(Tempe, AZ) Arizona State came back home after disposing of #23 West Virginia in Morgantown last week.
This Devil’s squad has shown they can play with anyone in the country, but have also looked very average at times as well. This game is a benchmark to see how good or bad this year’s team is.
Subsequently, Iowa State came in ranked #3 nationally and looked to make a statement on the road heading into February.
First Half
The Sun Devils got on the board first on a layup by BJ Freeman. Big man Jayden Quintance hit his first jumper from the top of the key for three and a quick 5-0 lead.
The Cyclones’ began the game without at field goal until the 15:54 mark with a three point jumper by Joshua Jefferson.
ASU wasn’t lighting up the scoreboard early as the visitors were extending their defense beyond the arc as the score was only 5-3 at the first TV timeout.
Iowa State wanted to force the defensive pressure and used a three quarter court trap which the Devils broke easily.
Both teams tried to get into a rhythm offensively but the defenses were the early story of the game. At the second timeout of the half at 11:54, the score was 11-10 in favor of Arizona State.
ISU wasn’t still struggling from the field shooting 27% (3-11) with the Devils at 42% (5-12).
After the timeout, the officiating crew overturned a goaltending call on. Iowa State which corrected the score to 10-9 now in favor of the Cyclones.
With a pair of free throws, Iowa State had their biggest lead 12-0 at the 11 minute mark.
A nice pick and roll from Dishon Jackson to Quaintance got the Sun Devil within two at `15-13 just under nine minutes left in the half.
ASU drew even at 15-15 at the 8:41 mark, but that was short lived as Curtis Jones hit a three 18-15 and added a two point jumper on the next possession to go up five 20-15.
Coming out of the third media timeout, the Cyclones put up an air ball as the shot clock expired.
Off the turnover, ASU ‘s Adam Miller hit a much needed three pointer to tie it at 20-20.
The team’s traded baskets with the lead changing hands back and forth until Iowa State’s Curtis Jones hit his shot to put ISU up by three 26-23.
An Iowa State missed shot, Freeman passed up a pass inside on the break and nailed a three to put the Devils back int lead 27-26 with 3:49 remaining in the half.
Freeman hit a bomb from the right baseline to light up the crowd and give ASU their largest lead 34-30 at the 1:42 mark.
The Sun Devils offense came alive at the end of the half finally getting some space to work with, but Iowa State would not go away not letting ASU get too big of a lead and trailed 37-33 with under a minute left.
Coach Hurley called a timout with thirty seven seconds left and an eight second difference on the shot clock to set up a final play.
After a near turnover by the Sun Devils, they took the ball out of bounds on left sideline with 1.9 seconds on the shot clock. A cross court skip pass to Alston Mason at the far baseline hit a three to close out the first half 40-33 Devis in the lead.
With the game going back abd forth for the entire first half, Arizona State shot 56% (14-25) from the field and hit their three’s late to go 6-12 from beyond the arc. The Sun Devils had their issued from the charity strip only hitting 6-10.
Iowa State never got into their offensive flow due to the Devils defense shutting down the lane on drives by the guards. It was all Curtis Jones who put up 18 points for the Cyclones.
A stat that stood out was ASU getting 10 points off Cyclone turnovers to go along with 9 assists.
Photo – Sun Devil Athletics
Second Half
Two Iowa State free throws and a jumper by the Cyclones got them within two 41-39, but a dunk by Shawn Phillips Jr. put the Sun Devils back up by five 44-39 at the first media timeout of the second half with 15:59 left.
Jihad Basheer went backdoor for an easy ally-oops to extend the ASU lead, but the Cyclones answered twice to keep it to a one possession game 46-44.
Joson Sanon canned an “in your face” trey to light up the home crowd and put Arizona State up 49-45 at the 14:08 mark.
A step back three by Curtis Jones and Iowa State was right back in the game 50-48 and the following possession tied it up on Joshua Jefferson’s jump shot 50-50.
With the up and down action, neither team could get ahead by much more than a couple of possessions. This one looked like it would go down to the wire.
Adam Miller’s floater in the lane broke the tie and a miss on the other end by Iowa State gave the Sun Devis an opportunity to extend their lead but Quaintance committed his fourth foul and had to sit down with just under ten minutes to go.
Iowa State scored on an inbounds layup to take the lead 53-52. Their first lead in awhile.
Alston Mason got the Devils back on top with a running layup 54-53 at the official’s timeout.
After the timeout, Joshua Jefferson hit a pair of free throws to put the Cyclones back up momentarily until Basheer’s layup gave the lead back to ASU 56-55 with under six minutes left.
BJ Freeman’s two free throws got the Devils a one point lead 58-57 and a Hurley timeout with 5:23 to go.
A two and a three pointer from Iowa State put them up 62-58 and they could feel the momentum changing.
Another jump shot by Keshon Gilbert gave the Cyclones’ their biggest lead of the game 66-58 with only 3:45 left.
ASU needed to stop the bleeding and fast with ISU was on a 9-0 run. Instead, the Devils turned the ball over and a flagrant foul put Joson Sanon at the line hitting both free throws ad a ten point lead 68-58.
Adam Miller stopped the Iowa State run with a three pointer, but ASU was still fading.
Curtis Jones/Photo – Sun Devil Athletics
Curtis Jones, put the icing on the cake with two daggers from the free throw line to go along with his 33 points and the Cyclones put ASU away late with a 8-0 run and won 76-61.
Wrap Up
Arizona State went scoreless the last 3:07 of the game. It wasn’t they ran out of gas, more than they made some bad decisions with the ball down the stretch.
Overall, the Devils put themselves in a position to win, but a couple of things stood out. They’re three point shooting was not what it’s been recently going 8-24 (33%) and the 18 turnovers, especially late in the game allowed Iowa State to take advantage and finish strong.
Up Next
The team will regroup and play at Colorado on Tuesday the 28th with tip off at 7 p.m.
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