The Arizona State men’s basketball team has gotten off to a tough start in the Big 12. It’s the toughest conference in the country and the Sun Devils are competing in it for the first time.
Most projections have ASU (12-8, 3-6) on the outside of the March Madness field. The Big 12 play affords the Sun Devils several opportunities to notch quality wins and work their way back into the picture.
One of those comes at 11 a.m. Saturday as the rival Arizona Wildcats (14-6, 8-1) visit Desert Financial Arena in a game that will air on CBS.
“We want to try and climb out of a hole we dug for ourselves,” ASU coach Bobby Hurley said after the team’s win over Colorado earlier this week. “We’ve dealt with a lot of stuff with injuries and we’re still dealing with it.”
“We had the No. 3 strength of schedule in KenPom so we’ve been in a lot of tough places, played a lot of hard games on the road already and in the Big 12 and in the nonconference, neutral sites. These guys are learning how to fight together and we gotta clean some things up. We have to close games better.”
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The biggest question surrounding ASU will be the availability of personnel. Hurley has relied on an eight-man rotation but he was down to six players in Tuesday’s 70-68 win at Colorado because freshman big Jayden Quaintance (10.3 ppg, 8.5 rpg) was out with an ankle injury sustained in practice while leading scorer B.J. Freeman (12.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg) exited with a deep thigh bruise early in the first half and didn’t return.
In their absence, others stepped up, most notably senior guard Adam Miller and junior center Shawn Phillips. Miller scored 18 points, including a 4-for-5 effort from long range, with Phillips adding 13 points, nine rebounds, and two blocked shots. Miller (10.1 ppg) and fellow guard Alston Mason (11.6 ppg) each played 39 minutes in that game.
Hurley said after the game that Freeman took a knee to the thigh, “one of those basketball plays that happens all the time” and that he already was walking better after the game.
Quaintance, who has six double-doubles, remains the question mark. He didn’t make the trip to Colorado, staying in Tempe so he could get treatment with the hope of playing against Arizona. He leads the conference in blocked shots and is fourth in rebounding.
Joson Sanon (11.8 ppg) missed five games with a sprained ankle and hasn’t yet got the shooting touch back he had before getting hurt.
“Guys have stepped up,” Miller said. “We did it even against West Virginia. We’ve kind of been going through it, guys have to be ready. When the opportunity comes up, you’re not going to make every shot, just be ready.”
Meanwhile, Arizona comes in having turned its fortunes around in conference play. The Wildcats were just 6-5 through the nonconference slate and did not boast a win over a power conference program.
In Big 12 play they sit second, just behind No. 6 Houston (17-3, 9-0), and have posted four wins over nationally ranked teams, the most notable being No. 3 Iowa State. The Wildcats won that game in overtime after veteran Caleb Love hurled a 3-pointer from three-quarters court at the buzzer to force overtime.
Arizona has won three straight games since its lone Big 12 loss, which came at No. 22 Texas Tech 70-54 on Jan. 18. It is averaging 85 points a game in the three contests since that one. The Wildcats have won 10 of their last 11 dating back to the end portion of their nonconference schedule.
Love (15.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg) is the team’s leading scorer, ranking sixth in the Big 12 in scoring. Junior guard Jaden Bradley (11.3 ppg, 4 a pg) and sophomore guard K.J. Lewis (10.3 ppg) are also averaging double figures. Love has led the recent surge with 59 points, eight steals, and nine assists in the last three games.
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The Arizona State University men’s basketball team is gearing up for a highly anticipated matchup against their in-state rivals, the University of Arizona Wildcats. The Sun Devils are currently on the hunt for a quality win to boost their resume and solidify their standing in the competitive Pac-12 conference.
With a talented roster led by star guard Remy Martin, ASU has shown flashes of brilliance this season, but has also faced some tough losses. A victory against the Wildcats would not only provide a much-needed morale boost for the team, but also prove to the selection committee that they are a force to be reckoned with in March.
The game is sure to be a fierce battle, as both teams will be playing with a sense of urgency and determination. The Sun Devils will need to bring their A-game and play with intensity on both ends of the court in order to come out on top.
Fans are eagerly anticipating this showdown between the two Arizona rivals, and are hopeful that ASU will come out victorious. Stay tuned for what is sure to be an exciting and intense matchup as the Sun Devils look to secure a quality win against the Wildcats.
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