-10 second-half free throws and finished 9-of-14 on the night. A consistent theme for this group as of March 8, it ranks second to last in the conference in free-throw percentage at around 65 percent, only Utah shoots worse at the stripe.
Yet for the Sun Devils, their last time out from the free throw line was a solid showing. Knocking down 22-of-30 attempts on Thursday although they couldn’t pull out a victory. Thursday night saw a couple of high-level performances from senior guard Jose Perez and junior guard Adam Miller. The duo combined for 43 of the team’s 73 final points and they registered 18-of-22 free throws made.
For the Bruins, they have found success hard to come by lately, they’re riding the worst losing stretch in the Pac-12 currently with five straight, Their last win dates back to Feb. 15 in a four-point win over Colorado. They’ve lost their last three games by double figures and have only scored over 70 points in one of the five losses.
Saturday night matchup to close out the Pac-12 regular season boasts a lot to play for on both sides of the coin, for ASU a win against UCLA could mean all the difference when the Pac-12 tournament rolls around, as the Sun Devils will have to leave it all on the floor if they want to win the conference tournament for a bid to the big dance.
