ASU basketball finished non-conference play with a 9-3 record, tying Colorado at the top of the Pac-12. Here’s what stood out to us before league action.
A year ago, Arizona State’s out-of-conference success earned heavy national attention. A 12-0 record, highlighted by double-digit wins over eventual-NCAA Tournament No. 1 seeds (Xavier, Kansas), helped the Sun Devils rise to a No. 3 ranking and become the nation’s final unbeaten team.
This season, things are a bit different.
ASU finished its non-conference schedule with a 9-3 record, still topping the Pac-12. It defeated Kansas (again) – this time over a top-ranked Jayhawk squad at Wells Fargo Arena.
The team also won its second straight regular season tournament in Las Vegas, defeating then-15th-ranked Mississippi State and Quadrant 1 opponent Utah State in the process.
But unlike last season, there were some early stumbles. ASU lost three times – all games where they had a chance to win – in different fashion.
Against Nevada, the Sun Devils had a 15-point lead and squandered it. At Vanderbilt, poor shooting and late defensive rotations stifled a late comeback. And the latest – a home loss to Princeton – came down to more offensive struggles and a possible holiday hangover.
Luckily, there’s room to grow. With guards Rob Edwards and Remy Martin returning from injury, coach Bobby Hurley is beginning to solidify his rotation. That should bode well for ASU’s offensive and defensive improvement.
Tomorrow, the Sun Devils open Pac-12 play against Utah, an opponent they split a series with a season ago. ASU is the current favorite to win the conference, but like last season showed, there’s a reason behind playing the games.
As the squad prepares its quest for a league title, here are some of the biggest things our coverage team noticed from the last two months.