Sluggish start sabotages Sun Devils in physical battle against Baylor

(Photo: Spencer Barnes/WCSN)

TEMPE- Senior guard BJ Freeman blew by his defender and had a free layup at the basket. It would be the first points for ASU on the night, but there was one issue.

He left it short and completely blew the layup, clanking the ball off the front rim.

Echoes of disappointment soon filled Desert Financial Arena as the crowd, that just days earlier had watched as their Sun Devils scored 13 points in the second half against No. 11 Kansas, watched their team carry over the bad play into Saturday.

The first-half fans witnessed in Tempe was better than that 13-point second half performance in Lawrence, but not by much. ASU could only muster up 20 points against Baylor, earning a 12-point deficit at halftime.

“I thought some of the stuff they were doing affected us,” ASU head coach Bobby Hurley said. “There was an adjustment period. We just were not efficient on offense.”

It’s been an adjustment period for ASU in its early period in the Big 12. The league presents some challenges, like every team having talent, size and length and on top of all of that, new travel destinations have scrambled the Sun Devils. Flying back from Kansas after a tough loss to match up with Baylor in the next matchup isn’t the easiest feat in the world, but the Sun Devils must overcome turnarounds like this in a tough conference like the Big 12.

The Sun Devils looked affected by those travel problems early. Baylor was locked and loaded as the ball was tipped, bringing a physicality to the Sun Devils that it didn’t look like the team was ready. ASU came out sluggish on the offensive end and was a shell of the team it usually is.

“We had a disaster class of travel,” Hurley said. “Things happen in life, but we got into Kansas late in the night of the game, with a long day of travel, and then after the game, late game on Wednesday, back here at three in the morning. So I’m not saying that’s the reason, but we just didn’t look like the team that I am used to seeing.”

Players couldn’t buy any space on their drives if they wanted to. Baylor’s length and size threw off what ASU likes to do. Drive into the paint and kick it out. It’s the simplest way to play basketball, and ASU couldn’t accomplish that in the first half. That struggle led to the Sun Devils only shooting 6-23 in the first half and scoring only four points in the paint.

ASU went on two five-plus minute scoring droughts in the first half, but even with such a drought, the team was still competing on the defensive side of the floor. It was an ugly and scrappy game, and the Bears seemed to thrive in that type of environment.

Senior guards like Adam Miller, Alston Mason, and Freeman couldn’t get any space on the offensive end of the floor. When the team switched it up and tried to run sets to get the ball inside to players like senior center Shawn Phillips Jr., they faced challenges, as the Bears heavily contested and denied passes to the lower blocks.

Hurley mentioned that the halftime message was mainly filled with “disappointment.” The team looked like it was playing in a shell of themselves. To help combat this Hurley rolled out his signature full-court press, which forced the Sun Devils to play with energy and, most importantly, together.

The half-court offense was non-existent in the first half. A game plan like a full-court press leads to more fastbreak opportunities, and ASU was able to generate some offense from those moments. 16 fast break points and 18 points off turnovers were scored in the second half.

ASU proved in the second half that it could compete in the Big 12. It also showed that on Wednesday night against Kansas in the first half. The one thing it now needs to do is put it all together for 40 minutes. These past two outings have been teaching moments of what the Big 12 can do if you don’t compete for the entire game.

“Every possession matters,” Miller said. “It’s not about one person. We have to do it as a whole. I think that’s the biggest problem we have. We got to be a group in doing what we do, and it’s gotta be together. The teams were going against each other; they knew exactly what they wanted to do. I can feel it. They’re more connected.”

It starts with more consistent offensive fluidity. When one thing doesn’t work for ASU, it becomes a panic on offense. When guards aren’t getting space on drives, ASU becomes stagnant—passing it around on the perimeter. The team has to get more off-ball movement when defenses are playing them tight.

Trust has to be felt in the lineup. For stretches in specific points in the game, it feels like that trust isn’t there. However, when ASU shifts into a full-court press, that energy and trust are felt, and that’s when the Sun Devils see success and look like they can hang with the nation’s best.

Miller advocated for ASU to run its full-court press more often, as he mentioned it could be a good “tone setter” for games. A potential solution for ASU’s slow start problem is that this type of defense forces you to be active and awake. That change was evident against Baylor, as the team was completely different in the second half.

“We didn’t do anything special,” Miller said. “We just started playing like our hair was on fire. In the first half, we weren’t doing that. Honestly, like our press, I feel like we probably should press a little bit more.” I think it sets the tone……we feed off the energy.”