Three thoughts on Arizona State basketball’s loss to BYU

It is no secret that Arizona State men’s hoops did not have their best performance on Thanksgiving against BYU. The Sun Devils fell 77-49.

Let’s look at some of the takeaways from ASU’s abysmal Thanksgiving night performance.

Arizona State basketball loses to BYU: Three thoughts

Rebounding needs major improvement

During this early season non-conference slate of games, it is no secret that ASU is struggling with rebounding, both offensively and defensively.

At one point towards the end of the first half, ASU had 13 total rebounds and BYU had 10 offensive rebounds. BYU grabbed eight more in the second half giving them a total of 18 offensive rebounds.

For the Sun Devils, they had just eight total offensive rebounds and added 24 rebounds on the defensive end totaling 32 for the game.

For the game, ASU was out-rebounded 51-32, a 19 rebound margin. That is not going to win you games. The Sun Devils have now been out-rebounded in every single game this season and have a rebound margin of -45.

If Arizona State basketball is going to win games this season they must clean up their rebounding margin.

Even if ASU does not out-rebound a team, they must keep it close at a minimum.

Three-pointers aren’t falling for Arizona State

Through the first few games of the season, Arizona State basketball has struggled with shooting the ball from three-point land. On Thursday, ASU had 20 three-point attempts and made just two of them, 10%.

Through the first four games of the season, ASU has attempted 82 three-pointers and made just 20 of them, 24.39%. That 24% ranks them 338th out of 351 eligible D1 teams.

That number is also driving down the team’s total field goal percentage which is currently at 36%, ranking 343rd in the nation.

The three-pointers do not seem to be working for the Devils, but they proceed to shoot them anyway. In last night’s game, it also appeared that ASU was a little reluctant to drive inside and use their size to their advantage.

If ASU wants to win games this season their offensive scheme is going to have to take on a big change.

The Sun Devil defense played well 

If you did not watch last night’s game you may wonder why I am talking about defense after giving up 77 points. BYU came into the game averaging almost 96 points per game, top five in the nation.

In the first half, ASU gave up 32 points and Frankie Collins had numerous deflected passes to back that up. This is coming off the heels of an eight-steal performance for Collins against UMass Lowell, a school record.

ASU had a total of six steals last night and once again numerous deflected passes that could have been stolen but were not.

To go along with that theme, ASU forced BYU to play a lot of their offense behind the arc, and BYU is more than comfortable doing that.

The on-ball pressures and switches on defense were some of the best we have seen through the first few games of the season.

If there is any bright spot from the game against BYU it was the defense.

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