(Photo Credit: Alyssa Buruato/WCSN)
It seemed like Arizona State Men’s Basketball (11-9, 5-4 Pac-12) turned its season around after completing a comeback victory against Stanford in Palo Alto, California on Dec. 29, but it needs to replicate that magic in a rematch with the Cardinal (10-9, 5-4) on Thursday to stay in contention for an NCAA Tournament spot.
The Sun Devils finished their non-conference schedule by losing three straight games and trailed for 35 minutes against Stanford to start Pac-12 play, but the team found a way to grab the victory from the jaws of defeat in a 76-73 win. This sparked a 4-0 start in conference action, but ASU has dropped four of its last five games, including getting swept by both Oregon schools on the road.
Both teams are tied with the same conference record, so not only would a win give ASU the tiebreaker over Stanford, but it would also temporarily put the team in third place of the Pac-12. The good news for the Sun Devils is that they are returning to Desert Financial Arena, where they are 8-1 this season.
The last meeting finished on a wild play as ASU junior guard Jamiya Neal soared in the air to block Stanford graduate guard Michael Jones’ game-tying three as time expired. This moment is a microcosm of what ASU needs to do to beat Stanford: limit the threes, as the Cardinal are 10th in the nation in three-point shooting percentage, shooting 39.5% from behind the arc. This is a stark difference from ASU, as it only shoots 30% from three-point land.
ASU has avoided two of the top freshmen — USC guard Isaiah Collier and Colorado forward Cody Williams — in the nation when their respective teams have traveled to Tempe, but Stanford freshman guard Kanaan Carlyle will play on Thursday. The consensus four-star recruit has led the Cardinal with 15.4 points per game and shoots 42% from three on a team-high 60 attempts, albeit only starting the last five games.
The Atlanta native missed the first eight games of the season due to academic reasons and came off the bench in the ASU matchup, but Stanford head coach Jerod Haase could not let Carlyle and his scoring ability sit on the sideline for much longer. The move coincided with Stanford guard Jared Bynum — who leads the team with 92 assists — sitting out four games due to a lower body injury, but he returned in a 73-71 loss to the hated rival California on Jan. 26 off the bench.
Bynum and Carlyle get credit for being team leaders as guards, but the Cardinal are a squad that wins with their three forwards, who are all at least 6 feet 7 inches tall. This is going to be a tough matchup for ASU as head coach Bobby Hurley has rolled out a four-guard starting lineup since redshirt junior guard Adam Miller’s season debut on Dec. 16, but the downside of that lineup is that it is prone to being out-rebounded and scoring less points in the paint.
The rebound matchup will be difficult as Stanford forward Maxime Raynaud is a double-double machine, averaging 13.9 points and 9.9 rebounds per game with seven double-doubles. The Frenchman has upped his game lately with four double-doubles in his last five games and another one in his first matchup against ASU, notching 15 points and 15 rebounds.
Surprisingly, the battle for points in the paint was not an issue for the Sun Devils when they faced the Cardinal last time. Both teams had 34 points in the paint in that matchup, with ASU scoring 24 of them in the second half, which was half of their 48 points in the final 20 minutes to spark the come-from-behind win.
ASU had comeback victories against both Bay Area teams, but teams have been coming back against it as of late. The Sun Devils led at halftime against UCLA, Washington and Oregon; yet they managed to lose all three of those games. Whether it is technical fouls or the opponent catching fire down the stretch, the Devils have not closed out games against Pac-12 opponents.
The Sun Devils did not even have the luxury of a halftime lead in their last game against Oregon State on Jan. 27, trailing by 15 after the first 20 minutes and never battling back. The one constant through this difficult stretch has been graduate guard Jose Perez, who has scored 19 points or more in each of the last three games and double figures in his last five. Not only will Perez be crucial on offense, but he is the guard that matches up with bigger forwards, and the Cardinal will throw a bunch at him.
This will be a Quadrant 3 game for ASU with it being a home game and Stanford currently ranked No. 109 in the NET rankings. The Sun Devils are 2-2 in Quad 3, so they need a win here considering how far they are from the bubble.
Tipoff is set for 7 pm MST, and the game will be broadcasted on ESPN2.
