ASU basketball: Three takeaways from loss to UCF

TEMPE, Ariz. – ASU basketball has had a rough start to Big 12 conference play. The Sun Devils lost three of their first four games, but all were games in which ASU was an underdog. Tuesday night, ASU was a home favorite and needed to pick up a win.

Instead, the Sun Devils gave up a season-high 95 points in a 95-91 loss to UCF. ASU now sits at 10-6 on the season and 1-4 in Big 12 conference play.

ASU scored the first two points of the game, but then UCF went on a 7-0 run to grab an early lead. It was a back-and-forth first half that the Knights led for most of. With 4:07 left in the half, ASU went on a 7-0 run of its own over 1:11 of game time. The Sun Devils grabbed a four-point lead, but UCF quickly erased it. The Knights ended the half on a 6-0 run to take a two-point lead into halftime.

UCF came out firing from 3-point land in the second half. The Knights took their largest lead of the night, 12 points, less than four minutes into the half behind an 11-2 run. ASU responded over a 3:02 span with an 11-0 run to take a 71-69 lead with 10 minutes to go.

However, in the final two minutes, ASU scored just three points. UCF outscored ASU 8-3 down the stretch to pull out the upset. Here are three takeaways from ASU’s disappointing loss.

ASU basketball needs to learn how to play a complete game

Jayden Quaintance looks up at a referee after being knocked to the hardwood against UCF on Jan. 14, 2025. (Photo by Sedona Levy/Sun Devil Daily)

This has been a struggle all season for ASU. After the Baylor game, I talked about needing to put two quality halves together to win. The Sun Devils put two great offensive halves together on Tuesday night, but they forgot to play defense.

“It feels like a dam that has holes in it. One day, the offense isn’t showing up for a period of the game,” head coach Bobby Hurley said. “In this case, we couldn’t stop them from scoring.”

ASU has struggled this season with consistency on the offensive side of the ball. However, the defense has been strong all year. That wasn’t the case on Tuesday. The Sun Devils lit up the scoreboard with 89 points and a season-high 47 first-half points.

But, on the defensive side, the floodgates opened for ASU. The Sun Devils were allowing 71.2 points per game coming into the night. Tuesday night, ASU allowed its worst opponent 3-point percentage of the season, 46.2 percent, and its second worst opponent field goal percentage, 50.8 percent. If you combine those two stats, the 95 points the Sun Devils allowed sounds about right.

ASU solved its offensive inconsistency issues Tuesday night, but that led to defensive breakdowns.

Both Hurley and freshman forward Jayden Quaintance mentioned ASU’s defensive rotations as areas they could improve on. Quaintance detailed how preventing opponents from getting into the paint decreases their chance of kicking the ball out to an open shooter.

The former five-star may be a freshman, but he is growing into a leader on this team.

Quaintance and BJ Freeman show their flashes of stardom

Senior guard/forward BJ Freeman has put up season-highs in points each of the last two games. Freeman scored 22 points against Baylor on Saturday and followed that with a 26-point performance on Tuesday.

BJ Freeman notches a season-high 26 points, but the Sun Devils fall short to UCF. (Photo by Sedona Levy/Sun Devil Daily)

“I liked what he’s doing scoring. He’s really coming into his own that way,” Hurley said. “He’s put more time in. I’ve noticed him since before Colorado, just getting extra reps, working on his shot.”

Freeman finished Tuesday night with 26 points, including shooting 5/6 from the 3-point line. Freeman added four rebounds, three assists, and a block. With his recent 20-point performances, Freeman now leads the team in scoring.

“I liked his passing tonight,” Hurley said. “He’s going to draw a lot of attention, and I think that’s an underrated skill that he has.”

Quaintance also had a career night. The star freshman scored a season-high 20 points on an efficient 8/11 from the field. Quaintance added seven rebounds, an assist, and five blocks.

“JQ (Quaintance) was fantastic,” Hurley said. “What he did offensively, efficiency, using his physicality and certain bunch ups to score around the basket and just guarding multiple guys with multiple positions.”

The 6-foot-9 freshman has been impressive all season with his defensive ability. He is now averaging over three blocks a game, which leads the country. If Quaintance can gain confidence and comfortability on the offensive end, the sky is the limit for him.

Jayden Quaintance skies for an ally-oop against UCF on Jan. 14, 2025. Quaintance stuffed the stat sheet against the Knights with a season-high 20 points, as well as seven rebounds and five blocks. (Photo by Sedona Levy/Sun Devil Daily)

Sometimes you just have to respect an outstanding performance

You don’t see very many 40-point games from players in the NBA, let alone in college. But UCF’s Keyshawn Hall put on a clinic Tuesday night. Hall finished with 40 points on 13/18 from the field, 4/6 from deep, and 10/10 from the charity stripe.

“I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a kid play that well against me,” Hurley said. “So, hats off to Hall. He was unbelievable.”

Hall started the night off fast by scoring 20 points in the first nine minutes of the game. He ended the first half with 29 points. In the second half, he dealt with foul trouble and had to sit for a period of time. But when he came back in, he went right back to scoring.

Quiantance said he was trying to post Hall up and draw fouls against him because they knew he was in foul trouble. He was the main threat to ASU, and he knew if he could get Hall out of the game, it would be big.

Hall was UCF’s leading scorer coming into the night. The junior guard/forward had six games with at least 20 points already this season. Tuesday was the second time he had four 3-pointers in a game and the second time he had made 10 free throws in a game.

“It was hard to really gameplan against what he does. The only thing we could’ve done better with him was get back on defense,” Hurley said. “When a guy that’s got a game going like that, you can’t afford to have breakdowns in transition defense. Credit to him, he shot incredible.”

Looking ahead for ASU basketball

The Sun Devils schedule does not get any easier. Now ASU hits the road for Cincinnati to play the Bearcats on Saturday. Much like ASU, Cincinnati has had a rough start to Big 12 conference play. The Bearcats are looking for their first conference win. Meanwhile, the Sun Devils will be looking to get back on track.

Then, ASU finishes its road trip in West Virginia, which currently sits fifth in the Big 12. The Mountaineers beat Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse and have looked extremely good this season.

Hurley said freshman guard Joson Sanon could be ready for ASU’s game against Cincinnati. However, ASU is being cautious with the young talented guard. Sanon is the type that wants to play no matter what, so Hurley will do what he feels is best for Sanon’s health.

The return of Sanon would be a huge boost for ASU, but regardless, the Sun Devils will need to put a complete game together on Saturday in Cincinnati.

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