Arizona State basketball fell to 1-4 in conference play with a 95-89 defeat to UCF at Desert Financial Arena on Tuesday night.
For the first 61 seconds, both teams combined for 0 points, until Arizona State basketball’s freshman forward Jayden Quaintance pushed in a basket. After that, it was an offensive onslaught.
On a night where seven players reached double figures and both teams shot at least 46% from three-point land, the Knights converted their chances late to rebound from Saturday night’s defeat at Arizona.
“I think I felt worse on Saturday (after the loss to Baylor) to be honest,” Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley said. “I thought we played pretty well…I knew they were talented, I knew they could score. They scored 80 vs. Arizona and they’ve had other games like this that they can really put points on the board if they get going.”
Here are three takeaways from the loss.
Takeaway #1: “Hats off to Hall”
Going into Tuesday night’s matchup, two players had posted 30 points against Arizona State basketball.
Keyshawn Hall had 29 in the first half.
The junior guard/forward started the game as a one man with 20 points in the opening 10 minutes. At first, his damage primarily came from right wing triples. But as the game went on, the Knights’ leading scorer looked for gritty layups to get away from double and triple teams within the paint.
“It was hard to game plan against what he does,” Hurley said. “The only thing we could have done better with him is get back on defense. I think Basheer (Jihad) missed a free throw, and we did not look back, and he’s now loose in the open court. When a guy’s got a game going like that, you just can’t afford to have breakdowns in transition defense.”
While Hall slowed down in the second half, he finished the night with 40 points, clinching the benchmark on the last two points of the night. He also made a couple of his shots down the stretch, enabling the Knights to get a cushion into the final minute, while notching seven rebounds and six assists. He also went a perfect 10-for-10 on his free throws.
“You know, just staying on those pump fakes, stop reaching a little bit, stay in front (and) stay solid,” Quaintance said on what he was thinking when guarding Hall. “Just gotta keep my head up and make a big impact.”
Takeaway #2: Freeman might be Arizona State’s best guard
Who would’ve thought at the beginning of the season that the Sun Devils’ best guard would be BJ Freeman: a guy that was not in the starting lineup in the first game against Idaho State?
Arizona State basketball fans may have to consider that after Tuesday night’s performance, as the senior guard/forward put up an individual and team season-high 26 points. He posted double figures in each half, going 5-for-6 from beyond the arc and the charity stripe. Much like Saturday night against Baylor, Freeman found a way to inject some energy into the home crowd, which included making shots that started and ended his team’s 25-10 run in the second half.
“He’s putting more time in,” Hurley said. “I noticed him working since before (the) Colorado (game), just getting extra reps, working on his shots. I really liked his passing tonight.”
Freeman’s heroics show a leader in a budding roster going into the season, but also a team that is shorthanded right now. Freshman guard Joson Sanon is injured once again after a 17-minute stint against Baylor, junior guard Austin Nuñez has remained out since November and freshman guard Trevor Best has yet to make his collegiate debut.
“It’s different: practice and playing against freaking Baylor on Saturday night,” Hurley said on Sanon. “We’re gonna be more patient with him. When he’s ready to go, then we’ll bring him back.”
Takeaway #3: Sun Devils need to ramp up on defense
Bobby Hurley has admitted that the transition to the Big 12 would be tough, from the extra travel and more physical opponents.
His team allowed 49 points by halftime. It was the fourth time in the past five halves that it had been outscored and allowed 30 points.
This came on a night where there were 144 combined points, the most seen in a men’s basketball game at Desert Financial Arena this season. The Knights went 50.8% from the floor and 46.2% from the beyond the arc. Despite shooting better in both categories, the Sun Devils allowed 13 offensive rebounds, resulting in 13 second chance points for the visitors.
Although Arizona State basketball pieced together a 25-10 run through the second half, it could not maintain the lead as the defensive front faltered. Once UCF grabbed the lead with 4:53 left courtesy of Hall, it did not give it back.
“They’ve been doing the same stuff,” Hurley said about UCF. “They’re guard, (Darius) Johnson is very physical and he gets downhill, really does a good job at creating contact…(Jordan Ivy-)Curry can shoot it. I was more concerned about Curry and Johnson than I was Hall coming out of halftime.
The Sun Devils allowed 95 points at home to a team ranked seventh in scoring offense in the Big 12. Cincinnati and West Virginia’s production is not as high as UCF’s. But two poor performances on the road, and things could get dire in Tempe.
Up next for Arizona State (10-6, 1-4): at Cincinnati (10-5, 0-4) – Jan. 18 at 2 p.m. EST
Up next for UCF (12-4, 3-2): vs. No. 10 Houston (12-3, 4-0) – Jan. 18 at 12 p.m. EST