If the Arizona State (12-13, 3-11 Big 12) men’s basketball program were a bus, the wheels have flown completely off in the 2025 season. Saturday’s home 74-70 loss to TCU (14-11, 7-7 Big 12) was yet another chapter in a disappointing season for the Sun Devils.
“My players didn’t even want me to talk to them after the game,” ASU coach Bobby Hurley said. “‘What do you want me to say at this point’ was some of the comments I got from my own players… we’re all at premium frustration levels at this point.”
A late surge led by senior guard BJ Freeman helped the Sun Devils tie the game late but it wasn’t enough. Freeman tied the game at 67 when he drilled a corner 3-pointer. The veteran guard finished the game with 21 points.
With 18 seconds left, TCU senior guard Noah Reynolds got a contested 3-pointer off just before the shot clock went off. It rattled home. On the ensuing inbounds play, ASU senior forward Basheer Jihad stepped onto the court before passing the ball, triggering a violation. The turnover likely cost the Sun Devils the game.
TCU takes a 70-67 lead and then Basheer Jihad is called for an inbound violation immediately after. Unbelievable. @InfernoIntel pic.twitter.com/cA4s0b9YOb
— Tucker Sennett (@SennettTucker) February 16, 2025
Reynolds and freshman forward Jace Posey Jr. paced TCU’s scoring attack with 19 and 20 points. Posey slammed home a couple of high-flying dunks to demoralize ASU’s embattled defense despite junior center Shawn Phillips Jr.’s improved rim protection.
The loss marked ASU’s sixth straight at Desert Financial Arena. The usual problems plagued the Sun Devils throughout the game. The most glaring issue over the last handful of games is a lack of discipline shown by the players.
Fifth-year guard Adam Miller broke out for a nice dunk early in the second half but committed a foul on the ensuing TCU possession he didn’t agree with. Miller appeared to say something to the ref and received a technical foul. He continued his chatter and was ejected by the same official just seconds later. It was Miller’s second ejection of the season.
“(Miller) disagreed with the call and he said things he’s not allowed to say and I heard him say it,” Hurley said. “He’s going to have to own that.”
After the issues at the end of the game against Arizona weeks ago, Hurley tried to reiterate to his players that they would be officiated differently going forward. The message failed, at least for Miller.
“The refs aren’t playing with us and we know we just have to figure that out,” Freeman said. “Just be quiet and show our emotions to our teammates and not the other team.”
Controlling emotions, particularly against the numerous physical teams in the Big 12, became a major talking point for the Sun Devils in the weeks since. While there’s been marginal improvement overall, Miller’s setback hurt the Sun Devils and the level of play hasn’t improved.
Once again, the Sun Devils missed freshman forward Jayden Quaintance, who sat out with an injury. Without the extra size and paint presence of the freshman, ASU was dominated on the glass. TCU hauled in 39 rebounds to ASU’s 27 and added eight offensive rebounds.
Instead of the rebounding problems, Hurley largely attributed the free throw differential as the issue that cost the Sun Devils the game.
“They shot 32 free throws, we shot 14,” Hurley said. “We weren’t able to play those guys without fouling.”
Freeman pointed to the Sun Devils’ routine sluggish starts to halves, which once again occurred Saturday.
“We have to play get-back the last eight minutes,” Freeman said. “That’s not good basketball for us … It’s not nothing that we can’t fix.”
Unfortunately for Freeman and the Sun Devils, the time to fix things likely passed with the loss, with the Sun Devils falling below .500 and squarely out of the race for the NCAA Tournament.
Six games remain in the regular season, including three against currently ranked foes. The Sun Devils face the task of making a deep Big 12 Tournament run to have any hope of an appearance in the bracket.
Before they can focus on that task, the next challenge is equally daunting. The No. 6 Houston Cougars, fresh off a win in Tucson over the No. 13 Arizona Wildcats, visit Tempe on Tuesday.
Leave a Reply