Depleted ASU fails to match Oregon’s firepower in loss

TEMPE, Ariz. — It may sound like a broken record at this point, but the Arizona State Sun Devils cannot catch a break this season.

ASU’s promising year has been hit with postponements and injuries galore, stunting any sort of positive growth the team has mustered this season.

The trend continued Thursday night.

Returning to the hardwood after three straight postponements, the Sun Devils (6-9; 3-6) couldn’t keep pace with the Oregon Ducks (11-4; 6-3), falling 75-64 in Tempe.

The loss snaps a two-game winning streak for the Sun Devils, who hadn’t played since Jan. 30 after COVID-19 concerns halted their season yet again.

The Sun Devils entered the matchup already behind the eight ball with freshman forward and key cog Marcus Bagley and junior forward Chris Osten out of the lineup. Taeshon Cherry, who stepped away from the team earlier this season, also remained out.

ASU has yet to have a full roster this season. To make matters worse, freshman guard Josh Christopher was dealing with a lower leg bruise and suffered a hard fall while blocking an Oregon dunk at the rim in the first half.

“Came into this game knowing what I knew about who wasn’t going to be available that we kinda needed Remy [Martin] and Josh [Christopher] or Remy and [Alonzo Verge] or Josh and Zo,” Bobby Hurley said via Zoom after the game. “We needed kinda two guys to really have a pretty special game for us to have a real good chance and we just weren’t able to get that.

“Remy had a big night offensively, but Josh, when he had that great block and landed, he was not right after that. He already came into the game with a bruise in his lower leg. He was not moving very [well] to start the second half so we thought it was the best thing to shut him down. Tough night in that regard.”

Down for a little more than half of the first 20 minutes of play, the Sun Devils were able to break through thanks to a Martin steal and finish and a Verge 3-pointer to knot things up at 19-all.

The Ducks would waste little time getting back out in front, however, behind senior guard Chris Duarte.

Accounting for nine points of the team’s 11-0 run, Duarte drained three 3-pointers to hand Oregon its biggest lead of the night. Duarte would head into halftime with a game-high 18 points, but was held scoreless in the second half.

Martin accounted for the final 10 points of the half for ASU, but Oregon held the advantage at the half, 35-28. The senior would lead all Sun Devil scorers when it was all said and done, dropping 30 points to go along with five rebounds and two assists. He turned it over six times.

“Gutsy performance. Flying all over the court, doing whatever he can. The kid’s got a huge heart,” Hurley said. “Just trying to make plays, trying to keep us in the game. No quit, no give up, just a huge, huge heart. A tremendous individual performance for us.”

The struggles would intensify in the second half.

While Oregon came out of the locker room firing, pushing its lead to 16 points in a little over four minutes of play in the second half, the Sun Devils couldn’t find their stroke. They looked hesitant to shoot and continued to miss multiple drive-and-kick opportunities throughout the night.

“I’m not disappointed by the effort we put forth,” Hurley said. “I thought we shot it a little quick at times in the first half and just a couple of no-pass possessions that we really couldn’t afford to have.”

The Sun Devils didn’t go down quietly, finding life in the final six minutes of action thanks to pair of treys from Martin and Jaelen House. ASU would get the Oregon lead down to seven thanks to a 10-0 run with 4:27 left to play.

But the Ducks would not be denied, withstanding the late run and sealing their second straight win. The victory snaps ASU’s two-game home winning streak over the Ducks.

ASU is back at it Sunday afternoon at 5 p.m. as it takes on the Oregon State Beavers. Tune to ESPN 620 AM for all the action.

Follow @Tdrake4sports