The season looked to be on an upward trajectory for Arizona State. A trip to the University of San Diego to face the Toreros changed that.
The Sun Devils fell 89-84 after leading by eight at the half.
Arizona State led for more than half of the game.
The game ended on an embarrassing moment from ASU’s trademark defense.
Trailing by two with 24 seconds to play, Sun Devil graduate student guard Jose Perez had the ball inbounded off his back by Torero freshman guard Kevin Patton Jr. who snuck the layup in after the clever pass.
That play was just a microcosm of a nightmare second half.
Coach Bobby Hurley’s squad fell apart late and allowed a feisty Toreros team to hang around for too long.
An 11-0 run shot USD in front with just under five minutes left in the game. The Sun Devils were shocked and simply could not collect themselves fast enough to come back and win the game.
San Diego’s penetration allowed its drive-and-kick-focused offense to explode down the stretch.
The Sun Devils were torched in the second by USD senior forward PJ Hayes. The Black Hills State transfer poured in 23 points, including five 3-pointers, four of which came in the second half.
Junior guard Deuce Turner added 23 points of his own and punished ASU’s normally stout individual defenders.
The game started with promise.
An eight-point cushion at the half looked to be enough to build on. Perez was operating at as high a level as the Sun Devils have grown accustomed to over the last few weeks.
However, late tip-off road games against mid-majors that desperately want wins like this can often take unexpected turns.
One issue has plagued the Sun Devils in their past two outings and ultimately cost them the game tonight: rebounding.
USD outrebounded ASU 46 to 33 and gobbled up 15 offensive rebounds. Coach Steve Lavin’s team turned those offensive rebounds into 16 second-chance points.
In games the Sun Devils have been outrebounded, they have a 3-3 record with two of the losses being blowouts to Mississippi State and Brigham Young. Two of the wins are escapes against SMU and UMass Lowell.
The team has suffered on the glass without sophomore center Shawn Phillips Jr., but the expectation going into the season was that rebounding would be a strength with good rebounding guards and junior forward Bryant Selebangue.
Obviously, rebounding has been far from a strength.
Free throw shooting has also been a major issue and was no different in San Diego.
ASU went 14-24 from the line, with junior guard Frankie Collins splitting a pair at the end of the game to tie. A five-point loss when 10 points were left on the floor is the type of bullet point on a resume that can kill a fringe team’s season.
One bright spot for the Sun Devils was junior guard Jamiya Neal, at least on the offensive end. It seemed like he found more of a rhythm offensively, scoring 20 points with a 50-percent shooting percentage. He also added three steals and six rebounds.
Graduate student forward Alonzo Gaffney struggled mightily. The veteran scored 11 points but shot just 5-of-14 from the field and made just one of eight 3-point attempts. Gaffney’s insistence on firing from range has been one of the puzzling parts of ASU’s often anemic offense. The lengthy forward also only hauled in three rebounds, six less than the undersized Collins.
The loss likely rang some alarm bells for Hurley. At 6-3, the start has been full of ups and downs. The ugly downs have overshadowed the underwhelming ups.
The Sun Devils will look to clean things up before a tough pair of games to end the non-conference slate.
ASU will travel to Fort Worth looking for revenge against TCU on Dec. 16 and then face Northwestern in a neutral site game in Phoenix on Dec. 20.
The two power-five duels provide the Sun Devils with a chance to prove themselves. Whether they are up to that task or not remains a mystery.
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