As Jalen Graham sat down in front of his Zoom screen, following Arizona State’s 75-64 loss – the ninth of the year for the Sun Devils – the look of exhaustion, agony and defeat settled in. In yet another game, an under-staffed Arizona State roster entered with limited roster flexibility and tall tasks for those in uniform.
“It’s very tough,” said sophomore forward Jalen Graham following Arizona State’s sixth home loss of the 2020-21 season. “When you lose two major guys that play major minutes, it’s hard to make those up and have other people contribute.”
“Knowing what I knew about who was going to be available, we kind of needed Remy (Martin) and Josh (Christopher), or Remy and (Alonzo Verge), or Josh and ‘Zo, we needed two guys to have a special game for us to have a real good chance,” said Hurley, whose Arizona State squad entered play against Oregon (11-4, 6-3 Pac-12) without the services of Chris Osten and Marcus Bagley after each suffered ankle injuries during Wednesday’s practice. “We just weren’t able to get that.”
Freshman forward Pavlo Dziuba (COVID protocol) and junior forward Taeshon Cherry (personal reasons) also were unavailable. With seven scholarship players at his disposal, Hurley was unable to get the aforementioned outstanding scoring performance from ASU’s trio of starting guards. Though Martin was able to score 30 points on 9-of-22 shooting, Christopher was limited in his production and hobbled by injury, while Verge, the reigning Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year, shot 2-of-12 from the floor.
“I thought we had some pretty decent looks in the first half,” said Hurley, after the Sun Devils converted just three of their 14 first-half attempts from beyond the arc. “We just didn’t shoot it great. That’s been a common theme.”
With shots failing to fall on one end, Oregon’s shooters saw shots fall at rates above their season averages. Oregon’s junior guard Will Richardson, who entered shooting 30 percent from deep, knocked down 3-of-6 from deep. L.J. Figueroa, a 23.4 percent shooter, shot 57 percent from 3 against the Devils, knocking down four of his seven 3-point attempts.
“Hats off to Oregon. They were really ready to play,” said a dejected Hurley, after the Ducks’ senior guard Chris Duarte – who was a game-time decision – started 6-of-6 from the field and 4-of-4 from behind the 3-point line. “Duarte came in and had a great half, got them off to a great start. They’re getting healthy, they’re getting their guys back, and they’re a good team.”
As Oregon has gone through its own set of COVID battles, Hurley’s frustration bordered on jealousy as the Ducks appear to see the light at the end of their COVID tunnel. Early in the second half Thursday night, Josh Christopher hobbled into the tunnel at the West end of Desert Financial Arena only to return sporting an icepack on his back.
The freshman guard’s night was over, tally no points after missing each of his four shot attempts. Skying for a first-half block, the former McDonald’s All-American landed hard on his hip just a day after a kick to his leg in practice had hobbled him.
As Verge was relegated to the bench in the second half, the energetic group of guards led by Jaelen House and Holland Woods helped the Sun Devils increase the defensive intensity, force turnovers, and mount a mini comeback. After trailing by as many as 17, the Sun Devils cut their deficit to seven following a Jaelen House corner 3 with 4:27 to play.
“Zo’s numbers were not great today. He wasn’t in a great rhythm on offense,” Hurley said of the decision to go to Woods and House in favor of the senior guard. “I liked the energy that House and Holland were providing. Even Caleb Christopher went in and got a charge for us at a key moment.
“We were able to somehow cut it to 7,” a bewildered Hurley said.
From there, a quick 5-0 personal run from Eugene Omoruyi pushed the Ducks lead back to double-digits and put any Sun Devil comeback out of reach, as Arizona State fell 75-64.
For the first time since Arizona State out-rebounded Rhode Island during the Sun Devils’ season-opener in November, ASU won the rebounding battle, 43-42. Senior forward Kimani Lawrence grabbed 12 rebounds before fouling out with 46 seconds remained on the clock.
While Tim Healey and Kyle Dodd closed the Sun Devil radio postgame show, Dodd expressed his thoughts on the Sun Devils' effort given the short-handed roster.
“As a former player, I can’t describe how proud I am.”
But as the games continue and the Sun Devils go forth with a different cast of characters each night, Graham summed up the playing experience: “It just sucks.”
“We’re fighting through injuries. We just came back (from COVID pause), we were playing hard, had a good practice, and lost two guys. Then we lost another guy in the second half. It’s just hard.”
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