Less than two weeks after coming off the worst loss in the in-state’s series history, a 45-point deficit, Arizona State (14-14, 8-9 Pac-12) hosts 6th-ranked Arizona (21-6, 12-4) in a rematch. ASU enters the matchup beating the then Pac-12 conference leader Washington State last Saturday in one of the most complete efforts of the season. ASU looks to now carry over that momentum against the Wildcats with an opportunity to finish their last even Pac-12 home slate on a positive note.
In Tempe last Saturday, the Sun Devils saw four players reach double-digit points while two others were just on the cusp of that with nine. Additionally, the team tallied six steals and matched WSU with 35 rebounds apiece. ASU that night led by as much as 14 points in the 73-61 win.
Down the I-10 in Tuscon, the Wildcats had their way with Washington in their 91-75 victory. It was a bounce-back victory after suffering their first loss of the season at the McKale Center in a close 77-74 affair.
“As competitors, it’s why I’m thankful and grateful to be the head coach at Arizona State,” ASU head coach Bobby Hurley said, “because I get to coach and love what I love to do in games like this. This is what it’s all about as a competitor.”
ASU will have to try and completely flip the script the second time around if they want a chance at an upset that could wipe the slate of the season clean in the fan base’s eyes. The talent in Tucson has not played much in between the matchups but has maintained its production, even in the loss against the Cougars.
Love, a 6’ 4” North Carolina transfer, had quite the series against the Washington schools. He registered 27 points in the loss against Washington State and followed that with a 28-point performance against Washington. In doing so, Love has improved his points per game average from 18.9 to 19.4. Love also has been shooting a formidable 43.4% from the field and has an 86.3% average from the charity stripe.
In 28 minutes of work against the Sun Devils in the last matchup, Love tallied 15 points and three rebounds and was shooting a torrid 42.9% from beyond the arc, hitting timely threes in a game that got out of hand quickly later in the first half.
In the frontcourt, center Oumar Ballo is averaging a double-double of 13.2 points and 10 rebounds. Ballo also continues to lead the team in overall field goal percentage at an astounding 62%. As much as Ballo is great from the field, his only downside is shooting a poor 50% from the free throw line.
“I don’t think we’re alone in having a hard time with a guy like Ballo,” Hurley remarked, “with as big, physical, and as athletic as he is. You are gonna be put in some compromising situations. We hope that we can do a better job using our speed and our footwork and not get tangled up around the basket. We didn’t do a good job in the first half of understanding game situations; we turned the ball over early in possessions, took tough contested shots, and before you knew it, it was a double-figure game. When you’re playing a team this good, you cannot afford to shoot yourself in the foot.”
In the win against ASU, Ballo got to work quickly, scoring nine of his 15 points in the first half. As expected, a lot of the offense went through him as ASU is lacking size or a larger body center.
Although 6’ 6” guard Pelle Larsson did not have the game of ages against ASU, Larsson has still managed to be a consistent piece to balance the likes of Ballo and Love. Larsson is averaging 13 points and 4.3 rebounds and leads the team in assists with an average of 3.7.
Larsson was held to a mere five points versus ASU but was active in other ways. The Swedish guard had seven rebounds and three assists as the Wildcats pummeled the Sun Devils that night.
To maintain pace with the offensive firepower seen by the Wildcats, ASU will have to replicate the performance they had in the upset win against the hen No. 21 Washington State squad. As balanced as that performance was, in the first meeting with the Wildcats, ASU only saw three players in double digits, posting only 28 rebounds to Arizona’s 46, and had two players foul out of the game (Shawn Phillips Jr. and Alonzo Gaffney).
As any team would want to do, ASU needs to shoot the ball better. Arizona leads the conference, averaging 90.1 points compared to ASU’s 70.2. To have any chance of an upset victory, the Sun Devils will have to be better from the floor than they were in the Tucson loss when they shot 36% from the field and 25% from three-point range.
It may seem a bit odd, even in a win, for a team like ASU to score just 73 points while shooting an impressive 49.2% from the field and 42.9% from beyond the arc against Washington State. Yet, it was the defense that made the difference against WSU, who managed only 61 points and was 0-7 from long range in the second half. Against Arizona, ASU only forced five total turnovers but in the victory against the Cougars saw their opponent commit nine turnovers in the first half alone, and those crucial turnovers led to 14 points for ASU.
On Wednesday night, ASU will have to do a much better job not allowing Arizona to employ the same caliber of runs as they did in the first meeting. The first half of that contest ended on a 13-2 run over the last 4:34. The second half of that ASU loss culminated with a 13-3 run. Even in a loss against Washington last week, the Sun Devils could not halat a 16-0 run by the Huskies to end the first half.
Playing effective defense against the 260-pound Ballo will be a stiff challenge but also is the main key in making matters manageable for ASU on that end of the court. The Sun Devils cannot replicate the foul trouble involved in covering the 7’ 0” center, where Gaffney and Phillips Jr. each had two personal fouls within the first five minutes of the game. That, in essence, challenged ASU’s frontcourt in a significant matter since besides 6’ 8” forward Bryant Selebangue the team did not have the size to stack up.
Backdoor cuts and layups contributed to the Wildcats’ 52-16 edge in the paint. The aforementioned lack of size naturally showed its adverse effect here, too, but Arizona being able to get a bench piece like guard Jaden Bradley to post 21 points only exasperates the struggles in this department.
If the Sun Devils want to overcome their current 7.3% chance of winning (per ESPN) and put that historic defeat in the rearview mirror, they will have to be near perfect in every facet. Players like Adam Miller and Selebangue have expressed that they and the team know what to expect playing Arizona. Time will tell if the reality check the Sun Devils faced in the first meeting will prompt the necessary fire to upset their rival on Wednesday night.
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