(Photo: Alyssa Buruato/WCSN)
Arizona State men’s basketball was in the midst of a three-game losing stretch just 17 days ago, suffering embarrassing performances against Northwestern and San Diego. The program was a team lost without a roadmap.
Head coach Bobby Hurley let it be known it was now or never for his team with conference play on the horizon, and the team’s next few weeks would tell the story of ASU’s season.
“We’re going to fight for the program and do what we have to do to change this,” Hurley said “We’ll find out a lot over the next couple weeks.”
Hurley found a team revitalized and playing confidently to start conference play, as the Sun Devils (9-5, 3-0 Pac-12) improved to 3-0 — tied with Oregon for the best mark in Pac-12 play — after an 82-70 statement victory against Utah (11-3, 2-1 Pac-12) on Thursday.
ASU has been fierce on the defensive end, leading the Pac-12 in blocks per game (5.3) while winning the turnover battle in all three games, forcing 42 conference turnovers to just 31 giveaways of its own.
Offensively the Sun Devils have been red hot since coming back from their nine-day break, as the team has shown increases in shooting percentages in its first three conference games with a difference of 3.7 (41-44.7), along with an almost five percent jump from beyond the arc (30.8-35.2).
Multiple key players for ASU have made major improvements to their scoring output as well. Graduate guard Jose Perez had a season-high 26 points against Utah knocking down 4-of-5 3-point shots.
Despite not scoring in 15 minutes against Utah, sophomore forward Kamari Lands has provided a spark off the bench since Pac-12 play began, scoring 13 points in a nail-biter win over Stanford and 11 points against California, knocking down 3-of-5 bombs from deep.
No player has been more crucial to ASU’s success than junior guard Frankie Collins, whose defensive presence has been most noticed by racking up the third-most steals in the country per game (3.1). Collins leads ASU in points (13.8) and assists per game (3.5), serving as a complimentary piece to his high-level defense.
The Sun Devils next test comes Saturday night when Colorado (11-3, 2-1) comes to Tempe. The Buffs will look to get back on track after an embarrassing performance against No. 10 Arizona in Tucson, where they lost 97-50 on Thursday.
Colorado was second best in every statistical category Thursday night, but none more glaring than the rebound disparity getting outmatched 47-27 on the glass.
Despite their latest blip, the Buffs have had an impressive start to their season knocking off ACC powerhouse Miami 90-63 at Barclays Center in early December. They are currently 9-0 at home and rank third in the Pac-12 in points per game (81.8).
Colorado is led by junior guard KJ Simpson, who leads the conference in points per game at 20.3 and leads his team in assists (4.9) and steals (1.9) per game as well.
The Buffs’ offensive doesn’t just consist of Simpson, the roster has three other players averaging double figures including freshman forward Cody Williams, brother of Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams. The 6-foot-8 freshman averages 14 points per game shooting 60 percent from three, despite not having played since Dec 7 due to injury. Williams is likely to make a return tonight, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Woo.
Looking to improve to 4-0, Arizona State will tip off against Colorado at 6 p.m. MST from Desert Financial Arena in Tempe. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU and Arizona Sports 98.7
