Arizona State steps up the pressure, surges past No. 21 Washington State in Pac-12 play
It was really anyone's guess as to how the Arizona State Sun Devils were going to respond when they stepped on the court to face No. 21 Washington State on Saturday night. Coach Bobby Hurley saw both versions of his team in an overtime loss to Washington on Thursday and it had an embarrassing showing against rival Arizona a week ago.
But the Sun Devils turned in one of their best performances of the season, downing visiting Washington State 73-61 in Pac-12 play at Desert Financial Arena. The Sun Devils (14-14, 8-9) led for 35:44 minutes and came out with an intensity and sense of urgency that they didn't seem to have 48 hours earlier.
The performance was all the more impressive given the competition. Washington State surprisingly started the day atop the Pac-12. Coach Kyle Smith lost his top four scorers from last season and was picked 10th in the preseason coaches poll but boasts a national ranking for the first time since the 2007-08 season when it finished the season ranked 21st.
The Cougars (21-7, 12-5) were also coming off a dramatic 77-74 victory over Arizona, handing the Wildcats their first loss at McKalea Center this season.
"I thought possible the best defense we've played in terms of they're a handful around the basket with (Isaac) Jones and they've got guys that can shoot, playmakers," Hurley said. "So they have a really good team. Kyle Smith has done a phenomenal job there and it's one of the great stories in college basketball, what they've been able to do so you could see why they've had the success they've had but our defense was up for the challenge tonight and we stepped up in that regard."
The showing by ASU snapped the Cougars' eight-game win streak, that team's last loss coming on Jan. 20 against California in overtime.
Let's take a closer look at the contest:
What went right for ASU
Played a solid first half: Hurley admitted after the frustrating Washington loss that he didn't know where his team's psyche would be. It had that lopsided and embarrassing loss at Arizona, then played about as bad for the first 23 or so minutes on Thursday against Washington. But the Sun Devils played their best first half in awhile, shooting 53% (16-for-30) and showing a hustle and toughness that had been missing. At one point Adam Miller and Jose Perez both went two rows deep into the crowd for a loose ball.
Balanced scoring: The Sun Devils had four players in double figures and two players with nine points. Jose Perez had 16 points, followed by Frankie Collins with 14, Adam Miller 12 and Alonzo Gaffney 11. Jamiya Neal and Bryant Selebangue each chipped in with nine. For Gaffney is was more points than he registered in the last four games combined. It was Selebangue's biggest point contribution since a Jan. 20 game against USC in which he also had nine.
"If we're going to have success the rest of the season, it's not going to be with one guy. The times we seem to win there are four or five guys in double figures. We need that type of production, and again, the box scores shows that tonight," Hurley said. "When we have that many guys playing that well at that end of the floor it really gets everyone energized and we play better at both ends."
Held their own on the boards: Rebounding is an area in which ASU has been deficient much of the season but they finished equal with the Cougars on the boards, each with 35 rebounds. Despite coming off the bench Selebangue had seven followed by Gaffney, Perez and Collins each with six rebounds. So it was a balanced effort there too. ASU came into the game 348th out of 351 teams in rebounding margin at minus 7 so to finish even was significant.
Not reliant on the long ball: ASU went 6-for-14 from deep (44.8%) which was noteworthy since they came in shooting 30.7% for the season from there. It was the fewest 3-point attempts ASU has had in a game this year, the previous low being 15 attempts in the win over San Francisco on Dec. 3. They were 5-for-15 in that one.
Good shooting night: The Sun Devils came in shooting 41.9% on the season which ranks 307th overall and 11th in Pac-12 play. In this one they shot 49.2% (29-for-59) with Miller and Gaffney both going 5-for-8 and Selebangue going 4-for-5.
What went wrong for the Sun Devils
A stupid foul here of there: We're being picky here because there was very little that didn't go right for the Sun Devils. With the ASU up 53-46 with 10:05 left in the game, the Cougars had the ball late in the shot clock with ASU making a solid defensive stand. Kamari Lands fouled Isaac Jones who was getting off a desperation 3 at the buzzer. Jones made all three free throws to cut the deficit to 53-49.
They said it
"If we're guarding with a purpose and energy and we're in the right spots and we're flying around and getting deflections then we can be pretty dynamic getting out in the open court and it leads to our offense and they had four points for a long time. I thought we started out strong and defended them well." — ASU Coach Bobby Hurley
"It was real focused. Coach told us we got to be the good eggs. You guys don't know what that means but you put that out there I think the whole team, we were the good eggs tonight." — ASU's Jose Perez
"You can't complain when you beat a ranked team. We knew what it was going to be coming into the game and we were prepared. We needed this one. Lost the last one so had to bounce back and get ready for Wednesday." — ASU's Bryant Selebangue
What to look for next
Can ASU build on the strong performance: Given the monumental task that lies in front of it in the form of their rival, the Sun Devils needed a confidence booster and what better way to get it than beat the team that beat your rival not once, but twice this season.
Up next
The Sun Devils have just one game next week and it will be the rematch against rival Arizona (21-6, 12-4) at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Desert Financial Arena. The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network. ASU will be looking for a bit of redemption having lost to the Wildcats 105-60 at McKale Center a week ago in what was the mostly lopsided game in the series history.
Arizona defeated Washington 91-75 Saturday afternoon behind the 28 points of Caleb Love.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona State steps up the pressure, surges past No. 21 Washington State in Pac-12 play
