By Adam Beadle
Multimedia Specialist
Sluggish.
A single word that can be used to describe Arizona State’s offensive performance in its loss on Wednesday against Kansas and its 72-66 loss against Baylor in overtime on Saturday night.
The Sun Devils' first-half shooting performance against the Bears was not A-plus. Despite some great defensive play, ASU finished the first half with seven more turnovers than field goals, six, and did not make a field goal for the last 5:08 of the half.
“We didn’t get off to a great start,” head coach Bobby Hurley said immediately after the game. “[Baylor] is different. Defensively, I thought some of the stuff they were doing affected us. There was an adjustment period, and you know, we’re not just very efficient on offense and just didn’t have a lot of juice.”
Despite being down by as much as 15 out of the gates in the second half, the Sun Devils, senior guard BJ Freeman in particular, fought back.
Freeman, who did an excellent job finishing through contact and getting to the rim in a season-high 22-point outing, was instrumental in mounting the Sun Devils comeback in the second half with a couple of layups within the last couple minutes of regulation.
However, it was senior guard Adam Miller who found an open lane to drive to the basket and toss up a floater, fading away along the right side of the key as he sank the tying basket to send the game to overtime.
“Yeah, I’m not going to lie, I knew if I got the ball, I was going to shoot it,” Miller said. “So I kind of just was like, try to get as close as I can, throw it up and put a little touch on it, and knocked it down. Just was ready for it and knew if I was going to get the chance to tie the game, I was going to take the shot.”
ASU’s offensive woes would come back to haunt them as soon as overtime began, as Freeman missed two shots right off the bat, leading Baylor to take complete control and win the game.
With three games of conference play under its belt as a member of the Big 12, ASU is 1-2 to begin and, according to Hurley, is still getting used to the new conference's competition.
“This league will be an adjustment,” Hurley said. “Playing on Wednesday night in Kansas, flying back, and now you know you’re seeing [Baylor]. This league is strong, and we got to get used to being ready to do better.”
Hurley made an effort this off-season to revamp his roster to prepare his team for the challenge that would come with being a part of the Big 12, but it seems ASU has yet to step up.
The Sun Devils brought in two studs in the class of 2024, forward Jayden Quaintance and guard Joson Sanon, who have contributed big-time for ASU throughout the beginning of the year.
However, with Sanon missing time throughout the start of conference play and on a minutes restriction in the loss against the Bears, ASU has needed more help.
ASU fought through the struggles of having a seven-man rotation against Colorado in their first conference win last Saturday night, the comradery of ASU’s team in its win against its former Pac-12 foe hasn’t seen a lasting impact through its first two proper tests in Big 12 play.
What does this mean?
Miller said that the team still has work to do to bond more as a group, as Miller said many of the other teams in the conference have.
“We gotta be a group and doing what we do, and it’s gotta be together,” Miller said. “Like the teams we are going up against, they know exactly what they want to do, and I can feel it. They’re more connected.”
The Sun Devils will have a chance to bounce back from a tough loss as they host UCF at home on Tuesday night.
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