Arizona State men's basketball will not be ringing in the new year on a good note. Tuesday the Sun Devils struggled in their Big 12 debut against BYU, falling 76-56 in a game that seemed doomed from the start.
ASU (9-3) trailed by double-digits as early as five minutes into the first half and just could not recover despite heading into the locker room on a 16-5 run.
BYU (10-2) only hit nine threes in the entire game but six of them came in the first half which seemed to bury the Devils, who could not keep consistent offensive momentum all forty minutes.
BJ Freeman was the only ASU player to reach double-digits with a mere 11 points. The Devils shot a poor 36.7 percent from the field and just 20 percent from beyond the arc despite chucking 29 threes in a futile effort to catch up with the dominating Cougars.
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After Tuesday's embarrassment, head coach Bobby Hurley needs to regroup the guys and come back much stronger in the team's next contest on Jan. 4 against Colorado.
Every game is going to matter in a Big 12 conference that appears likely to have at least five bids in the NCAA tournament. ASU has no ranked wins entering conference play, falling twice to Top 10 teams and more will be coming very soon.
Entering the BYU game, the Devils sat No. 51 in the all-important NET rankings but that's sure to plummet after Tuesday's performance. The selection committee won't be impressed with ASU's resume if more of the same inconsistent play is to follow in 2025.
The only advantage ASU will have in a tough record is its tough schedule. Participating in the Big 12 was always going to be a tall task but now comes the real test and showing up to compete is just step one. The Devils didn't do that Tuesday so fans will have to hope they'll get their heads back on straight as we step into the new calendar year.