Sun Devils travel to the Bay for weekend two-game series

(Photo: Max Zepeda/WCSN)

Arizona State men’s basketball is in a rough patch right now. Losers of five of its last six games, ASU is falling down the Pac-12 standings and national rankings. The Sun Devils sit 79th in RPI, a significant indicator of whether a team makes or misses the Tournament. With only a handful of games remaining, ASU has some work to do.

The past three weeks have highlighted the program’s robust issues. Most notably, offensive efficiency has taken a huge hit. As a team, ASU has shot over 45 percent from the field once during this losing spell. The recent stretch has tanked the Sun Devils to ninth in the conference in shooting percentage.

While the defense remains on par with earlier in the year, the offense’s shortcomings have been too significant for it to compensate for it. These worries hang over ASU during its road series in the bay against Stanford and California. While each program resides at the bottom of the Pac-12, the pressure on the Sun Devils increases tenfold to right the ship before the damage is irreversible.

Thursday Stanford (10-13, Pac-12 4-8) 8 p.m. AZ

The ASU vs. Stanford series has seesawed since the 2017-2018 season, with both teams having five wins. Early this year, the Sun Devils won 68-64 against the Cardinal in Tempe. However, now traveling to Palo Alto, ASU is playing against a Stanford team that was on a five-game winning streak before losing to Colorado last Sunday.

During that five-game winning streak, the Cardinal shot 41.6 percent from beyond the arc, which is an aspect that the Sun Devils have struggled as of late with, allowing opponents to shoot 39.2 percent from 3 in their past six games. Stanford also showcases sharpshooters like senior forward Spencer Jones.

Jones has erupted during this hot streak for the Cardinal, averaging 15.6 points while shooting 46 percent from deep. The four-year Cardinal has a career-high in points and rebounds, and he is tied for 11th in the conference in offensive rebounds per game, yet another weakness that the Sun Devils have struggled to control the glass.

Ball handling has become another strength for Stanford, as it has only had more than 12 turnovers once since the new calendar year. A massive contributor to that is sophomore forward Harrison Ingram, who is an enormous part of the Cardinal’s offense with his playmaking and ability to play off the ball.

Ingram is third in the team in scoring with 9.5 points per game. His teammate just ahead of him is graduate student guard Michael Jones with 9.8. After opening the season with a flaming 31-point performance, Jones has slowed his production down a bit but is still a strong piece of Stanford’s offensive game plan.

The Cardinal statistics don’t stand out in many defensive categories. Nevertheless, it hasn’t been a glaring weakness for the program. Stanford secures the defensive glass, allowing the least amount of offensive rebounds in the conference, with 8.1 per game. The Cardinal sits on the upper half of many key defensive stats: turnovers, steals, and blocks.

The Sun Devils’ offensive game plan heavily relies on attacking the rim and paint, an aspect that the Cardinal have had on lock in 2023, allowing only 20.89 paint points a game. Considering ASU’s futile offensive attack recently, Stanford’s defense offers an admirable test to reignite the program’s success.

Saturday California (3-20, Pac-12 2-10) 6 p.m.

California is experiencing its worst season in program history, as it’s on pace to break its previous season low of 6-21 in 1979. Injuries contributed a little to the program’s downfall, notably to junior guard Devin Askew, who led the team in points by a wide margin, but overall, the Golden Bears are historically bad.

To run down the list, the Golden Bears sit last in the Pac-12 in the following categories: shooting percentage, 3-point shooting percentage, assists, points, and a long list of other statistics. They haven’t cracked 50 points in their past four outings, averaging a losing margin of 16.8. California has an average point differential of -9, tied for 334 out of 363 eligible Division I programs.

All that is laid out to say, ASU can’t mess around in this game. This is the same program that was shocked on the road against then winless Texas Southern. The Sun Devils have beaten the Golden Bears in eight of the last nine meetings.

On its home court, California has beaten fellow Pac-12 rivals in Colorado and Stanford. The Golden Bears did their damage in those games from deep shooting well above 50 percent. Graduate Student DeJuan Clayton has only played in seven games this season but has scored double figures three times, including a 26-point performance against the Cardinal.

Senior center Lars Thiemann is the most consistent scoring threat for the Golden Bears. The German big man is the healthy scoring option above 10 points, appearing in every game this season. His 7-foot-1 frame could cause some trouble against ASU, who have struggled to stop opposing centers from flexing their size in recent games.

Similar to the offense, the defense leaves much to be desired. Near the bottom of every major category, California doesn’t have many defensive-minded guys. Saturday’s game could be a fresh start for ASU, rediscovering confidence in its players, whose production has decreased in recent weeks.