ASU basketball: What went wrong against Washington?

Arizona State fell to Washington on Thursday night in a game that the Huskies had control of for most of the night. The Sun Devils stayed close with the Huskies until midway through the second half, when Washington went on a run, eventually leading to its 82-67 win over ASU.

Washington graduate student guard Sahvir Wheeler led the way for the Huskies with 24 points, going 5-5 from 3-point territory. Junior guard/forward Jamiya Neal paced ASU with 14 points, followed by junior guard Frankie Collins with 13 points.

The first half was back and forth, with Washington leading for most of the way. ASU ended the half on a 7-3 run to lead at halftime by one point.

Through the first eight minutes of the second half, the two teams were almost even, with ASU leading by one point. Then Washington went on a 13-0 scoring run over 2:23, which eventually turned into a 20-3 scoring run to give the Huskies a 16-point lead with less than seven minutes to go.

Despite ASU’s recent comeback success, the lead was insurmountable Thursday night as Washington kept making its shots and ASU could not consistently respond.

Washington picked up its second straight conference win, meanwhile, ASU dropped its first Pac-12 game of the season.

So what went wrong?

What went wrong for Arizona State basketball against Washington?

The defense could not stop Washington

ASU came into the game allowing an average of 70.8 points per game to its opponents. Washington came into the game averaging 81.7 points per game this season. Thursday, the Huskies scored 82 points on the Sun Devils.

This is just the second time this season ASU has allowed more than 80 points in a game. The other occurrence came against San Diego, in an extremely high-paced game, where the Toreros scored 84 points on 71 shot attempts, 12 more attempts than Washington had Thursday night.

Washington shot over 50% from the field and 52% from the 3-point line, both are season highs for ASU opponents. The Huskies’ 52% 3-point percentage was also a season high for them. ASU had not allowed a team to shoot better than 48.1% from the field and 42.4% from beyond the arc before Thursday night.

A big part of the Huskies’ masterful shooting night came from Wheeler and graduate student forward Keion Brooks Jr.

Brooks came into the game averaging more than 20 points per game and scored 22 points. Wheeler, however, came into the game averaging just under 16 points per game and three and a half rebounds. Wheeler eclipsed 20 points for the first time this season with a season-high 24 points. He added six rebounds and eight assists.

Wheeler entered the game shooting 17.5% from 3-point territory. He went 5-5 Thursday night.

Although ASU may have been a bit unlucky with Wheeler having a career night, it will need to bring its defensive intensity night in and night out if it wants to keep winning in Pac-12 play.

Positive takeaways from the game for ASU

Another successful night for ASU bigs

While the defense was the biggest issue of the night for ASU, there were some positives for the Sun Devils. One of those was the improved play from its bigs.

Sophomore center Shawn Phillips Jr. played in his fifth game back from injury Thursday night and continues to look better every game. Phillips had multiple big dunks giving signs that he’s ready to make the leap into the player head coach Bobby Hurley brought him to Tempe to be.

Phillips now has 20 points over his last three games and has only missed one field goal over that span. He has brought a rim presence that has opened the floor up for the shooters around him.

To back him up, junior forward Bryant Selebangue is starting to grow in confidence as well. Selebangue had a big performance against Colorado when Phillips got into foul trouble and added another productive game tonight. Selebangue has made five of his seven shot attempts over the last two games.

ASU has used a four-guard lineup for the majority of the time since redshirt junior Adam Miller gained eligibility, but if Phillips and Selebangue can continue to produce near the rim and protect the rim on the other end of the court, they might force Hurley to make some difficult decisions.

Frankie Collins leads ASU once again

Another positive for ASU has been the play of Frankie Collins.

It may not have been a win, but Collins was the leader for ASU once again Thursday night. Collins scored 13 points, which was second behind Neal, and led the team with seven rebounds and five assists.

It’s no secret that Collins is the leader of this ASU team. But he might finish the season leading the Sun Devils in every major offensive category. Collins currently leads the team averaging 13.6 points per game and 58 assists on the season. He is currently second on the team in rebounding averaging 5.2 per game. Neal leads the team averaging 5.6 rebounds per game. Collins is tied with Neal and graduate student guard Jose Perez, averaging 31.6 minutes per game. Last but not least, Collins leads the team with 49 steals. The next closest player has 19 steals.

Last season Collins averaged 9.7 points and 4.1 rebounds and accumulated 46 steals. If Collins continues the pace he’s on, he’ll average nearly 14 points and more than 5 rebounds per game and record more than 110 steals this season.

ASU needs Collins to show up every night if it wants to compete in the Pac-12. If Collins keeps this play up, he could find himself in the Pac-12 Player of the Year conversations come March.

ASU will look to get back on track after facing its first conference loss of the season on Wednesday when it faces a struggling UCLA team. The Sun Devils have lost six of the last seven matchups with the Bruins.

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