Defensive and Rebound Struggle Ends Coach Miller’s Home Game Win Streak

By Konstantine Ribeiro 

TEMPE, Ariz. — With just a little over four minutes to go in the third quarter, the Arizona State Sun Devils were able to begin clawing their way back into the game by outscoring the Kansas State Wildcats 17-7 in the final minutes of the quarter.

Unfortunately, they were unable to come back in the fourth quarter, as the Wildcats held them off and forced the Sun Devils to an 18-5 record.

It was their first home loss since March 1, 2025, when they lost 71-59 to the Arizona Wildcats on Senior Day. 

Sun Devils struggled to keep Kansas State off the board

“Sixty-seven should have been enough to win this game,” ASU head coach Molly Miller said. “We cannot allow this team to score 74 points. The defense is stuff that we can improve on. I don’t know if I can magically have a player shoot five percent better right now. But the defense is where we have to create our offense.” 

This should be taken into account by the Sun Devils, as they ended up with 18 personal fouls, which allowed the Wildcats to hit 14 of 19 free throws, while the Sun Devils went 8 of 10. Unfortunately, foul trouble was not the only issue for the Sun Devils today, as the Wildcats also outrebounded them.

During today’s game, the Wildcats managed to grab 34 rebounds compared to 28 secured by the Sun Devils; in fact, 79% of the Wildcats rebounds were on defense, which in the end prevented the Sun Devils from getting second-chance points. 

Turnovers help ASU keep things close

Despite these struggles, the Sun Devils did a great job forcing turnovers and scoring off them. The Wildcats turned the ball over 21 times today, which led to the Sun Devils scoring 23 points off turnovers. However, they still had their fair share of offense struggles as the Sun Devils turned it over 15 times and allowed 13 points off turnovers. 

From an offensive perspective, junior forward McKinna Brackens led in scoring and rebounding today for the Sun Devils, finishing off with 20 points and grabbing 6 rebounds. As for graduate guard Gabby Elliott, who currently leads in scoring for the Sun Devils with 16.6 points per game, she finished off with 18 points, going 3-11 from three, and managed to secure 5 rebounds.

Another key point is that despite the Sun Devils scoring more points than the Wildcats in both the third and fourth quarters, they only hit 44% of their shots from the field goal line. The Wildcats went 51% total, while also going 12-20 from the three-point line. 

 The Sun Devils will be back at home on Wednesday, Feb. 4th, to face the Oklahoma State Cowboys, who are now 18-5 after winning against the Arizona Wildcats earlier today, 88-69.