(Photo: Alyssa Buruato/WCSN)
LAS VEGAS – As a bubble team in many brackets, the Pac-12 Tournament provides an opportunity for Arizona State men’s basketball to bolster its resume and potentially punch its ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
A unique challenge the tournament presents is the opportunity to play four games in four days. During the conference regular season, four games are usually stretched out over two weeks, making the tournament a four-day gauntlet.
Unfortunately for ASU, they have been without one of its key contributors’ freshman guard Austin Nunez, who missed the previous four games with a concussion. Head coach Bobby Hurley didn’t rule out a potential return during the tournament, but without Nunez, the Sun Devils have been pushed to a nine-man rotation, increasing everybody’s minutes.
In their 63-57 win over Oregon State (11-21, 5-15 Pac-12), the Sun Devils (21-11, 11-9 Pac-12) were forced to play all nine rotation players in double-digit minutes, with all five of the starters playing 25 minutes or more. Junior guard DJ Horne led all ASU players with 34 minutes, scoring 13 points and dishing out seven assists.
“It’s something we’re not used to,” Horne said about the four-day gauntlet. “We haven’t done it the whole regular season. But, I think to be able to adjust for this tournament, that is something we are gonna have to do with the longevity of it. And how far we plan on playing, we’re gonna need guys to be fresh.”
To keep guys fresh, teams can build leads and look to their rotation players to sustain them. On Wednesday night, the Sun Devils struggled with both. The first half saw the offense build a lead to eight before immediately surrendering a 15-5 run that saw the Beavers take a two-point lead. ASU was able to regain the lead before halftime but was unable to give its starters some meaningful rest headed into the break.
A similar situation repeated itself in the second half. This time, the Sun Devil managed to extend their lead to 12 with just over seven minutes remaining in the game. With another chance to rest its starters, ASU saw a 14-6 run from the Beavers cut its lead to as low as four. The Sun Devils hit their free throws to ice the game, but not without seeing their minutes balloon.
“I thought that we were able to get our stops and speed the game up a little bit,” Hurley said. “Then when it was a constant grind it out, half-court game, we weren’t as solid (..) The game was just in this really narrow range for so long it was key for us to build (the lead) to 12 points. And to their credit, they didn’t give up; they kept fighting.
The loss of Nunez has forced the Sun Devils to look elsewhere on their bench. On Wednesday night, Hurley went to sophomore Jamiya Neal and redshirt senior guard Luther Muhammad. Although the duo only had seven points, all from Neal, the pair combined for plus-12 on the night.
“That’s where Jamiya Neal has stepped up,” Hurley said. “His role has expanded, and he’s done a very good job. He had a big three in the second half, and he got a loose ball that I think was very important (…) Then I thought Luther did some nice things on our perimeter. So that’s what we need when you have a guy out and unavailable. It’s next man up.”
After a close, hard-fought match, the Sun Devils’ reward for their win is a rematch with USC, a team they played last Saturday and a team ASU has not beaten since 2020.
“It’s a big test,” Hurley said. “We’re gonna get off our feet. We’re gonna get back to the hotel. We’re going to rest; it’s going to be a mental day tomorrow. We’ll walk through some things. It’s another day just to physically get your body back as much as you can and prepare for the next game. But it’s going to be a physical game. If it’s anything like our last game on Saturday with USC, it’s going to be a war.”
