After going to double overtime against No. 12 Texas Tech on Wednesday, Arizona State struggled to close out a game once again on Saturday night.
Senior forward Basheer Jihad’s late mistakes caused the Sun Devils to lose their sixth straight home game and fall below .500 after they lost 74-70 to TCU.
Tied at 67 with seconds to go, TCU hit a big 3-pointer that barely rattled through the rim, giving the Horn Frogs a three-point lead. Without a thought, Jihad was called for an inbound violation for having one foot on the baseline and one foot on the court.
ASU was forced to foul, but they got lucky.
TCU redshirt freshman Jace Posey missed both free throws at the line, which caused the Horn Frogs to foul and put Jihad at the line. However, Jihad missed the front end of a 1-and-1, giving TCU two more shots at the line.
The Horn Frogs converted both, making it a two-possession ball game.
Although Alston Mason hit a 3-pointer to bring the game within two, the Sun Devils were too late. ASU was forced to foul, and TCU walked away with a four-point victory after making two more free throws.
With no wins in February, the frustration for ASU has officially hit an all-time high.
“My players didn’t even want me to talk to them after the game,” head coach Bobby Hurley said. “You know, ‘What do you want me to say at this point,’ is some of the comments I got from my own players. I think they’re fairly frustrated that we haven’t been able to close these games out, and we're kind of finding new ways, maybe each game, to not be able to, you know, to get a win.”
ASU’s frustrations are apparent to Hurley in the locker room, but they’re also evident to fans on the court when senior guard Adam Miller was ejected for the second time in the last four games after he appeared to say something to an official.
“I’m very reluctant to want to say anything negative about [Miller] because I just think he's been a terrific guy for me to coach,” Hurley said. “But, we have to find a way to use a little better judgment and, you know, resist the temptation of losing our cool.”
Miller’s absence, along with the absence of freshman forward Jayden Quaintance who is dealing with a left ankle injury, reduced ASU’s rotation to just six men.
“We've been having problems with us not keeping our emotions straight, especially me,” senior guard BJ Freeman said in correlation to when he was ejected in the loss to Arizona after headbutting senior guard Caleb Love. “Right there, we just gotta figure out another way how to win the game, and like I said, we came short of that again.”
“The refs aren't playing with us, and we know we just got to figure that out and just be quiet and show our emotions to our teammate, not the other team.”
Freeman, who finished with 21 points, helped bring ASU back to within just a few points of TCU late in the game, but it's Mason's efforts that have been a bright spot for the Sun Devils as of late.
As the only true point guard on ASU’s rotation, Mason has played almost every minute of the last few games, including 46 minutes in ASU’s loss to the Red Raiders before fouling out.
Mason played all 40 minutes of Saturday night's game.
“He asked to come out at one point,” Hurley said. “I told him 'No'. That was, I think, in the first half at some point, but he's just built that way. He's in shape, his physical conditioning, and just his efficiency with how he moves and plays and, you know, so he doesn't seem to need, you know, to come out, and we really can't afford to take him out at this point.”
With the loss, ASU dropped its only game against a Quad 3 opponent this season.
ASU has been forced into quick turnarounds all year this season, but Tuesday’s challenge against No. 6 Houston may call for its fastest yet.
Having Quaintance back may give ASU the boost it needs.
“We got to play without fouling,” Hurley said. “I think you're seeing the impact to not having [Quaintance] available. Like, teams feel like they could just attack the paint on us, and, I mean, Tuesday is going to be no different. I can promise you that the way Houston plays, but, yeah, we have to do a better job of rebounding and playing without fouling.”
Following the loss, Hurley left his players with questions to answer.
“What are you going to do between now and Tuesday,” Hurley said. “Are you going to put your head down and feel sorry for yourself all these close games?”
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