Sun Devils’ struggles in Texas continue as TCU dominates the second half

(Courtesy of TCU Athletics)

All season, on-court chaos has been where ASU thrived. It relied on fast-break opportunities and high-flying attacks to the rim to stay competitive against more highly touted opponents.

Still, the Sun Devils were not expecting the chaos that played out in Fort Worth on Tuesday. Five minutes into the first half, a scuffle broke out after TCU’s Jayden Pierre fouled ASU point guard Anthony Johnson. The benches cleared, and everyone from players to ASU head coach Bobby Hurley got involved. As Hurley fell amid the crowd, other coaches and referees separated the players.

TCU’s Malick Diallo was ruled out for the season months ago with an ACL tear. That didn’t stop him from getting involved, and he ended up as the only player ejected.

At times, it felt like the Sun Devils showed more fight in that scuffle than they did the entire rest of the game. Arizona State (14-14, 5-10 Big 12) fell 90-78 to Texas Christian University (18-10, 8-7 Big 12).

After a slow start, it seemed like the Sun Devils would be headed to another close affair, but this time their magic had run dry. They suffered their biggest loss since No. 1 Arizona in January, despite the impressive scoring efforts of their guards.

Bright Spots

That scoring was one of the few things that went right for the Sun Devils. After starting off slow, Moe Odum finished with a game high 21 points on 50% shooting.

The senior point guard was a dual threat, leading the team in assists with 10. He relied heavily on his deep shot, making three 3-pointers.

Fellow guard Anthony Johnson was most notably involved in the foul leading to the scrum, but his offensive impact generated some excitement as well.

He was perfect from the free throw line on six attempts, while also making six of his 10 field goal attempts. Ultimately, many of his and Odum’s points came after TCU was in preservation mode and the game seemed out of reach. That insurmountable deficit started early.

Slow Start

Just days prior, ASU excelled in the first 20 minutes before crumbling after halftime to lose 73-68 in Waco, Texas. On Tuesday, that negative momentum seemed to follow the team 87 miles to Fort Worth, Texas.

The Sun Devils struggled coming out of the gate, scoring just 30 points in the first half while shooting 1-for-9 from 3-point range. They were on track for their lowest scoring outing of the season.

ASU’s only saving grace was the fact that TCU struggled just as much. The Horned Frogs had 33 points in the first half and only three players had made multiple shots.

It was not elite defense holding these two offenses back. ASU gives up the third-most points per game in the Big 12 and TCU allows the sixth-highest 3-point shooting percentage in the conference.

The half was riddled with poor closeouts and slow shifts in zone defense, but missed open shots and turnovers from both teams kept the game close and the score low.

The poor start rolled into a poor overall performance for the Sun Devils. Meanwhile, TCU was able to pick up its pace and turn a one-possession lead into a 19-point gap in just 12 minutes of the second half.

Dominant Duo

The Horned Frogs followed the lead of Xavier Edmonds through the first 20 minutes before Micah Robinson’s scoring blew the game open.

Edmonds came into the game second on his team in scoring with 12.5 points per game. He passed that in less than 16 minutes.

The junior forward took a physical approach to the basket. He scored his 14 first-half points on just seven shots while being a part of an effort that drew seven fouls from ASU’s front court in the first half.

Sun Devil star Massamba Diop fouled out of the game for the first time in his career. He anchors a team that was completely outmatched on the defensive boards. TCU pulled down 17 offensive rebounds compared to ASU’s eight and Edmonds’ six rebounds were a big part of it.

The only player in the game to finish with more rebounds than Edmonds was his teammate Robinson. The 6-foot-6 forward played much larger than his frame. He recorded eight rebounds and 20 points, 17 in the second half alone.

Robinson was able to stretch the court, taking advantage of Sun Devil forwards Santiago Trouet and Andrija Grbović, who were focused on defending low against Edmonds. Robinson made three 3-pointers for the first time all season.

TCU came into the game 11th in Big 12 scoring at just 78 points per game, 0.1 points behind ASU. Behind the firepower of Robinson and Edmonds it was able to find a 50% increase in scoring from Saturday’s game against West Virginia.

ASU will return to Tempe for its final home stretch to take on Utah and No. 14 Kansas. After dropping back-to-back games in Texas the Sun Devils tournament hopes are slim, but never zero in the Big 12.