Struggles continue as Sun Devils desperately seek identity late in season

(Photo: Spencer Barnes/WCSN)

TEMPE—Whenever looking at the sidelines during the last 10 seasons of the Arizona State men’s basketball program, one thing has always been certain. Head coach Bobby Hurley’s face will glow the same color as the seats in Desert Financial Arena: red.

Tempers flare and emotions let loose as he lets referees hear it for any call they made against his team. What follows moments later is the normal result of all the yelling.

A technical foul enforced on Hurley.

It happened again Tuesday night when the Sun Devils matched up against the No. 5 Houston Cougars and eventually fell 80-65. A technical foul was assessed to Hurley in the first half as he was arguing over a senior forward Basheer Jihad foul.

“I wish I could run here and give you a million reasons why it didn’t work out for us,” Hurley said. “The bottom line is they were better than us.”

ASU is seeing struggles in its first year in the Big 12 conference. It’s shown that the competition throughout is a lot tougher. Each team within it showcases an identity that they live by every night. An aspect for when times get tough, they can lean on.

The No. 8 Iowa State Cyclones, No. 9 Texas Tech Raiders and No. 19 Arizona Wildcats all score the basketball. Their programs have constructed unique and versatile rosters that their coaches have been able to tap into to produce these results. Each team ranks in the top 35 in the nation in scoring, all scoring above or at 81 points a game.

Houston’s defense easily comes to mind when thinking about its identity, as it is ranked No. 1 in the country in scoring defense, and that aspect of its game was clear Tuesday. Right from the jump, the Cougars were blitzing every hand-off, screen and ball handler they saw, leading ASU into taking contested shots.

A certain continuity flowed between them on the court, something that Hurley gave his props to.

“They just have a bunch of men, grown men, and they really get after it on defense,” Hurley said. “It feels like there’s six guys on the floors, they’re able to put two guys on the basketball and still rotate around.”

For his tenure, a Hurley-led team expects to play energetic and efficient defense. Not once in his 10 years has his team finished the season top 100 in scoring defense.

The Cougars entered the matchup as the No. 148th offense in the country, scoring around 75 points a night, usually making around 39% of their threes. In Tempe, Houston scored 80 and shot 47.8 from beyond the arc.

Team’s finding success has been a trend throughout this season.

UCF’s junior guard Keyshawn Hall earned his career-high against ASU with 40, Cyclones senior guard Curtis Jones with 33, Red Raiders sophomore forward JT Toppin with 41 and TCU’s freshman guard Jace Posey with 20. All these have contributed to the Sun Devils being ranked No. 250 in the country in scoring defense.

“I think the defensive part for us is lackluster,” senior guard Alston Mason said. “We’ve seen different calibers of teams where they’re (Houston) top 10 in the country, to whatever the case may be, but a team like that (Houston), you can’t make that many mistakes to try to win a game.”

A consistent identity hasn’t engulfed the program in Hurley’s tenure so far as most would hope. Defense is the promise, but that hasn’t come to light. Entering the 2024-25 season, Tempe beamed with hope as three top 100 high school recruits were set to join the program.

Freshman forward Jayden Quaintance showcasing dominant defensive attributes; he’s fourth in the nation in blocks per game, even while battling injuries. Guard Joson Sanon earned praise from his head coach early in the season as he remarked him as “possibly the best shooter he’s ever coached” but now the freshman is struggling from beyond the arc.

Both were supposed to be the spearhead that fueled the Sun Devils into the Big 12 this season. A new fresh identity and hope that existed in October, has slowly shrunk week by week as the season goes along. Tonight they both scored 0 points and Mason led the team in scoring with 25 points.

Playing multiple years of college basketball, Mason gave words postgame to Sanon to help the freshman through a rough point in his young basketball career.

“As a freshman, it gets hard, especially when you see us losing,” Mason said. “Then your shot might not be falling. I think for Josan, he just has to find a different way to bring something up to the game. Once that happens, then it’s gonna take the pressure off.”

Only five games left on the docket for the Sun Devils in this inaugural season in the Big 12. Identity nowhere to be found, and fans getting restless. A member of the student section screaming, “Fire Bobby” as Mason was getting ready to shoot a free throw.

A conference record of 3-12, and a home loss streak extended to seven games. The Big 12 wouldn’t be an easy conference to get into, but with a certain team down south seeing success within it, questions and doubt start to rise in the hearts of the Sun Devil faithful.

Regardless, competition is still to be had, teams will be played and gameplanes made for these last five games. The only thing ASU can do now is go out and compete.

“I always say it starts with one,” Mason said. “As long as we can get one game to where we could just relieve the pressure out for a little bit, that can have guys get a little more comfortable and trust in each other. So I just think it takes a win and the Big 12, they’re not going to give anybody a win, so we just got to come prepared and ready to go.”