Given the evidence presented through 13 games, there’s little reason to believe that a COVID-related pause changed the eventual outcome of Arizona State’s 14th contest of the year. Bobby Hurley wasn’t pushing back on that narrative following a 72-54 loss to Colorado, even though the Sun Devils competed Saturday night with some of its roster only getting one practice between ASU’s Jan. 2 loss to Cal and the contest with the Buffaloes.

Hurley wasn’t using the excuses he easily could’ve resorted to because, despite an inspired first-half effort, the same shot-making issues that have plagued the Sun Devils for the entirety of this year continued against Colorado.

On Friday, Hurley spoke to reporters via Zoom and expressed worries about quick, unexpected shots rattling his team’s psyche and creating offensive panic. Despite trailing 15-3 in the game’s opening minutes, the Sun Devils battled back to trail by just three at halftime.

With the Sun Devils trailing 56-47, Colorado guard K.J. Simpson turned the ball over into the hands of forward Kimani Lawrence, who dished a pass to Toledo transfer guard Marreon Jackson. Quickly, Jackson – who came into Saturday night a 20 percent shooter from deep – clanged an attempt from long-range off the back of the iron, leading to a Colorado bucket on the other end.

“If we get an open shot, I’m going to encourage us to take it,” Hurley explained. “I thought (Jackson)’s was a little bit early, and I even said when he came out, ‘if you take that shot, you’ve got to make it.’ It’s kind of one of those where you’re not going to be thrilled if the ball doesn’t go in because you’re not making the defense work.

“That’s maybe more of a shot that if he had made a couple you look to shoot, so I wasn’t pleased with that particular shot.”

Jackson wasn’t the only Sun Devil to set the tone with poor shots. As the Buffaloes opened the game with a scoring punch from forward Jabari Walker, the Sun Devils went to forward Alonzo Gaffney. A 25 percent 3-point shooter, Gaffney missed the first long and the second wide right.

“I would agree that there were certainly some shot selection issues in the second half,” Hurley continued after the Sun Devils went 2 of 10 from 3-point range in the second half.

Entering the night with a 3-point shooting percentage of 28.2 percent – ranking a lowly 342nd in the nation – a 5 of 21 performance from beyond the arc prolonged the issues. No matter the statistical lens, nothing paints the Sun Devil offense in any positive light following the fifth game, scoring below 60 points this year.

As a squad that currently operates in the bottom tier of offensive measurements nationwide, the Sun Devils are near the nation’s worst in scoring field goal percentage and 3-point percentage. KenPom rates the Sun Devils 215th in adjusted offensive efficiency – a mark that is only slightly favorable to ASU based upon the strength of schedule ASU has gone through. The only semblance of offensive productivity came in the form of junior forward Jalen Graham, who scored a career-high 16 points. Graham’s productivity came despite Hurley labeling him as questionable Friday due to a non-COVID illness.

Hurley couldn’t have predicted that the reigning MAC Player of the Year would look like a shell of himself. Or that Marcus Bagley would play in only three of ASU’s first 14 games. Most wouldn’t have predicted the Sun Devils would wind up in the bottom tier of the Pac-12 for the second year in a row, but a growing sample size is proving to be overwhelmingly indicative of the Sun Devils’ nature. This is who the Sun Devils are. A team that struggles to create good shots and is challenged to make open shots when those opportunities present themselves.

“It has just been a team that has really struggled to score,” Hurley said after the Sun Devils dropped their third Pac-12 game of the season. “I haven’t had a team since I’ve been here that’s had this much difficulty scoring the ball.”

Monday, ASU will play Utah at 2 p.m. with another chance to right the ship and put things together.

“We’ve got to play better. We’ve got to make shots,” Hurley said. “We just had some really careless plays, too. There are just a lot of things that you can’t afford to do if you’re not an explosive offensive team right now.”