ASU seeks another solid scoring threat
The Arizona State men’s basketball team is going to have a chance to find out just how far it has come in the last 15 games — or not.
The Sun Devils (10-6, 1-2) return home for three games at Desert Financial Arena, the first coming at 7 p.m. Thursday against No. 20 Colorado (13-3,2-1), the same team it faced in the regular season opener in China. That game did not count toward the conference schedule.
ASU lost that contest 81-71 although it was close much of the way, tied at 59 with 10:19 to go. ASU only trailed 70-66 with 6:32 left, only to see Colorado pull away in the last few minutes.
The Sun Devils played that game without junior forward Romello White and sophomore forward Taeshon Cherry who were out for disciplinary reasons. Not having a presence in the paint loomed large as ASU was beaten on the boards 48-36.
The fact that the Sun Devils were close leaves some room for optimism.
“We tried very hard, worked at it, scrambled,” coach Bobby Hurley said. “We defended pretty well. We got hurt in the paint with rebounding as you might expect having our two most physical front court players out. A lot has happened since then. So it’s great we’re going to have those guys available for this game.”
The Sun Devils have used seven different lineups this season, with Hurley still looking for the right combination. The coach tipped his hand earlier this week when talking to the media, saying he liked what he saw out of his teams in last week’s road trip to Oregon. The Sun Devils defeated Oregon State 82-76, a win that looks even better given the Beavers came back the next game and throttled Arizona.
ASU lost to Oregon on Saturday but was competitive against the team favored to win the conference before falling 78-69. So Hurley will go with the same quintet that started in those games with White, Cherry and Kimani Lawrence at forwards and juniors Remy Martin and Alonzo Verge in the backcourt.
“Those are two very difficult places to play, as far as a pair goes it’s probably the most difficult pair that you’re going to face in a week so to go there and give yourself a chance to be playing Saturday to sweep and be in the game against a top tier opponent on their home floor,” Hurley said. “I thought there were some real positives to take out of it.”
Martin (19.1 ppg) tossed in 53 points in the two games. White (10.5 ppg, 9.6 rpg) had been a stellar complimentary weapon, averaging a double-double before being slowed a bit by a sprained ankle.
After that duo the Sun Devils have not had a consistent scoring threat. Senior guard Rob Edwards (9.3 ppg) looked like that option early, then struggled, only to break out of a slump with 18 points against Oregon State. He had started every game until Hurley opted to bring him off the bench on the most recent trip.
Verge (12.8 ppg, 3.8 apg) also looked like the guy earlier with a five-game stretch in which he tallied 120 points. The community college transfer has just 15 points in the three games since then.
Many thought Cherry was poised for a breakout season after being a key reserve last year as a true freshman, but he is averaging only 4.9 points with six points in the last three games combined. He’s just 11 for 44 from long distance, usually his strongest attribute.
“He’s playing hard. His shot is a little bit erratic right now,” Hurley said of Cherry. “He’s not making them the way he would like to but he’s working. You see him after practice getting more reps up. He’s too talented a guy with his offensive skills to not take a step at some point. He’s a sophomore, have to keep that in mind too. He’s going to develop.”
Hurley said having a lot of options isn’t a bad thing as long as someone does step up. In the loss to Oregon, Martin netted 29, his third-highest point output in his three years, but the only other player in double figures was Edwards, who contributed 11.
“I guess we’re harder to prepare for because teams may not necessarily know who it might be but certainly in the Oregon game we needed a few more guys to make a shot — 69 wasn’t enough points against them,” Hurley said.
Colorado, which is coming off a 91-52 thrashing of Utah Sunday, boasts a veteran team with the top seven players back from a team that won 23 games last season and reached the quarterfinals of the NIT. The Buffaloes won seven of their last nine games, getting knocked out of the Pac-12 tournament in the semifinal by Washington.
They return two first-team All Pac-12 selections in point guard McKinley Wright (13.6 ppg, 5.1 apg) and forward Tyler Bey (13 ppg, 9.8 rpg) with Bey leading the conference in rebounding.
ASU comes in averaging 73.3 points, 36.4 rebounds and 11 assists per game while Colorado is at 72.9 points, 38.7 boards and 13.8 assists.