What a difference a couple of weeks and a different court makes. After being shellacked by Oregon State in Corvallis on Jan. 27, Arizona State (13-12, 7-7 Pac-12) built off their road win at Utah last Saturday to right the wrong of their first performance against the Beavers (11-14, 3-11), this time putting together a complete performance on both ends to secure a 79-61 win.
Having been the victim to a red-hot Beavers team that was in the midst of its best offensive streak of the season in Corvallis, the Sun Devils were able to re-establish their defensive front on their home court while heating up off3nsively in the second half, courtesy of four double-digit scorers, to take what was a tie game at the break, into a convincing final line at the buzzer.
“Thought we played a really good second half,” head coach Bobby Hurley noted. “Liked how we came out after they closed the gap and got it even at the half. Defensively, we were really good in the first ten minutes. Consistently got stops and played solid basketball on the offensive end.”
Out of the gates, the Beavers didn’t put up much of a fight. With a disorganized offensive game plan, combined with the usual defensive intensity by ASU, Oregon State was held to just six points in the game’s first eight minutes. While ASU didn’t necessarily struggle on the offensive end, they left chances to break the game open early on the floor, as turnovers bit the Sun Devils throughout the first half, something Hurley cited as the window of opportunity for OSU.
“Only negative really was we were a little bit loose with the basketball, which is kind of uncharacteristic of our team,” Hurley said. “Too many (turnovers) tonight… We’re better when we take care of the ball. Got to do a better job of valuing the ball.”
Giving OSU extra chances on offense would turn out to be a mistake. Tyler Bilodeau and Jordan Pope began to heat up OSU from an offensive standpoint after the opening minutes, and with ASU giving away possessions, the Beavers would end up coming back from what was a nine-point first-half deficit to take the lead late in the first before going into the locker room even at 33. With nine turnovers of their own in comparison to OSU’s one, ASU harped on ball security for the back 20.“
“Effort. Going over things that worked and didn’t work in the first half,” Jamiya Neal added. “Obviously, we had to stop Bilodeau. He was killing us in the first half. We knew that they didn’t have a lot of ball handlers, so we had to pressure them.”
As Hurley has tinkered with the Sun Devil starting lineup in an attempt to find his best combinations, Neal came off the bench on Wednesday for the first time this season but made his presence known the second he shed his warmup gear. Never coming off the floor after subbing in at the initial horn of the first half, Neal played his usual lockdown defense at the wing but added a scoring element to his game that Hurley had seen flashes of throughout this season. Neal’s nine points at the break would lead all ASU players and serve as the notion to Hurley that his switching of the starting lineup was the kick in the rear he was hoping to see.
“Came off the bench for about 60 games. Kind of natural for me,” Neal added. “As far as the transition to come off the bench this game, I trust Coach Hurley. I know he has my best intentions at heart. Whatever he tells me to do, I’m going to go do it. I know there’s not ill intentions, he wants the best for me.”
“Jamiya’s one of our best players. He had a great attitude about it, knowing that’s what a winning player would do,” Hurley said. “With Ace (Adam Miller), he had a real nasty streak about him, going into Utah. I’m not sure who it’ll be (that comes off the bench) on Saturday, but that’s just how we have to go about it. Both of those guys handled it very well.”
“Focus and maturity,” Adam Miller noted as the keys to understanding the change. “When you get into a point in the season like this, coach has to make decisions. We have to make decisions if we’re going to crumble or stand up and play like a man. Stood up and played harder.”
While Neal led the way offensively, Frankie Collins, Jose Perez, and Adam Miller all had a minimum of seven points of their own at the half and would join Jamiya in the quartet of double-digit scorers for the Sun Devils on Wednesday that would provide much needed offensive support in the second half.
“The four players who had the double-digit points, we all average double digits,” Neal noted. “We just got to keep that going. We’re all capable of going for 20 on any given night, but we have to get each other involved. Tonight, we did a good job of it.”
After the Beavers made their surge at the end of the first, the Sun Devils came out of the locker room with a purpose in the second, focused on not only turning up the ante offensively but shutting down dynamic scorer Jordan Pope, who had dropped 19 points on ASU in Corvallis. Having contributed seven in the first half on Wednesday, including the three-pointer to tie the game in the waning seconds, assistant coach and defensive mastermind Jermaine Kimbrough zeroed his defense in on him to prevent a second-half takeover.
“Coach Kimbrough did a great job of putting together a defensive gameplan for him,” Hurley emphasized. “We wanted to string out his zoom actions and dribble handoffs. When he was in ball screens, we either hedge him or in some cases switch. Wanted to make him try and finish at the basket, not size us up for jump shots off the dribble.”
In the second half, Pope would serve as the symbol for a stagnant Beavers offense. With Pope going just 1-5 from the field in the second half where Oregon State managed just 28 points after starting the half on a six-minute scoring drought that would balloon into a 19-2 run for ASU. This rediscovery on defense would be highlighted an improved effort on the rebounding front as well, as the Sun Devils flipped the script from a porous night on the boards in Corvallis, to an 31-28 edge in Tempe, signifying a change in urgency on that front from Hurley’s perspective.
“We were not quick to the ball at their place,” Hurley recalled. “They were getting to the 50-50s, getting to the long rebounds. They hurt us there, for sure. We talked about that this week coming into the game. We’re shooting great; when you’re making shots like that, it gives you a better chance to hang in on the backboard.”
The volume of diversified scoring, combined with another classic Devil defensive display, as well as an improved effort on the glass, would create a winning recipe on Wednesday night, marking ASU’s first string of consecutive wins since its home sweep of Utah and Colorado at the start of January. While the good vibes begin to appear once again in Tempe, their rivals down South will look to shatter them on Saturday as the Sun Devils meet arch-nemesis No. 5 Arizona in Tucson. As daunting as that task looks now, the team cited its renewal of confidence as a stepping stone toward being ready to run with the Wildcats.
“We needed that confidence,” Neal admitted. “Nobody wants to go into a game or atmosphere like that, against a rival, off one or two losses. Getting those two wins, able to go in there kind of comfortable, and a little bit more laid back.”
“Got to feel good about how we’re playing right now, but this is an enormous challenge in front of us on Saturday,” Hurley added. “Against a team that rarely loses on their home floor and is a number one seed right now in the NCAA Tournament, we have our work cut out for us on Saturday.”
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