Preview: ASU looks to right ship against Stanford

(Photo: Scotty Bara/WCSN)

The Arizona State men’s basketball team will look to put an end to its two-game skid as they host Stanford Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Arena.

The Sun Devils (19-8, 8-6) fell at the hands of the Utah Utes last Sunday by a score of 86-63. The team shot an abysmal 31 percent from the field, and had no answer for Utes guard Delon Wright. Wright finished with 22 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

Stanford (18-8, 9-5), on the other hand, has now won three games in a row. Most recently, they defeated No. 23 UCLA, 83-74 on Saturday. Guard Chasson Randle, who leads the team in scoring with 18.8 points per game, finished with an impressive 26- point effort in the win over UCLA.

The last time these two teams met, the Cardinal took care of business winning 76-70 in Palo Alto. If the Sun Devils win Wednesday night’s match up, they will be in a tie for third place in the Pac-12. If the Cardinal wins, they will move into a tie for second place in the conference.

Keys to the game:

1. Rebounding – The Sun Devils have been outrebounded 146-98 in their last three games. Even though they were able to squeak by Arizona, the Sun Devils struggle immensely when they are out rebounded by a wide margin. Center Jordan Bachynski tends to play with more energy at home, so expect him to have a much improved performance after struggling last weekend.

2. Stopping Dwight Powell – The Cardinal forward had his best conference game of the season against the Sun Devils. Powell was a dominant force inside that the Sun Devils had no answer for in Palo Alto where he finished with 28 points and five rebounds against ASU. Look for the Sun Devils to rotate both forward Eric Jacobsen and Bachynski on Powell in order to stop him.

3. Get Jermaine Marshall going – After having his best game of the season against Arizona, the Sun Devil guard has struggled mightily in the past two games. He scored only seven points in each game and shot a combined 2 of 15 from three-point land. Marshall is the catalyst for this Sun Devil offense because he takes a lot of the pressure off of point guard Jahii Carson. If Marshall can get into a shooting groove early, then the Sun Devils have a good chance of winning the game.

Match up to watch: Guard Jermaine Marshall vs. Guard Chasson Randle

• The last time these two teams met, Marshall finished with 22 points and Randle had 21. However, Randle scored when it mattered as most as 15 of his 21 points came in the second half. Randle and Marshall are both top scoring threats on their respective teams, so it’ll be interesting to see who comes out on top on Wednesday night.

Prediction:

• The Sun Devils are back at home, and refocused after losing two bad games. It’ll be close, but ultimately Arizona State wins 65-60.

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