Devils in Detail
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ASU MBB: Hawkinson Proves to Be Too Much for Devils

By Zach Pekale

Jan 29, 2017; Tempe, AZ, USA; Washington State Cougars forward Josh Hawkinson (24) puts up a layup over Arizona State Sun Devils guard Tra Holder (0) during the second half at Wells-Fargo Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 29, 2017; Tempe, AZ, USA; Washington State Cougars forward Josh Hawkinson (24) puts up a layup over Arizona State Sun Devils guard Tra Holder (0) during the second half at Wells-Fargo Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /
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ASU Basketball dropped to 3-6 in conference play following a 91-83 loss to the Washington State Cougars. WSU outscored ASU 54-43 after halftime.

The Arizona State men’s basketball team (10-12, 3-6) was run off its home floor by Washington State (10-10, 4-5) in a 91-83 defeat. The Cougars used overpowered the Sun Devils in the paint and outscored ASU in fast break points 22-6.

“I just feel like they [Washington State] wanted it more than we did. Maybe we weren’t focused on defense, we were focusing on the wrong things. I don’t know what but they played harder,” said Shannon Evans II.

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Senior forward Josh Hawkinson netted a career-high 31 points to go along with 10 rebounds for his eleventh double-double of the season. The 6-foot-10 big man gave the Sun Devils a lot of trouble in the post as well as on the perimeter where he knocked down a pair of threes.

Facing early deficits of 12-3 and 26-16, head coach Bobby Hurley couldn’t experiment with his bench and had all five starters play at least 33 minutes in an effort to claw back into the game.

“The way we started the game was not good and it affected our substitution pattern. It would’ve given guys like Jethro [Tshisumpa] an opportunity to get in the game,” said Hurley. “We need to do a better job with our leaders early in games so we’re not chasing so early.”

Offensively, junior Tra Holder had a career-high 27 points but ASU shot a whimpering 39.4 percent from the floor in the second half. The Cougars used a matchup zone defense that the Sun Devils had no answer for in addition to several questionable shots taken down the stretch.

On defense, the struggles continued for Hurley’s team as they currently rank last in the Pac-12 in points per game allowed and opposing team field goal percentage. Notably, empty possesions on offense resulted in quick transition points for the Cougars who outscored ASU 22-6 on the fast break.

“As bad as the transition defense was today, we took some awful shots in the second half. You bomb shots when no one expects you to take them and you miss them, that’s going to affect the mood of the team on defense,” said Hurley.

The win marks the Cougars first victory in Tempe since 2009, when Klay Thompson scored 28 points as a freshman.

Next: ASU MBB: Sun Devils Power Through Washington Huskies

Up next, the Sun Devils head to Eugene for their only meeting of the season with No. 10 Oregon. That game will take place on Feb. 2 at 9 p.m. MST and can be seen on Fox Sports 1.

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