ASU hoops can’t hold off McKinley Wright, Colorado
Two of the best point guards in the Pac-12 squared off with Colorado’s McKinley Wright and Arizona State’s Remy Martin leading their teams into action at the Colorado Events Center. But that matchup didn’t quite materialize as Wright and the No. 24 Buffaloes registered a 75-61 victory Thursday night.
The win by Colorado (20-7, 14-6) assures it of the No. 3 seed for next week’s Pac-12 Tournament which begins on Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The loss marked the end of a modest three-game win streak, ASU’s longest of the season.
“They just really turned it up a notch defensively,” ASU coach Bobby Hurley said of the decisive stretch midway through the second half. “You can see why they are what they are defensively. They had another burst. I didn’t like how we finished the game at all. They had too many layups. We kind of just folded and McKinley Wright had his fingerprints all over that.”
Wright, a leading candidate for conference player of the year honors, tallied 24 points, four rebounds and four assists as Colorado shot 46 percent (26-for-57) and finished with a 44-28 advantage on the boards.
Meanwhile Martin shot just 1-for-9 from the field, finishing with only six points, four of those coming from the free-throw line. It snapped a streak of eight straight games with 20 or more points which is tied for first in ASU history with Eddie House.
Martin, who ranks sixth on the school’s all-time scoring list and second in assists, never got in an offensive rhythm, after picking up two charging fouls in the first five minutes of the game.
Martin was not alone in his struggles however. The Sun Devils (10-12, 7-9) shot only 34 percent (20-of-58), with Alonzo Verge going 3-for-12 for eight points. Kimani Lawrence managed 10 points and five rebounds but was slowed by foul trouble in the second half and was just 4-of-11 from the field.
It was the lesser heralded athletes
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98.7 FM. ASU ends regular season vs. equally ambivalent Utes team. Both have had bumpy seasons, ASU coming off a loss at Colorado after a modest 3-game win streak.
trying to keep the Sun Devils in the contest. Apollo High School graduate Holland Woods, the only player to see action in every game, scored 15 points and reserve guard Jaelen House added 13 with three assists and two steals.
“We were missing some shots down the stretch and McKinley got going,” Woods said. “That just fed a lot of energy to their team. They got going and started knocking down shots and they were able to bury us at the end of that game.”
ASU trailed 31-30 after a first half in which both teams struggled on offense. ASU had 11 turnovers, nine of those coming in the first half.
“I thought we defended fairly well to start the game. Defended well, even though our offense wasn’t great. We still were doing the necessary things on defense at that end of the floor,” Hurley said. “But we were a little loose with the basketball, had too many turnovers. That hurt us because we’re not a high turnover team. On the road you can’t afford to do that.”