The Sun Devils came into their matchup looking to put their last game against Kansas, yet began their home contest against Baylor similarly to how they ended last Wednesday’s game in Allen Fieldhouse. Although they erased a 15-point second-half deficit to force overtime, Arizona State’s (10-5, 1-3 Big 12) effort was a too little too late proposition as Baylor (11-4, 3-1) came out with the overtime victory 72-66.
“We didn’t get off to a great start,” head coach Bobby Hurley said. “Some of the stuff they were doing defensively affected us, and it was an adjustment period. We weren’t very efficient on offense, and we didn’t have a lot of juice. This league will be an adjustment playing on Wednesday night in Kansas and then coming back here on Saturday night.”
The Sun Devils posted just 13 points in the second half of the Kansas game after taking a six-point lead going into halftime and proceeded to watch Kansas steamroll them to win 74-55. Hurley looked to put that performance in the rearview mirror, but the Sun Devils started the game almost exactly how they ended their last, putting up just 20 points in the first half.
“We didn’t look like the team I’m used to seeing to open the game,” Hurley expressed. “We weren’t moving great, and we were just average in terms of how our energy was being spent. I didn’t feel like we were out of it; I was disappointed that we weren’t playing better at the offensive end. I didn’t see us having 20 points at halftime, and we have to be able to win an ugly game like this.”
Shooting just 6 of 23 from the field, ASU struggled to get any offensive flow against the Bears. While Baylor didn’t shoot much better at 12 for 29, the Bears were hounding the glass, winning the rebounding matchup 21-14 and grabbing seven offensive boards. This led to seven second-chance points, each basket more and more of a backbreaker.
“Offensively, it was a tough game to call,” Hurley added. “They switched a lot of stuff and it gave us some problems. We have to be able to drive their switches and take advantage of their bigs being on our guards, and we didn’t do it great in the first half. That’s certainly key, though, to hit the paint and kick the ball out.”
The Sun Devils ran into a bit of trouble traveling back to Tempe from Lawrence. On Sunday, the state of Kansas was hit with a record-breaking blizzard, receiving a foot of snow overnight. This caused ASU to fly into Kansas later than expected and, following a late tip-off, arrive back in Tempe at 3 a.m. on Thursday. There’s no telling whether or not this impacted ASU’s play in both games, but it certainly didn’t help the situation.
“We had a disaster class of traveling,” Hurley mentioned. “Nothing against anybody, things happen, but we got into Kansas late and then got back here at 3 in the morning. We’re going to try and leave earlier in case something crazy happens. We’ll probably practice earlier and hit the road sooner, but that’s just bullsh*t and excuse-making. I’m just trying to come up with a reason why I didn’t see a lot of fire early from the whole group.”
Nonetheless, Hurley and his players weren’t using that as an excuse for their performance tonight. The Bears simply came out hot and outplayed ASU on both sides of the court. The lone bright spot for the Sun Devils that kept them in the game was limiting turnovers, as both teams finished the first half with seven apiece. Still, Baylor took advantage of its opportunities more than the Sun Devils, finishing with 11 points off the seven turnovers compared to ASU’s two.
“We came out flat as a start,” graduate guard Adam Miller voiced. “We were trying to chase them the whole team like playing a game of tag, and we came out flat again in overtime. At Kansas, we saw the game trickling away and couldn’t stop the bleeding, and we just have to start playing together. The teams we’re playing are more connected, and hopefully, we can fix that.”
One of the positive takeaways from the first half is the fact that freshman guard Joson Sanon was on a minute restriction after missing the last two games due to an ankle injury. With ASU’s second-leading scorer not on the court as much as the team is used to, the Sun Devils had to look elsewhere to make up for his absence.
“I just wanted to make sure we didn’t overdo it,” Hurley explained. “In his first game back, I thought he was fine moving, so hopefully we can just keep building on that and go from here to try and get him back to 100%.”
It seems that a majority of the games ASU has played so far have been a tale of two halves. Whether it’s the Sun Devils storming back to claim a victory or digging themselves too deep of a hole to climb out of, Hurley’s squad has continuously struggled to come up with 40 consecutive minutes of quality basketball. As conference play ensues, the Sun Devils will need to head back to the drawing board to see how they can find a way to put it all together in arguably the toughest conference in the country.
“This league is strong,” Hurley acknowledged. “We have to get used to being ready to do better. This is another case where we had two separate halves, so we have to try and figure some things out to be a little more consistent in both halves. I appreciated how the guys battled to get back into the game and give us a chance to win.”
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