(Photo: Alyssa Buruato/WCSN)
TEMPE – Through 18 games and eight conference games, Arizona State men’s basketball has set numerous feats.
Let’s start here. Have the Sun Devils accumulated their best start under head coach Bobby Hurley? Yes, as their 15-3 record entering Thursday’s contest matches their 2008-09 start. What about their start in Pac-12 play? They’ve done that too, sitting at 6-1 before their matchup against UCLA, marking their best conference start since the 1980-81 campaign.
With the historic start in the books, ASU hoped to continue the streak in its return to Desert Financial Arena, but a win would be a difficult challenge, as they’d have to face the No. 5 ranked UCLA Bruins, who arrive in Tempe on a 13-game winning streak.
The Sun Devils (15-4, 6-2 Pac-12) struggled to overcome the Bruins’ (17-2, 8-0 Pac-12) second-half offensive surge, allowing UCLA to escape Tempe with a 74-62 victory.
“You play teams like this, that have been to Final Fours, have those type of guys that have won so many games. They know how to turn it up a little bit down the stretch,” Hurley said. “I’d have to go back and look at the possessions, but there were sometimes when we missed guys that we should have made one more pass or a different type of pass, and it wasn’t made. And against a defense like that, if there is an opening and someone is open, you better be able to find it.”
Taking care of the basketball proved to be challenging for both sides, as the Sun Devils and Bruins had 18 and 13 turnovers, respectively. Besides the difference in total turnovers, UCLA capitalized on them more, scoring 24 points off turnovers.
In addition to losing the turnover battle, ASU failed to make up for it on the glass, losing the advantage 30-25. Rebounding has proved to be a key statistical category, as Hurley’s squad is 10-0 when they outrebound its opponent.
Shooting woes were prominent for each program through the first 10 minutes of action, combining for six made shots on 21 attempts. UCLA led 11-8 at this point but ASU erupted for a 7-0 scoring run, providing a 15-11 lead with 6:39 remaining in the first half.
“I envisioned the possibility that it could be like 11-8,” Hurley said. “… As good as I’ve watched them on film play defense and defend, and all their numbers support that. I liked what we potentially could do at that end of the floor as well. And we did it for 20 minutes. We did not do it the entire game.”
After fifth-year guard Desmond Cambridge Jr. buried a half-court shot to beat the halftime buzzer, momentum appeared to be in favor of the home team. But the Bruins caught fire in the opening minutes of the second half, igniting an 8-0 scoring run.
Trying to combat the offensive outburst, Hurley opted for a 30-second timeout at the 18:53 mark, allowing the Sun Devils to regroup. The timeout proved effective, as ASU’s response was a 6-0 scoring run, regaining its 5-point lead.
“Everyone will point to the end of the game,” Hurley said. “And we couldn’t stop them from scoring, and we couldn’t score. And first of all, that’s not a 12-point loss. So, whatever that number is, doesn’t mean anything to me. That game was not a 12-point game.
“But that aside, the way we started the half can’t happen. You got a momentum play at the end of the half, you go up five, and then 1-minute in, they go on an 8-0 run. They got good players, so it’s not always easy, but we got to figure out how to play better early in the second half.”
UCLA’s long scoring runs hurt ASU, but the Bruins’ defense adjusted during halftime, creating different looks for scorers. Junior guard DJ Horne scored 14 points in the first half on 4-of-6 shooting. But Horne went scoreless in the second half, attempting only three shots in the final 20 minutes.
“We just couldn’t find an answer offensively to match their offensive plays,” Horne said. “I think they really started to turn it up a notch toward the end of the game, and we just didn’t have some answers late down the stretch.”
Freshman guard Austin Nunez provided a bench spark for ASU, allowing Hurley to give extended rest time to sophomore guard Frankie Collins and Cambridge Jr. In seven second-half minutes, Nunez scored seven points on 3-for-5 shooting. Nunez also made his presence felt on the defensive end, matching up against redshirt senior guard Tyger Campbell.
“I wanted to take on the challenge just because he’s an older player who’s been playing at this level, at a high level, and been to Final Fours,” Nunez said. “He’s been in positions where I want to be. So, I took the challenge to face him – wanted to guard him 94 feet. And I mean, he hit tough shots the whole game, and I wasn’t gonna back down from it. But I mean, it was a tough loss.”
With first place in the Pac-12 on the line, Thursday night’s stakes were high. After campaigning for fans to attend the games, the crowd showed up at Desert Financial Arena, which seated 13,363 fans and set a school record with over 5,500 students in attendance.
“I don’t think I ever recall the second deck [above Desert Financial Arena’s student section] being that full last year,” Horne said. “I couldn’t see any seats up there. So, definitely shout out to the fans for having our backs tonight. And hopefully, we could just keep having games like this in the future.”
The turnaround time for ASU will be less than 48 hours, as the Sun Devils will host the USC Trojans (13-6, 5-3 Pac-12), who lost 81-66 on Thursday against No. 11 Arizona.
“We got to go back to the drawing board,” Hurley said. “We have a quick turnaround. We have to prepare for a team that is on the rise and has played better lately in USC. And they’re going to be desperate after the result, probably in Tucson. And you just don’t know as a coach the damage that gets done because these dudes went to the well. They played their ass off today. So, you go do that and now it’s about damage control. And building them back up and getting them ready to come out again on Saturday night and do the same thing.”
