Following a blowout loss to Cal, ASU Basketball will seek to sweep the season series against Stanford. The Sun Devils are 7-5 at Wells Fargo Arena this season.
The ASU basketball team (11-14, 4-8) will continue their homestand against the Stanford Cardinal (12-12, 4-8). Both teams are coming off of losses and are looking to gain momentum in the final stretch of the regular season.
In their worst offensive game of the year, the Sun Devils scored just 43 points on 25.4 percent shooting from the field and 12 percent shooting from three-point range. Head Coach Bobby Hurley’s undersized team was dismantled by Cal’s daunting zone defense.
Arizona State guard Torian Graham has struggled offensively as of late. In his last three games, Graham has connected on just 13-48 field goal attempts and has shot 25 percent from behind the arc. His shot creation has not been up to par with his expected performance, which has hurt the offense.
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This is a crucial game for Arizona State, who still must play No. 10 UCLA and No. 9 Arizona at home in the coming weeks. A victory today could be the confidence boost ASU needs to compete with high-level programs and potentially pull off an upset.
The Sun Devils defeated Stanford 98-93 in their first game of Pac-12 play on Dec. 30 behind 30 points and eight rebounds from Graham. ASU’s fast paced offense and three-point shooting withstood a late rally from the Cardinal.
Sophomore guard Marcus Sheffield led the Cardinal offense in December with a 35-point performance but has since been taken out of the starting lineup in favor of senior Marcus Allen. Nonetheless, Sheffield will be a key role player in coach Jerod Haase’s rotation.
The Sun Devils can’t afford to give up second-chance points as the Cardinal have one of the most efficient big men in the conference in Reid Travis. The Arizona State defense will need to capitalize in transition on Stanford’s poor ability to shoot as the team has the worst field goal percentage and three-point percentage in the Pac-12.
The defense of Shannon Evans II and Kodi Justice has been a bright spot down the stretch for ASU. Evans is tied for ninth in steals while Justice has the 11th most. The two guards will need to pressure Stanford’s backcourt and force turnovers to create fastbreak opportunities.
The aforementioned Travis has been stellar for much of the season and has scored 26 points in each of his last two games. Travis is averaging 17.2 points and 8.5 rebounds on the season and has asserted himself as one of the Pac-12’s elite low-post players.
In order to slow Travis, forward Obinna Oleka will have to stay out of foul trouble and be aggressive on the defensive glass. Look for forward Ramon Vila and Justice to provide weak-side help if Travis attempts to back down Oleka.
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The Sun Devils will tip off against the Cardinal at 6:00 p.m. MST from Wells Fargo Arena. The game can be seen on the Pac-12 Network.