Arizona State put forth an impressive second-half defensive effort to secure a 79-61 victory at home over Oregon State.
The Sun Devil’s defense was sound for most of the first half but began to falter in the last few minutes. Oregon State seemed to find a rhythm offensively after falling behind early, as they tied the game 33-33 going into the half.
Coming into the night, ASU ranked No. 20 in turnover margin, while Oregon State was down at No. 255. Yet, it was the Beavers who won the turnover margin in the first half with only one turnover compared to ASU’s nine giveaways.
“We have to do a better job of valuing the ball,” Hurley said. “We usually are the team that creates the turnovers. They had one turnover at halftime and we had nine.”
However, the ASU defense came out with newfound energy and effort, holding Oregon State to just five points through the first ten minutes of the half and forcing 13 second-half turnovers.
“Defensively I thought we were really good the first ten minutes,” head coach Bobby Hurley said. “We were able to consistently get stops.”
This scoring drought from the Beavers can be attributed to stifling full-court pressure from the Sun Devils, which disrupted the Oregon State offense. This full-court press has been key for the Sun Devils all season long but was especially prevalent against the Beavers.
The pressure helped ASU lockdown the Oregon State offense in the second half, which turned the momentum back in the Sun Devils favor.
Additionally, the Sun Devils flipped their turnover script from the first half and only gave it away six times.
“We know they don’t have a lot of ball handlers, so we had to pressure them,” junior guard Jamiya Neal said.
Neal’s effort on both ends was especially impressive. The veteran guard started the game on the bench but ended up putting up one of his best performances of the season.
“That’s our game and who we are,” junior guard Adam Miller said. “It starts with defense. You get stops, you get steals and it gives you leads.”
Another key to the impressive second-half defensive performance from ASU was their defense of OSU leading scorer Jordan Pope.
The sophomore scored 19 points in their last meeting, shooting an efficient 62% from the field.
The second time around, the Sun Devils held Pope to just 11 points, while holding him to just 33% shooting from the field.
Hurley said that going into the game, the game plan for Pope was to “make him finish at the basket and not let him size us up for jump shots off the dribble.”
The Sun Devils ultimately held Oregon State to just 28 points in the second half and 61 overall to help secure a 79-61 win at home.
Arizona State will need to maintain this defensive effort as they close out Pac-12 play. The Sun Devils still have to play some of the most potent offenses in the Pac-12 in their next few games with Arizona and Washington coming up for the Sun Devils.
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