In what had to be a win for Arizona State, the Sun Devils crumbled. The California Golden Bears came into Desert Financial Arena and led wire-to-wire in an 81-66 victory over ASU.
Cal exploded to a 24-10 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game, drilling six 3-pointers in that span. The Sun Devils, who came into the game shooting under 30% from beyond the arc, dug themselves a hole too deep to crawl out of.
“We really didn’t do the job we needed to do defensively,” ASU coach Bobby Hurley said.
Cal shot 50% from the field and from 3-point range. The Golden Bears thoroughly won the free throw differential as well, shooting 16 for 19 from the line while ASU went just 4 for 7.
The Sun Devils lacked urgency in the first half. Junior guard Jamiya Neal was the only Sun Devil with a made field goal in the first 10 minutes of play.
“We were not connected as a team in the first half,” Hurley said. “We could not get the group to function as a team in that first half.”
Hurley said that stopping the trio of graduate student forward Fardaws Aimaq, junior guard Jaylon Tyson and graduate student guard Jalen Cone was key. The trio combined for 56 of Cal’s points and thoroughly dominated the Sun Devils.
Aimaq controlled the interior for a Cal squad that has been far from dominant throughout the season. The veteran big nearly posted a double-double in the first half and finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds.
ASU was unable to generate a defense against Aimaq. The veteran big opened driving lanes and created space for Cal’s red-hot shooters with his screening ability.
Sophomore center Shawn Phillips Jr. and graduate student forward Alonzo Gaffney provided the Sun Devils with some spark in the second half. Gaffney made three 3-pointers in the second half and was efficient as a scorer, but it was not enough.
“I feel like we’re all a little more comfortable knowing we have [Phillips Jr.] down there,” Gaffney said.
Phillips Jr. did his best to slow down Aimaq and the Bears and performed admirably offensively with a 13-point effort.
An 8-0 run capped off by a three from senior guard Keonte Kennedy with just under seven minutes to play put Cal up 20 and all but buried Hurley’s unit.
The Sun Devils fell in love with the 3-point shot in the second half after seeing a few go in. But they simply are not a talented enough shooting team to count on shots falling from beyond the arc consistently enough to make a comeback.
Graduate student guard Jose Perez was benched for the second half. Hurley described the move as a coach’s decision following the game.
ASU’s key offensive contributor, junior guard Frankie Collins, was taken out of the game successfully by Cal’s defense. Head coach Mark Madsen urged his players to take away any opportunities for Collins to get downhill towards the basket, forcing the guard to settle for jumpers outside of his comfort zone. The guard shot an inefficient 6 of 16 and scored 13 total.
The dejected, disjointed Sun Devils have begun to show the same tendencies they had during the abysmal non-conference portion of the schedule. Hurley’s frustration with this was palpable after the game.
“It has come full circle back to the same things that have haunted us,” he said. “We made some adjustments and played the right way for several games and now we’ve come all the way back to that same trust, commitment, unity breakdown.”
The loss followed by Hurley’s mentions of connectivity issues felt like an answer to the question many had going into the season: Was the roster turnover too great to overcome?
At times, ASU has looked like a formidable Pac-12 unit, but overall, the answer has been yes. Hurley said these are the players he chose, sarcastically stating this is his ‘masterpiece.’ He understands the burden of getting elite play from his guys falls on him and refuses to give up.
“It’s not in my makeup to quit, that’s not what I’ve done in my whole life,” Hurley said.
The loss sunk ASU to 11-11 overall and 5-6 in Pac-12 play. The silver lining is that the entire Pac-12 is separated by just five games.
Road games at Colorado and Utah next week will put Hurley and the team’s collective mindset to the test and show whether ASU can right the ship in conference play.
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