What stood out and what’s next after ASU basketball’s heartbreaking home loss to Kansas State?

TEMPE, Ariz. – ASU basketball came into Tuesday on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament, needing a home win to keep itself in contention.

The Sun Devils opened the game on a 15-0 run and led 18-2 less than halfway through the first half. For a moment, it looked like ASU was well on its way to the comfortable bounce-back win it severely needed.

“For every 1,000 men who can handle adversity, only one can handle success. And I said, ‘We have to show that we can handle success because we don’t look like a team right now that can handle success,’” Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang said. “They were hungrier. They were more aggressive; they were more assertive. The word that I had on the board was attack. Attack in four different areas, and we weren’t in attack mode.”

Kansas State’s shots started falling, and its energy picked up. The Wildcats quickly erased the 16-point deficit to take the lead into halftime. Kansas State went on a 33-14 run to end the half.

That run didn’t stop in the second half. The Wildcats started fast in the first seven minutes, reaching their biggest lead of the game. Kansas State led 48-35 with 13 minutes remaining and had outscored ASU 46-17 since the Sun Devils led 18-2.

With eight minutes remaining, ASU had gone on a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to four points. On Kansas State’s ensuing possession, redshirt senior guard Adam Miller was accessed with a flagrant two and technical foul that ejected him from the game. The Wildcats grew their lead back to eight points. But ASU responded to cut the lead back to four points.

With five and a half minutes remaining, ASU went a 7-0 run to gain its first lead of the second half. The two teams went back and forth down the stretch until Kansas State led by one point with 14 seconds left.

BJ Freeman brought the ball up the court. He lost control due to a defender on his backside, it bobbled around and popped out of a scrum right to freshman forward Jayden Quaintance at the hoop. Quaintance was fouled on a dunk attempt and sent to the line with 4.5 seconds left, down one point. The 17-year-old freshman missed both free throws, Kansas State rebounded the ball, and the game was over.

Here are a couple of takeaways from the game, and a look at the rest of the season.

3-point shooting inefficiency

ASU shot the ball from deep early and often. The Sun Devils shot over half their attempts from deep, 37/57. However, ASU made just 32.4 percent of those shots.

The volume of 3-point attempts seemed concerning, especially in the first half. It felt like ASU was scared to go toward the paint for a basket.

However, ASU made just five of its 19 “unguarded shots” from 3-point range in the first half.

“We can chart now, you know, unguarded shots. That means that no one is within five feet of the player,” head coach Bobby Hurley said. “So, at this level, with the quality of shooting that we’ve shown throughout the course of this season, to be five of 19 on our home floor is, you know, you can’t win.”

A few of those shots were taken by Quaintance, but most were taken by guards who have shot the ball well from deep this season.

“Guys that I expect to take those shots, you know, we can’t win if a higher percentage of them don’t go in,” Hurley said.

ASU shot better than 40 percent from deep in six of its first nine games. But over the last six games, the Sun Devils have reached 35 percent just once.

Freshman guard Joson Sanon has been a large part of that. Sanon started the season on fire from deep. But since his return from injury, the freshman is just two for 15 in his last three games.

ASU has shown it likes to shoot the ball from deep this season. But, if the Sun Devils continue to struggle, doing so efficiently, they may need to rely on driving to the hoop more often. After all, ASU does have a 6-foot-9 freshman setting records under the basket.

Jayden Quaintance

The young phenom came under a lot of criticism this week after the way Tuesday night ended. Quaintance finished 1-7 from the field and 1-6 from the free throw line, including the two missed potential game-tying free throws.

“Quaintance, that’s the loudest 1-7 I’ve ever seen in my life. I can’t believe he was 1-7. Like it just felt like he was everywhere, doing everything,” Tang said.

Quaintance had 10 rebounds, two blocks, and a steal. The freshman has grown a lot this season and looked really good the last few games. He may have struggled shooting the ball Tuesday, but that comes with the eps and flows of a young player.

Graduate student guard Alston Mason told Quaintance after the game, “We wouldn’t be in the game if it wasn’t for you, you know, you made some big plays with blocks, rebounds.”

Quaintance’s two blocks also moved him up in the history books at ASU. He’s already set the freshman blocks record and continues to add to it. Tuesday night, he passed Warren Washington with his 61^st block, into No. 7 in ASU single-season history.

That’s the most blocks recorded in a season since Jordan Bachynski in 2014. Bachynski’s record is 133 blocks. For now, Quaintance is eight blocks behind Tommy Smith’s 69, ranked No. 6 in Sun Devil history.

Although Tuesday wasn’t a night to remember for Quaintance, there will be plenty more to celebrate for the young stud throughout his ASU career.

Remainder of ASU’s season

JBR Bracketology gave ASU a target goal of 18-13 (9-11) to make the tournament. A win Tuesday night would have gone a long way. Instead, ASU now sits at 12-10, 3-8, with nine games remaining. Meaning the Sun Devils would have to finish 6-3 for a shot at the NCAA Tournament.

The loss to Kansas State becomes ASU’s first Quad 3 loss, but if the Wildcats continue the streak they’re on, it could become a Quad 2 loss.

ASU’s remaining schedule consists of Oklahoma State, Texas Tech twice, TCU, Houston, Kansas State, BYU, Utah and Arizona.

ASU would likely need to beat OK State, TCU, Kansas State, BYU, Utah, and Texas Tech once. That would leave losses to Texas Tech, Houston, and Arizona.

There’s no certainty that ASU would get into the dance with an 18-13 record. But it gives the Sun Devils the best chance. One thing is for certain, ASU has to figure out how to finish games if it wants to compete down the stretch.

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