Arizona State basketball: What went right and wrong in loss No. 3 Iowa State?

TEMPE, Ariz. – With five minutes to go, Arizona State basketball led No. 3 Iowa State by one point. Then the Cyclones flexed their muscles down the stretch to a 76-61 victory in Tempe. The Cyclones finished the game on a 19-3 run over 5:13 when everything fell apart for the Sun Devils.

ASU struggled to shoot the ball and turned it over late in the second half, which cost the Sun Devils the game. Redshirt senior guard Adam Miller led ASU in scoring with 13 points. Four other players contributed with either eight or nine points.

Iowa State was led by Curtis Jones, who lit up the stat sheet with 33 points. Joshua Jefferson and Keshon Gilbert joined Jones in double figures with 13 and 12, respectively.

ASU went toe-to-toe with the third-ranked team in the country for 35 minutes, but it wasn’t able to finish. What went well for the Sun Devils?

The first half was stellar for Arizona State basketball

ASU played about as well as they could’ve asked for in the first half. The Sun Devils shot 56 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range. ASU had nine assists and just seven turnovers.

The Sun Devils excelled in nearly every area. The ball movement on offense was clean lining up catch-and-shoot 3-point attempts and open buckets in the paint. The Sun Devils got back in transition to set their defense and contested every shot.

“Credit to coach Hurley and their team. They were the more physical, aggressive team for sure, for a large portion of that game,” Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “They’re very well coached and very well prepared, and we’re fortunate to make those plays late that put us in a good spot.”

Bobby Hurley coaches Arizona State from the sideline against Iowa State. ISU coach T.J. praised Hurley after the game for having the Sun Devils well-prepared for the matchup. (Photo by Spencer Barnes/Sun Devil Daily)

Iowa State averaged 21.3 points off of turnovers per game on the season. The Cyclones had three in the first half. ASU had 10 points off of Iowa State turnovers and kept that part of the Cyclones game under control.

Shawn Phillips and Joson Sanon

Junior center Shawn Phillips Jr. and freshman guard Joson Sanon were impressive on Saturday. Phillips played big minutes due to freshman forward Jayden Quaintance’s foul trouble, and Sanon was returning from injury.

Phillips played 19 minutes and was a menace while Quaintance was on the bench. He did more than fill minutes while ASU was without its freshman phenom. Phillips had five points, four blocks, two rebounds, and a steal. He was perfect shooting from the field.

“Unbelievable, great for Shawn. You’re trying to find some type of bright spot in the darkness, and Shawn was definitely that,” Hurley said. “His block at the end of the first half, his rebounding, his presence out there in the paint, it was fantastic. His attitude, everything with his teammates, how he interacted with his everybody today. He’s got great upside if he stays focused, and we keep him going in the right direction.”

The 7-foot junior is shooting 64 percent from the field in his last four games.

Shawn Phillips scored five points and added four blocks against Iowa State in Tempe on Jan. 25, 2025. (Photo by Spencer Barnes/Sun Devil Daily)

Sanon had missed five of the last six games with an ankle sprain. The freshman led ASU in 3-point shooting and received huge praise from his coach for his shooting ability. In his limited minutes against Baylor and before he got hurt against BYU, Sanon had missed five of his last six 3-point attempts.

However, after having his best practice on Friday since he was injured, Hurley said he looked comfortable on Saturday. Sanon scored eight points shooting 3-6 from the field, including 2-3 from 3-point range. Sanon played 25 minutes which has been a normal workload for him this season.

His two 3-pointers were a catch-and-shoot that looked flawless and a pull-up jumper. He looked in rhythm on both shots and seemed confident making moves with the ball in his hands. A healthy Sanon for the rest of the season will be huge for ASU.

Although ASU played an outstanding first half, Iowa State climbed back and made the score look much worse than it was. What went wrong for ASU?

The final five minutes

With 5:38 to go in the game, BJ Freeman made two free throws to give ASU a one-point lead. After that, ASU made one field goal for the rest of the game. The Sun Devils missed five shots and committed four turnovers in the last five minutes. Iowa State went on a 19-3 run to end the game, and a tight, hard-fought game looked like a blowout.

“We talked about we have to come out right away, ramp up our ball pressure defensively, and start to generate some turnovers,” Otzelberger said. “I felt like in the first half we weren’t quite aggressive enough.”

The Cyclones fed that 19-3 run by making its final five shots and shooting 7-8 at the free throw line. Iowa State showed why it is a top 3 team in the country. ASU did exactly what it needed to for most of the game but slipped for a few minutes and ISU made its run.

Even though the last five minutes were the worst of it, ISU climbed back the entire second half. ASU’s 50 percent 3-point shooting from the first half dropped to 16.7 percent in the second half. The Sun Devils made just two 3-pointers. ASU’s 40 percent overall shooting dropped to 31.8 percent in the second half.

The Sun Devils shooting faltered in the second half, but so did its ball security. ASU had 11 turnovers and just three assists in the second half. Iowa State finished the game with 17 points off of ASU turnovers after having just three at halftime.

The Sun Devils free throw shooting didn’t help either. ASU made just 11 of its 18 attempts, barely 60 percent.

Iowa State increased its shooting percentage in every area in the second half. The Cyclones shot 44.4 percent from 3-point range, nearly 10 percentage points higher than their season average. ISU shot nearly 50 percent from the field and over 83 percent from the free-throw line. The Cyclones made 24 free throws compared to the Sun Devils’ 11.

Curtis Jones

Iowa State’s leading scorer this season added to those numbers on Saturday. Jones missed his first three shots, but after that, he caught fire. The guard finished with 33 points and went 5-10 from deep, along with 8-10 from the charity stripe. Jones’ 33 points and nearly 40 minutes were both season highs.

Otzelberger praised Jones’ energy and movement on the court for allowing himself to always be open. He said Jones is a guy who wants the big shot or big moment, and he delivered for the Cyclones on Saturday.

“He played, according to this sheet, 39 minutes and 49 seconds, which means that his coach had a lot of confidence in having him on the bench for all 12 of those seconds,” Otzelberger joked.

Jones isn’t the first leading scorer for an opponent ASU has allowed to have a big night. Prior to Jones’ 33 points on Saturday, UCF’s Keyshawn Hall set a career-high with 40 points in their win over ASU.

The fan support was split

ASU normally has a solid home atmosphere. However, on Saturday it was electric for both teams. ASU fans made their presence known when there were big plays, but so did Iowa State fans.

“I was kind of confused at first, you know, during lineups, they were cheering, and I was kind of confused on what was going on,” senior forward Basheer Jihad said.

Iowa State fans traveled well and let their team know it throughout the game. Multiple “I-S-U” and “Cyclones” chants broke out during timeouts throughout the game.

“Our fans always seem to travel pretty well no matter where we’re at, so shout out to them,” Jones said. “They give us energy, even on the road, that’s a big deal. It makes us know that there’s people in here that got our back, and it’s not just us out there.”

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