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Published Feb 5, 2025
Home game slips through the Sun Devils’ fingers in the waning seconds
Jake Sloan
Staff Writer
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Arizona State stormed back from a 13-point deficit in the second half and were seconds away from a stunning win over Kansas State. Freshman forward Jayden Quaintance grabbed a loose ball with 4.5 seconds left and a one-point deficit but was fouled right as he began to throw down a game-winning dunk. In a position to be the hero, the 17-year-old missed the first shot and watched the second free throw leave his hand, the fate of the game with it.


As the ball hit the back rim and floated into the hands of Dug McDaniel, Kansas State (11-11, 5-6 Big 12) breathed a sigh of relief, winning a nail biter 71-70 over Arizona State (12-10, 3-8). The Sun Devils have lost five consecutive home games for the first time since 2006-2007, as they continue to run out of steam right before the final buzzer.


“We let them back in it,” head coach Bobby Hurley said. “Jayden has been a great player for us, and he’s such a young player. It’s a lot to put on his shoulders to make those shots at that moment. There were a lot of other things that happened that would have put us in a better position to win the game.”


Arizona State has struggled against Big 12 opponents at home, but all signs pointed to ASU getting over the hump after opening the game on an 18-2 run. Instead, Kansas State found its stride midway through the first half and closed on a 16-3 run to take a 35-32 lead going into the locker room. The Sun Devils averaged 24 three-point attempts a game coming into tonight and shot 25 threes in the first half, only connecting on seven of them.


Even with the eyebrow-raising number on the stat sheet, the looks ASU was getting on the perimeter were simply too open to pass up. 19 of the 25 threes were open, but Arizona State simply couldn’t take the lid off of the basket in the later stages of the first half. After starting the game shooting 3-6 from three in the opening five minutes, they only made nine more in 31 attempts the rest of the game.


“I feel like in the first half, we were settling for threes, but they were wide open,” senior guard Alston Mason voiced. “It’s weird because that’s a shot we want. You want these guys shooting a wide-open three, so it just comes down to stepping up. All of us have to step up and stick together; it’s the only way to win a Big 12 game.”


It was a game built on the foundation of runs, with both teams finding stretches of success. After Kansas State built a 13-point lead with 13:03 left in the second half, the next five minutes saw Arizona State clip it to four points before a Sun Devil and Wildcat had to be separated by a whistle for the second consecutive game.


Redshirt senior Adam Miller and junior guard Dug McDaniel were positioned in the corner of the court next to Kansas State’s bench before Miller got into an altercation with McDaniel and was ejected. Tempers flaring in a heated game is not a rare sight for Sun Devil fans after senior guard BJ Freeman was ejected in a similar situation last Saturday against Arizona.


“I don’t know if the game on Saturday took so much out of us emotionally that you can’t answer the bell again in three days,” Hurley mentioned. “I think Adam could see that, and it led to his frustration. He’s a competitor and winner, and I think the emotions of the game got to him. That was part of the issue because he hasn't done anything like that in my two years.”


The freshman trio of Quaintance and guards Joson Sanon and Amier Ali all struggled in tonight’s game as they continue to learn in each game. Ali shot just 1 of 5 from the field, all of his shots coming from three, while Sanon finished with a 2-for-11 night. Since returning from his ankle injury, Sanon hasn’t been productive, settling for contested jump shots and overall looking a step slower on the court.


“He’s a work in progress to get back to where he was before,” Hurley mentioned. “He’s just not there. The shots are not going in at the level that they were, and he had a couple of mistakes too. We all have to get better, and he’s in that same boat with us.”


With this game considered to be a lighter game compared to January’s schedule, the Sun Devils are on the outside looking in. With two of their three conference wins against a Colorado team that is yet to win a game in 2025, ASU’s tournament hopes are slipping away game by game. With the locker room struggles translating to the product on the court, time is running out.


“We’re all searching again,” Hurley expressed. “We’re right there and knocking on the door in all these games. We just can’t figure out a way to get over the top. I’ve tried to do the best job I can with this team and I’m not getting through to them enough, and it’s not going well.”

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