Arizona State basketball: Three takeaways from loss to No. 6 Arizona

TEMPE, Ariz. – Arizona State basketball came up short Wednesday night as they fell to Arizona 85-67. Although the game was much closer than the score indicated.

ASU fell into an early 18-point hole that it could never fully recover from. The Sun Devils cut the Wildcats lead to five points twice in the second half but never got any closer.

Arizona opened the game on a 15-4 scoring run through the first 5:51. Then about halfway through the half, the Wildcats scored eight straight to build their 30-12 lead. ASU would shrink the lead down to 14 points by halftime when Arizona led 41-27.

The Sun Devils shot less than 30% in the first half. Meanwhile, the Wildcats shot better than 50%, which led to nine more field goals made.

ASU opened the second half scoring the first eight points of the half and cut Arizona’s lead to six. Five minutes into the half, Arizona had worked its lead back up to 12 points. ASU responded with a 9-2 run to cut the lead to five points. But each time the Sun Devils got within striking distance; Arizona found separation once again. Arizona and ASU traded 7-2 scoring runs to make it 61-56, in favor of Arizona, with 7:02 remaining in the game.

Arizona went on to close the final 6:49 on a 24-11 run and shut down any hope the home fans had of a comeback.

Three takeaways from Arizona State basketball vs No. 6 Arizona

Here are three takeaways from the game.

1. Arizona was simply too talented

Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to a team that is better and played to its ability to win. Arizona is ranked No. 6 in the country for a reason. The Wildcats have size and length down low with 7-foot redshirt senior center Oumar Ballo and 6-foot-7 senior forward Keshad Johnson and they have veteran athleticism at guard with seniors Caleb Love and Pelle Larsson and sophomore Kylan Boswell.

Arizona can use any one of those guys to beat you, and that’s what makes it so difficult to face them. Each starter averages double-figures and shoots better than 40% on the season.

The Wildcats shot 54% from the field Wednesday and nearly 40% from 3-point territory. Although the Sun Devils only shot 35% and just 27% from beyond the arc, the accuracy Arizona shot with makes it hard to beat regardless.

ASU made Arizona uncomfortable on the offensive end at various times, but talented players can make tough shots. The Sun Devils forced 14 Wildcat turnovers, and they only committed eight. But Arizona made tough contested layups all night long going right at ASU defenders.

“I have to give credit where credit is due,” head coach Bobby Hurley said. “They are a very loaded team that has a chance to do a lot of damage the rest of the way.”

2. The fans were dynamic on Wednesday night

From pregame to the final buzzer, Desert Financial Arena was loud and buzzing with excitement Wednesday night. Although there were many Arizona fans in attendance, and some chants from the rivals echoed through the arena at times, Sun Devil fans showed up big for ASU.

Wednesday marked the fourth-largest student crowd ever and saw ASU football head coach Kenny Dillingham and Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray in attendance.

Throughout the game, there were rival “U of A” chants countered by louder “ASU” chants. Coming out of the second half when ASU made its run to cut Arizona’s lead to six points, the fans were the loudest they’d been all night.

ASU came out of the second half with a different level of energy, and the fans matched that energy, providing an extra spark for the team.

“It kind of got us going a little bit. I love to play in those types of environments,” redshirt junior guard Adam Miller said. “It makes you want to play that much harder and it’s fun. This is what we live for. It’s the Arizona vs Arizona State game, it doesn’t get any better than that.”

3. Adam Miller was a force on the offensive end for Arizona State basketball

Miller led ASU in scoring Wednesday night with 16 points. It was the fifth game this season where he scored exactly 16 points and tied for his third-highest output of the season.

The LSU transfer’s efficiency was even more impressive. Miller was 6-8 from the field and 3-4 from the free throw line. It was his most efficient performance of the season.

Miller has now scored double digits in seven straight games and shot better than 60% in five of those games. He’s also been perfect at the line in three of those games.

This was just the second game this season that Miller shot two or fewer 3-point attempts. He utilized his midrange game and drove to the basket opening up shots for his teammates Wednesday night.

ASU had four players score 10 or more points. The more the Sun Devils spread the ball around opening the floor up for each other, the better they can complement each other’s games.

ASU’s recipe for success on the offensive end starts with playing unselfish and finding the open guy, which translates to better shot selection and eventually more efficiency.

Next, ASU hits the road for its final two games of the regular season. The Sun Devils will face the USC and UCLA. They have a week off before they face USC on Thursday at 9 p.m.

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