Another ASU game, another white-knuckle victory served up by the Sun Devils (10-1), who are 5-1 this year in two-possession games. At this juncture of the season, it's impossible to overstate the grit element that this Arizona state squad has, and in that sense, ASU's 73-71 win in the Jack Jones Hoopfest over Creighton in Las Vegas was a true par for the course showing.
Here are my five takeaways from tonight's victory.
ASU flips the script on itself
Usually, when we're talking about a razor-thin Arizona State victory, we're mentioning it in the context of a halftime deficit comeback. Against Creighton, though, we actually saw an Arizona State team that did start 0-7 from the field but went on to dominate for most of the period having an 11-point lead with under 2 minutes left in the period. The Blue jays, however, generated a 5-0 run to cut the Sun Devil's lead to six points at halftime, so perhaps ASU finishing the half with little to no momentum was a familiar sight.
Nonetheless, the absence of a halftime deficit wasn't good news in the second half, when Arizona State found itself in trouble seeing their opponent outscore them 21-5 in the first seven minutes of this stanza to enjoy their own double-digit advantage 50-40.
Yet, Desmond Cambridge went off with a trio of consecutive three-pointers, and his younger brother Devan added his own basket beyond the arc that would tie the game with just over nine minutes left in the contest. ASU would knot up the game again with just under four minutes remaining and, from there on out did not relinquish any lead they enjoyed the rest of the night.
Truth be told, it was a tough second half defensively for ASU, who, even with some stops down the stretch, still saw Creighton convert at a 48.4 percent clip from the floor. Not only did the Sun Devils only force three turnovers in the last 20 minutes, but they committed seven mishaps contributing to their struggles. The glass-half-full view, aside from the win, of course, is the fact that ASU found a way to put this game in the W column without administering their trademark suffocating defense in the second half. On the other hand, they will be better quality teams ahead for Arizona State, and tonight's formula will likely not work as well in those contests.
Benchmark Performance
Not since the Michigan win have we've seen the ASU bench be this productive, and judging by the final score, this was naturally a matchup where the Sun Devils needed each and every one of the 23 points its reserves tallied on Monday night.
True freshman point guard Austin Nunez came up huge, scoring ten points, and was a perfect 2-2 from beyond the arc, with both baskets coming in the second half. In a game that, at times was sloppy in the last 20 minutes, the newcomer did not commit any turnovers. Forward Jamiya Neall had six points, three rebounds, and two assists, mostly in the first half. Guard Lauther Muhammad had four points, and forward Alonzo Gaffney had a three-pointer in a critical stretch in the second half to go along with his four rebounds.
You can point to many different aspects of this team that have contributed to their success thus far, but the play of their bench has to be mentioned in the conversation. We knew coming into this season that from top to bottom, this was the deepest and most talented roster that Bobby Hurley enjoyed in his Tempe tenure, and an impressive 10-1 record has certainly been achieved in part by this group of players who have largely been consistent with their production.
Greatness on the Glass
Yes, Creighton was missing a huge part, no pun intended, of their lineup due to the absence of 7-1 center and leading scorer Ryan Kalkbrenner. But that doesn't mean that ASU has to apologize for exploiting the deficiency showcased by the Bluejays.
Needless to say, that when you hold your opponent to just under 26 percent shooting, You should have a rebounding advantage which ASU did at halftime to the tune of 22-19, albeit also trailed on the offensive end 5-7. But in the second half, where a double-digit deficit had to be erased, Arizona State stepped up its game with a 20-16 edge on the boards, including a 7-3 offensive rebounds advantage. There's little doubt that If they did not play as well as they did in this department that a close win could have easily turned into a heartbreaking loss.
Forwards Warren Washington and Devan Cambridge each had ten boards, and ASU guards Desmond Cambridge and Frankie Collins chipped in with five rebounds each. All in all, securing 42 caroms in 40 minutes is an eye-popping stat, no matter who your foe is and what the circumstances at play are. Yet, the task of controlling the boards may have more challenging battles ahead, but tonight the Sun Devils proved to themselves that they are capable of effectively utilizing their increased length on this year's roster.
Desmond Cambridge and DJ Horne are a lethal 1-2 punch
Coming into the season, some wondered how well Horne, who was the team's leading scorer last season and undeniably the focal point of the Sun Devils' offense, could adjust his game to having far more offensive weapons around him this year headed by his fellow guard Desmond Cambridge.
Suffice it to say that the performance of the Sun Devils to date has certainly proved that both prolific shooting guards can effectively coexist, and the win over Creighton proved that once again.
Both players were in foul trouble for most of the night and not only did their best not to foul out during such a nip-and-tuck game but also were able to be the volume scorers when their teammates were struggling.
Horne scored all of his 12 points in the first half but was an important component of the Sun Devils, quickly shaking off a slow start and being in control of the scoreboard for the rest of the first half.
Cambridge, on the other hand, was somewhat modest with his first-half production going 2-3 from long range for six points, But his 13 points scored in the second half, including that mini barrage of three-pointers that helped his team erase a double-digit deficit, proved to be huge.
Solid contributions from that duo can only loosen up defenses that might want to pack the paint or employ a zone scheme that can only help Washington and Devan Cambridge go to work down low If not scoring, then securing rebounds (both combined for nine offensive rebounds in the win).
Will be remiss if we did not mention that the shot selection of both, which at times was not the most desirable. Ultimately you cannot argue with the results. Both are playing well defensively, and the fact of both our averaging double-digit scoring shooting just under or around 40 percent is as solid of a contribution that you can ask from that tandem which is one that teams are hardly licking their chops to face down the road
Cohesiveness breeds Confidence
As the final score would indicate, this really was a roller coaster of a game. ASU faced the proverbial wounded animal in a Creighton squad that lost four straight coming into tonight, a skid that caused them to drop from the top 25 after being ranked in the top 10 in the preseason. As many expected, this made the Sun Devils' task of coming away with a victory anything but smooth sailing.
Some may roll their eyes when the term team chemistry is mentioned as a catalyst for success, but that is certainly a term that clearly defines this year's ASU team, which could be labeled as one of the biggest surprises among the Pac-12 squads in the non-conference slate of the schedule.
"We have good chemistry," head coach Bobby Hurley said following the win. "These guys play for each other and come up in big moments. I can’t even say how many big shots Desmond hit in this game, and Austin Nunez, the freshman on a big stage again, delivering big shots. Our defense has been better, to give up 71 is a lot, but you have to give Creighton credit because they have so many ways that they can hurt you; guys that can shoot the basketball and they are very unique.
"Throughout the summer, I saw it [potential]. Our practices are so competitive, we played 10 guys tonight, and they all contributed. That’s what our practices have been like; top to bottom, I saw that we, as a coaching staff, hit a bullseye in the transfer portal with the guys that we brought in. Warren Washington around the basket, Frankie Collins as a point guard, and these two guys to my right [Cambridge brothers] have been fantastic. Then you add these guys to what we already have and some exciting freshmen, we felt pretty good about where we are going to be.
"This is eight in a row for us, and we lost at the buzzer in overtime in our only defeat. We played lights out in New York against Michigan in another high-profile game. We viewed this game in a very similar way. It felt like an NCAA tournament game, it wasn’t always the cleanest game in the world, but it had the feeling of two really good teams going at each other. It’ll prepare us for our league play and give us confidence moving forward."
Join your fellow Sun Devil fans on our premium message board, the Devils’ Huddle, run by the longest-tenured Sun Devil sports beat writer, to discuss this article and other ASU football, basketball, and recruiting topics. Not a member yet? Sign up today and get your daily fix of Sun Devil news!
