LAS VEGAS - To succeed in March as a college basketball team, it takes skill, talent, coaching, unity, and often times a whole lot of luck. Las Vegas, the home of both Lady Luck and the Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament, is a place built from the ground up based off your success or lack thereof in games of chances. Lady Luck roams The Strip as she blesses some with her hand while cursing others. Whether it’s slot machines, blackjack, or college basketball, she’s always watching.
As was the case on Wednesday afternoon against the Washington State Cougars. She seemingly took the side of ASU, but on Thursday, the Sun Devils were not put into her favor, and it showed, as they valiantly fought to the final whistle with the odds stacked against them. The Pac-12 tournament’s No. 1 seed, the Oregon Ducks (20-5), dealt the Sun Devils an almost unbeatable hand, as Arizona State (11-14) fell 91-73 to end its tournament and season.
Riding a wave of confidence after a miraculous last-minute victory over Washington State, ASU fought hard against the Ducks, trading blows throughout the duration of the first half like a heavyweight fight just down the road at the MGM Grand. Much like Wednesday, the first 20 minutes were chock full of low scoring, challenging defense, and turnovers left and right.
The Sun Devils had assists on many buckets throughout the first period of play, as seven of ASU’s 10 field goals were spawned by a quality pass. Senior guard Alonzo Verge Jr., who scored 26 points against the Cougars led the way with nine points at the half and never took his foot off the gas.
With his senior backcourt mate Remy Martin seemingly hesitant to take and make his shots after three single-digit scoring performances which ended his eight-game 20-plus point-scoring streak, Verge had to do the heavy lifting once again on Thursday, showing out in what was his final contest in maroon and gold. He would finish the contest posting 28 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and a steal.
The Sun Devils only trailed by eight at the half and consistently cut into the Ducks’ lead time and time again.
“I thought we had a chance in the second half,” head coach Bobby Hurley said. “We were down seven to Washington State to start the second half, now we were down eight at the half, and we had a few more minutes to figure out how to get that lead back.”
With 13 minutes remaining in the contest, Oregon junior guard Will Richardson picked the pocket of ASU sophomore Jaelen House. Richardson, the Ducks’ leading scorer with 17, passed the ball up the court to a teammate on the fast break. Senior forward Kimani Lawrence, trying to emulate Jalen Graham’s chase down block against the Cougars rose and swung at the ball. Lawrence found nothing but air. Upon landing, he crumpled to the ground, groaning in pain whilst nursing his left leg.
The Sun Devil senior, who saw a massive change in his game ahead of his final year in maroon and gold, flourished in Tempe amid a disastrous and challenging year for the program. He recorded two double-doubles in two of his final three games as Desert Financial arena, tying his career-high in points to boot.
The senior left the floor hanging on the shoulders of ASU’s training staff, unable to put weight on his left leg due to a hamstring injury. With his size and presence inside and in transition amidst a frontcourt in which ASU has been starved for players all season, his presence was essential for any remote chance at a comeback.
"When Kimani went down, it was such a terrible moment," Hurley said. "It hurts to see a guy who cares so much about his teammates and has turned his season around, invested so much into trying to help Arizona State win basketball games. To see him get injured was very upsetting."
After Lawrence left the floor, Arizona State’s hopeful vibes were shot down. A dark cloud of doubt and uncertainty seemed to creep into T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It looked as if Lady Luck had cast the writing on the wall. The only ASU frontcourt players which remained were Graham, who had four fouls – including a technical after a jump ball spat, junior Chris Osten – still nursing a recent ankle injury, and sophomore walk-on John Olmsted.
“At that moment, we effectively had very little chance to win,” Hurley admitted. “We were down to four guards. They emptied the tank out there, running and chasing Oregon. We had some threes, tried to keep it to 12, 14 (point lead) and we could never get through and break into single digits.”
Despite the growing lead, one bright spot was the awakening of Remy Martin. The Sun Devil favorite was held to six, eight, and six points across the final two regular-season games and Wednesday’s bout with Washington State.
Martin’s first half was full of hesitation to score the basketball. Even with his man beaten, Martin opted to kick the ball out to a teammate, and to his credit, it logged him three assists. The senior refused to go quietly into Sun Devil's record books in his final game in maroon and gold. He wasn’t going to let that happen.
In the second half, Martin poured in 16 points on 5-9 shooting, along with three rebounds and two assists.
However, the senior’s scoring resilience could not stop the high-rolling Oregon Ducks, as their superior size picked apart ASU. Graham fouled out with just over six minutes left. Osten and Olmsted could not provide any answers in front of the cup as Oregon cruised to what was almost a 20-point win.
“Defenses understand (Martin’s) value to what we are doing, and they load their defenses to him quite a bit,” Hurley mentioned. “Getting clean shots up for him was not easy. We drew up the play we ran against Grand Canyon, he the right corner three, and it didn’t go down. I would have like to have seen that happen for him; I think that could’ve jump-started him a little bit sooner in the second half.”
After four seasons in maroon and gold, including three appearances on the All-Pac 12 team, Martin’s playing days as a Sun Devil are over.
The first-team All-American and All-conference selection culminates his time in Tempe seventh overall in his school's career points and third in career assists. The Sun Devil head coach reflected on what he’ll miss most about one of his favorite players he’s ever coached.
“He’s just a great kid with an outstanding family,” Hurley said, holding back tears. “He’s loyal to the program, the ultimate competitor; he’s a guy with humility that competes, makes the big plays, embodies my personality for playmaking and playing with passion and loving the game. He loves to play the game. It’s a tough moment (to see him go).”
“(He showed us) how to be a leader and going out and showing that you’re the best player out on the floor,” House said, listing things he learned from Martin. “We stay and listen to everything he has to say… (he is) the top dog – and that’s somewhere I want to be.”
For the Sun Devils, 2020-2021 was a season to forget. Yes, there were moments that are worthy of recognition, such as Martin’s near buzzer beater against GCU, going toe-to-toe with then No. 2 Villanova early in the season and the miraculous last-minute wins over Washington State (both regular season and Wednesday).
But for every step forward that the Sun Devils took, they took multiple steps back. COVID-19 ravaged the program, injuries to five-star freshmen Josh Christopher and Marcus Bagley handicapped the team’s depth at the end of the year, other injuries and illnesses ran rampant, and the squad as a whole seemed to never effectively click. The season was ASU’s first sub-.500 record since 2016-17 (15-18) and its lowest win total since 2011-12 (10-21).
“I should have had someone follow me around and write a book about this season,” Hurley chuckled. “These guys never folded. As far as the worst thing that happened, it’s hard to single one out. I feel for all the players who were injured and couldn’t get back on the floor. All the ups and downs of not knowing if you’re going to play games or not.”
Nevertheless, Hurley managed to find solace in the positive moments from this season, commenting on the growth of House and Graham, who are the future of his squad, while also cherishing a “last dance” with Martin.
As far as the future of the Sun Devil squad goes, Hurley’s approach is rooted in finding new players – recruiting the next generation of Sun Devil hoopers, but with a twist. Hurley admires his seniors – especially his four-year guys, so much so that he said he wants to find players who resemble the values of this year’s seniors.
While Hurley will probably never find another player who captured the hearts of fans like Remy Martin or bounced back from a challenge like Kimani Lawrence, he will certainly try.
“I have to identify qualities and people that I want to go to war with, and I need to continue to recruit those guys,” he said. “I need to find more players like Kimani Lawrence and Remy Martin. Guys that lay it on the line and play with their hearts. We have an opportunity to reshape our team this offseason, and we’re going to work hard to do that.”
