Pac-12 favorites ASU, UCLA set for showdown in Tempe
Don’t try telling UCLA men’s basketball coach Mick Cronin that his next opponent Arizona State hasn’t played a game in three weeks and had just a handful of practices.
Or that the Sun Devils rank 324th out of 338 Division I teams in rebounding.
Or that it is feast or famine when it comes the Sun Devils around the perimeter.
The Bruins boss is well aware of the Sun Devils potential, especially if senior guards Remy Martin (16.9 ppg) and Alonzo Verge (15.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg) are going full throttle.
The two teams will square off at 8:30 p.m. Thursday at Desert Financial Arena. It was the Bruins (7-2, 3-0) picked to win the Pac-12 in the preseason coaches poll, with the Sun Devils (4-3, 1-0) a close second.
The two teams split games last year with each winning on their home floor. The game in Tempe was an 18-point blowout, but the one at Pauley Pavilion later in the season went to the Bruins 7572 on a 3-pointer by Jaime Jaquez at the buzzer.
Cronin is aware of the talented newcomers ASU boasts in Marcus Bagley (13 ppg, 5.8 rpg) and Josh Christopher (16.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg,) but he is more cognizant of what he has seen from ASU’s veteran guards in games past.
“Remy Martin and Alonzo Verge are the two hardest guys to guard off the dribble in the Pac-12,” Cronin said. “Christopher is a bull downhill with the ball. And Bagley can shoot it, (Taeshon) Cherry can shoot it. So they’re a problem offensively.”
The Bruins have had the chance to get in rhythm, playing regularly without interruption although they were dealt a blow with the loss of Chris Smith (12.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg) to a torn ACL in his left knee sustained in a game against Utah a week ago.
The same can’t be said for the Sun Devils who last played on Dec. 16 when they lost to UTEP. Since then they had four straight games wiped out due to coronavirus issues — the first two of those on the part of their opponent and the last two theirs.
Playing the conference favorite after such a long layoff is hardly the ideal sce
nario.
“I was focused more on conditioning, I could tell on Monday and Tuesday that the guys were pretty winded so we wanted to get a lot of running in and we ramped up the live segments of practice yesterday,” Hurley said in a Zoom call with local media Wednesday. “Losing that time is just opportunity to be cohesive, not having the normal of reps under your belt you’d normally have.”
Hurley said he is not sure what his roster will look like for Thursday’s game, as well as Saturday’s against USC (6-2, 1-1). Cherry was unavailable, had the Sun Devils played last week against the Washington schools, presumably due to contact tracing protocols.
When it came to on-court issues Hurley alluded to “changes” but didn’t divulge further details.
Indeed the biggest issue has been rebounding, which was further magnified when Bagley was out of the lineup the last three games with a calf issue. He is expected back with the layoff giving him time to get back to full strength.
While ASU has struggled in the paint, Cronin cites the Sun Devils ability to compensate for that with their ability to
turn teams over with ASU is forcing 17.5 turnovers per game and 18 points off turnovers.
“Their inside game comes off their dribble penetration. That’s where they get the ball at the rim. They aren’t huge. They’re not a bulk team but they are unbelievably fast and athletic and they know it,” Cronin told Los Angeles media on Tuesday. “They’re a ball pressure, passing lane team, they try and speed you up and do a good job of it We’re going to have to make sure we don’t let that happen. My guys know, I say it all the time, you can’t rebound a turnover.”
UCLA, relies on balance with five players averaging double figures led by Jaquez (13.3 ppg, 5.8 rpg) with point guard Tygar Campbell (10.9 ppg, 7.2 apg) serving as catalyst of the offense.
“With (Jalen) Hill and Cody Riley they have two big physical interior players. We have been focusing on rebounding and we know its been an issue in some of our losses,” Hurley said. “It’s something on the practice floor, the last couple of days that we’ve been dialing into, understanding we have teams coming in that are focused in on that area and are very good at it.”