ASU BASKETBALL

Kansas State loss the latest example of ASU basketball coming up just short

Feb 4, 2025, 11:58 PM | Updated: Feb 5, 2025, 12:02 am

TEMPE — ASU’s seemingly unbreakable habit of losing winnable games continued on Tuesday, as it again came up just short in a 71-70 loss to Kansas State at Desert Financial Arena.

Freshman Jayden Quaintance had free throws with 4.1 seconds left to potentially win the game, but he missed both as the Sun Devils trailed by one.

“I tried to remind him, ‘We wouldn’t be in the game if it wasn’t for you,'” senior point guard Alston Mason said of what the message to the 17-year-old was postgame. “JQ knows this is what he wants. This is his life. I know he’s gonna bounce back and want to do better. You just gotta let him understand this is one moment in his long basketball career.”

It felt fortunate that ASU had a chance to win late after how it had squandered away an exceptional start.

It opened with an 18-2 lead by keeping Kansas State scoreless for nearly seven minutes to start. The Wildcats responded by outscoring ASU 33-14 the rest of the half to lead at the break, 35-32.

Head coach Bobby Hurley pointed to K-State’s 14-for-20 finish to the half as one of the bigger reasons for the loss, but there was also an over-reliance on the 3-point ball.

The Sun Devils got up 25 attempts (average coming in was 24.4 3-point attempts per game) in just the first half, finishing 12-for-37 (32.4%) for the game.

Hurley didn’t mind the quantity because 19 attempts were unguarded (without a defender within five feet). However, he noted, they only hit on five of those looks.

All contributed to yet another “just not enough” result.

ASU’s bad habit continues

In case you need a refresher, here’s how the most recent losses prior to Tuesday looked late compared with how they finished:

  • Arizona: four-point deficit with 1:37 left; nine-point loss
  • Iowa State: one-point lead with 5:38 left; 15-point loss
  • Cincinnati: four-point deficit with 6:03 left; seven-point loss
  • UCF: one-point deficit with 1:30 left; six-point loss
  • Baylor: forced overtime; six-point loss

Hurley said he’s searching for how to get back on track ahead of the Sun Devils’ next game on Sunday at noon MST at Oklahoma State, which was within nine points of top-10 Houston on Tuesday.

“Again, we’re right there, we’re knocking on the door in all these games and we just can’t figure out a way to get over the top. I’ll have to really think hard about that,” Hurley said. “I’ve tried to do the best job I can with this team, and I’m not getting through to them enough, and it’s not going well right now.”

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