The ASU Sun Devils faced another tough test on Sunday night in Tempe against the Dons of San Francisco. The game was a classic back and forth affair. The streaking hot Devils against the Dons who are having a terrific season. ASU jumped out to a quick start against San Francisco. Early three pointers from DJ Horne and Jay Heath allowed the team to get ahead quickly.
However, the Dons were able to fight their way back with a few three pointers of their own accompanied by a cold streak by the Sun Devils. ASU did not score a point for a 6 ½ minute stretch towards the end of the 1st half. Luckily, their tenacious defense was present yet again to keep them in the game.
There were blocks, steals, contested shots without fouling, and tough shots forced late in the shot clock. The defense is allowing this team to stay in these close games when their shots are not falling. This was especially true in the second half as they put even more pressure on the Dons who fell 10 points shy of their season average.
Unfortunately, the Sun Devils were not able to execute down the stretch as they failed to make free throws. In addition, they bit on a pump-fake to allow a 3-pont shooter to head to the line and put the Dons up 1 with 12 seconds to play. Despite having 2 bites at the apple at the end, the Devils were unable to get a solid shot off and ASU fell by 1.
Coach Hurley stated after the game, “We gotta make free throws late in the game and put the team away.” Which is certainly true as a couple of late free throws could have easily iced the game for ASU, but they were unable to capitalize. The Sun Devils have certainly been living on the edge lately as even their victories have come in close games. The team just needs to continue to learn how to win and that will grow as the season progresses under coach Hurley.
One thing is for certain, this team comes to play and to play hard. There can be no criticizing the effort of this team on the offense and defense end of the floor. Coach Hurley additionally complimented his team saying, “Guys competed hard. A measure of effort is creating turnovers, we created 21 turnovers and had 17 offensive rebounds. This wasn’t a matter of guys competing.”
ASU may not be the best team in the PAC-12, but they are certainly better than the team that lost 5 in a row earlier in the season. This team is playing hard for their coach. They just need to continue to learn how to pull of these late, tight games. Although this team may not have the talent of a UCLA or Arizona, they have the effort. If the shots can continue to fall more consistently, this team can make a run in PAC-12 action. They are well coached and they provide effort for 40 minutes, which is half the battle.
