The Arizona State Sun Devils (10-6, 1-2 Pac-12) could’ve let tonight’s game at the No. 9 Oregon Ducks (14-3, 3-1) get out of hand on several occasions in the second half, but gave themselves a fighting chance—down by as little as six points with 1:06 to play—until the very end of the contest.
The Ducks would come away with a 78-69 victory over ASU for their third consecutive win, following a nine-point defeat at the hands of Colorado to open Pac-12 play. Star Oregon point guard, senior Payton Pritchard, battled toe-for-toe with ASU junior guard Remy Martin to the point where it was actually freaky.
The dueling point guards had the exact same stat line in the following categories; 29 points, six assists, three rebounds, two turnovers committed. Martin even played one more minute and was called for one less foul, even though he was noticeably less efficient from the field (Martin shot 9-for-21, including 3-for-9 from three, while Pritchard was 9-for-16 and 6-for-9, respectively).
Despite Oregon turning a 40-31 halftime lead to 45-31 just 1:02 into the second frame and leading by as much as 12 (as late 7:44 remaining) and then 10 points (as late as 2:22 remaining), ASU refused to fold and made Oregon have to battle for the victory until the final seconds.
Although the final score may not do the Sun Devils justice in that aspect, it certainly is a fair reflection of how well the Ducks were in control of the game throughout a majority of it, as those scoring margins suggest. They made their latest case for moving up in Monday’s AP poll after a dramatic, one-point victory in overtime over No. 24 Arizona Thursday night.
On the other hand, the Sun Devils fell short in what seems like the best single-game opportunity they may have in a while to at least garner consideration for votes to be in the rankings, and of course boost their currently flimsy NCAA tournament resume.
Here are more important takeaways from Saturday night’s loss in Eugene.
Unlike recent seasons, these Sun Devils are still seeking a signature victory in mid-January
To provide further context to the remark about ASU’s current tournament resume, the highlight victories at what is now officially past the halfway point of the regular season have been over St. John’s (neutral site- 13 points), Georgia (home- 20 points)—two teams with one combined conference win in five total games—and, well, that third one is up for debate.
It hasn’t been for lack of opportunity either, as the Sun Devils seemed to peak in a neutral-site, a three-point loss to the defending national champions and then No. 7 Virginia. After tonight, their only other two games against ranked opponents (the third being the conference-opening loss at UA) not only yielded two more losses, but a combined -37 final score margin.
Again, this ASU team has already had some nice victories such a road win by four against a competitive, now 13-6 San Francisco team that smashed Cal the following night, not to mention the handful of convincing double-digit wins against mid-majors.
But none of those 10 ASU victories are going to be convincing selling points to get them in their third consecutive NCAA tournament, not the same way last year’s team had beat No. 1 Kansas and a ranked Mississippi State, or the team before that trounced ranked Xavier and swept the Kansas schools, again beating a high-ranked Jayhawks team but on the road.
What this means is that with the passing of tonight’s opportunity for a signature win, ASU only increases the pressure to have a strong overall conference season and once again go deep in the conference tournament if they intend to make it back to the big dance.
The silver lining in this is that the Pac-12 is markedly stronger this season than in those past years, which means several more opportunities for key victories await. Heck, Oregon comes to Tempe for a rematch with ASU in just over a month’s time, which should be all the more interesting given tonight’s result.
Bench points still a strong point, shows depth of team despite recent struggles
Of course, losing four of six games in any stretch of a season with expectations to make the big dance is frustrating. Even more so when that stretch includes the final three non-conference games and first three conference games, when the urgency to win ramps up even more compared to the previous couple months of the season.
However, just like there are negative aspects and things to improve on after a win, there are positives to be taken out of a loss, especially to a top 10 team in the nation.
With that being said, a notable positive out of ASU’s defeat tonight was their dominance in the battle of the bench points again, winning in that department 24-10 after they outscored the Beavers by a 27-12 margin on Thursday night.
Obviously, there are factors to consider in this, such as the strong performances of Oregon’s starters, as junior guard Chris Duarte was second on both teams with 20 points and senior forward Shakur Juiston matched ASU’s second-leading scorer in senior Rob Edwards with 11 points.
Still, it shows how the Sun Devils have presences like freshman guard Jaelen House (nine points on 3-for-6 shooting) and Edwards (11 points on 4-for-10 shooting, 3-for-8 from three) to help keep the team in the fight when guys like junior guard Alonzo Verge Jr. (0 points, 0-for-5 shooting plus two missed threes, three rebounds, three assists) and sophomore forward Taeshon Cherry (three points, 1-for-5 shooting, 1-for-4 from three, team-worst -16 rating in only 18 minutes) struggle in starting roles.
Again, it’s never easy to find and appreciate positives in the wake of a tough defeat, but if this team can even tap into 80 percent of its potential, games like tonight serve as a reminder that ASU has the depth to set new highs for the program this season.
Layups prove a concerning issue for the Sun Devils
As with any other discussion about anything, context is important when talking about basketball. For example, the fact that the Sun Devils shot 50 percent could be very good or very bad depending on what aspect of their shooting is being specifically referenced.
Shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc, as ASU did with its 8-for-16 showing at the Beavers on Thursday night’s victory would fall into the very good category, as most basketball fans know. On the other hand, converting 50 percent of your layup attempts obviously goes on the other end of that spectrum.
This is what ASU did tonight, shooting 9-for-18 on layups (compared to Oregon’s 11-for-15 for a point of reference), which when looking at the final score of the game truly seems to be one of, if not the biggest factor that looms large in the so-often thin line that separates victory and defeat.
The Ducks certainly deserve their share of credit for a strong defense in the paint, led by 6’11’’ freshman center N’Faly Dante, who was third in the game with six rebounds despite only playing 18 minutes—surely leading both teams in rebounds per minute on the floor.
Also, Oregon won the points in the paint battle 26-18, which coupled with the unsettling number of missed layups by the Sun Devils just serves as the latest reminder that ASU will have to make up for its lack of size with lights-out shooting efforts. Certainly, tonight will provide coach Bobby Hurley with some great teaching points in the team’s film sessions next week, if nothing else.
ASU returns home this week to host No. 25 Colorado on Thursday night at 7 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
