ASU unable to overcome lackluster shooting in loss to UTEP

TEMPE, Ariz. — The days in the Valley have been noticeably chillier as we navigate the month of December.

Vehicles — and people alike — need that extra minute to get warmed up.

The same could be said Wednesday night for the Arizona State Sun Devils.

Unfortunately for the home team, it couldn’t get fully churning in a 76-63 loss the visiting UTEP Miners.

The defeat moves the Sun Devils to 4-3 on the season. ASU entered the matchup favored by 13 points.

Despite playing away, the Miners were the ones who came out with a head of steam, going on a quick 6-0 run early in the first half.

Sophomore forward Jalen Graham would answer back with a pair of and-ones, converting one of the free throw attempts to bring the Sun Devils back within a point.

An Alonzo Verge layup with about 12 minutes left in the half provided the Sun Devils their first lead of the game.

The Miners in no way backed down, tying things back up about two minutes later.

A big reason for that was the Sun Devils’ lack of 3-point prowess.

Missing its first six shots from the beyond the arc, ASU could not hit is mark until late in the first half when junior forward Taeshon Cherry banked in a 3-pointer with 1:11 left before halftime. It would be the lone make of the night.

Freshman guard Josh Christopher would add a successful and-one before a Remy Martin layup just before the buzzer handed the Sun Devils its largest lead of the evening with a 41-33 advantage at halftime.

The difference? ASU’s ability to convert from the charity stripe made up for its lackluster shooting performance in the first half.

Hitting 10 of its 12 free throw attempts, ASU took advantage of UTEP’s lapses defensively. On the other end, the Miners netted just two free throw makes.

UTEP was unfazed, however.

Kicking off the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers and three good free throw tries, the Miners quickly regained the lead with a 9-0 run at the 18:15 mark.

“It was a Jekyll and Hyde type effort,” ASU head coach Bobby Hurley said comparing the two halves after the game. “We battled well in the first half, finished the half very well, had a nice lead, an eight-point lead. And it was gone in about a minute. … Before we knew it, everything we had gained, we had given away and that was an issue.

“I thought it was more of the spirit of how we competed that was so disappointing. We’re going to have to figure out some things and make some changes as to who’s playing, particularly on our front court.”

The Miners would continue to stroke it from 3-point land, draining five treys in the final 20 minutes.

The shooting woes only increased for ASU.

Missing their first five 3-point attempts, the Sun Devils watched the Miners’ lead balloon, reaching double digits with 7:57 left to play.

By the end of the contest, the Sun Devils had scored just 22 points in the second half, missing all 11 of their long range shots. All told, they shot 5.5% from deep (1-0f-18).

And as much as the team’s lack of effectiveness offensively was on display, rebounding continued to be an issue for the Sun Devils, losing the boards battle 46-26.

That’ll happen when the team’s best rebounder and one of its top scoring threats in Marcus Bagley isn’t out on the hardwood.

“It’s going to be key to get Bagley back in the fold,” Hurley said of the team’s poor rebounding performance. “Chris Osten is going to get a lot more minutes because he’ll battle and fight and compete and he’s got a heart when he plays. Plays with a lot of heart, a lot of courage.”

Although Bagley warmed up before the game, the freshman forward did not play in Wednesday’s contest.

Marcus Bagley getting shots up after #ASU’s loss to UTEP. It’ll be a massive plus to have the freshman back in the Sun Devil lineup, both offensively and on the glass. pic.twitter.com/7g3MbDA6eh

— Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) December 17, 2020

Bagley hasn’t suited up since Dec. 3 when he went down with a lower leg injury in a win over Cal. He’s averaging 13.0 points and 5.8 rebounds.

It also didn’t help that Martin ended the night with just nine points. The senior guard entered play averaging 18.2 points per game.

“Just didn’t have the normal look that I’m accustomed to seeing from him of just out there with the fire and the passion and flying around the court and doing a lot of what you saw on Sunday, especially in the second half vs. Grand Canyon,” Hurley said.

Christopher, the Sun Devils’ other freshman threat, did about all he could to make up for the down night for the rest of the team.

The guard turned in 24 points on 10-of-20 shooting (50%) to go along with six rebounds and an assist. He also added two blocks and four steals as one of the team’s lone bright spot.

“I thought he did more than just make some shots,” Hurley said. “He dove on the floor a couple times, really mixed it up well on defense. He was really connected to the game. That number’s very small in terms of who was connected to the game.

“We’ve got to get more guys playing to the level of intensity he demonstrated in this game.”

But even the impressive performance couldn’t make up for the poor outing for the Sun Devils.

And from the product Hurley saw on the court Wednesday night, the team needs to do some serious soul-searching to bounce back from this type of loss.

“We have to decide if this is important enough to you to commit to the amount of emotional attachment, to appear like you’re interested in playing and competing hard through the whole game and not just 20 minutes,” Hurley said.

“It’s just mysterious how inept we were in terms of competing and giving energy. I don’t know.”

ASU will look to get the bad taste of its mouth when it hosts Utah on Tuesday. Catch all the action live on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.

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