No. 16 Arizona State drops to 2-4 in Pac-12 play after loss to Stanford
Jan 17, 2018, 11:35 PM | Updated: 11:54 pm
Arizona State guard Remy Martin (1) dribbles past Stanford center Josh Sharma, left, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018, in Stanford, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
After a start to the season that saw them be the last remaining unbeaten in college basketball, it appears the rest of the country has figured out the No. 16 Arizona State Sun Devils.
They have had a rough start to conference play, dropping to 2-4 after an 86-77 loss to Stanford Wednesday.
The Cardinal followed a blueprint Oregon laid out in Tempe when they upset the Sun Devils.
Having the size and athleticism across the board to limit dribble penetration, Stanford was aggressive both on the glass and while attacking on offense, forcing the Sun Devils to make defensive rotations and consistently try to overcome size mismatches.
Stanford outrebounded ASU 44-30, with 13 of those 44 being offensive rebounds. They benefitted from plenty of easy, open looks due to Arizona State’s struggles to rotate properly.
Every Stanford player who played had at least four rebounds and their star junior Reid Travis had 10 of them to go along with 18 points. Of those eight players who played, seven of them had at least one offensive rebound.
Five Cardinal players finished with at least 13 points, including senior guard Dorian Pickens tying a game-high with 19.
The poor play in the Pac-12 continued for senior guard Tra Holder, who has not shot over 40 percent from the field since the loss to rival Arizona six games ago. He finished 3-of-14 from the field with nine points.
The Sun Devils were able to do what they do best in getting to the foul line, but couldn’t shoot well enough there to make it a closer game, going 17-of-25.
That, along with an average 8-of-21 shooting performance from 3-point range, couldn’t bail them out of what was arguably the team’s worst performance of the year.
The final score was not indicative of how much Stanford controlled the game, a game the Sun Devils only led for 13 total seconds.
ASU trailed by small margins throughout but then was down by as many as 15 with over 11 minutes to go.
The Sun Devils, though, showed why they are one of the better teams in the conference, as they came roaring back on a 23-10 run to make it a two-point game with over four minutes remaining.
Even after knocking the deficit down to a one-possession game, ASU couldn’t get past the issues that plagued them in the first 35 minutes. A majority of Stanford’s offensive possessions down the wire ended in either an attack of the basket that got to the rim, a foul, an offensive rebound or an open shot.
Luckily for head coach Bobby Hurley, his team will have the opportunity to get back on track against Cal on Saturday. The Bears are now 1-5 in conference play and 7-12 overall after a 21-point loss to No. 14 Arizona.
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