Arizona State men's basketball just can't seem to catch a break. The Sun Devils lost their fourth straight game Saturday 67-60 at Cincinnati, marking exactly two weeks since the team last earned a victory.
After getting out to a hot start, the Bearcats exploded for a 16-0 run mid-way through the first half. The Devils put a brief end to that streak before giving up another 12-0 run to their opponent heading into the halftime locker room.
Credit where credit is due, however, because head coach Bobby Hurley must've gave some fiery speech at half. The team went on a 15-2 run to start things up again, closing the gap to single digits quickly. But it wasn't enough to overcome their own mistakes, turning the ball over 14 times which gave Cincinnati, who turned it over half as many times, enough breathing room to close things out.
According to the CBS Sports broadcast, ASU (10-7) has now lost seven straight games on the road for the first since the 2021 season and made their Big 12 Conference debut at 1-5, the same mark it posted in that same season as part of the Pac-12.
Is it time to hit the panic button on ASU hoops?
ASU went through a scary moment with about 10 minutes remaining in regulation. Senior BJ Freeman went down with what looked like an ugly lower leg injury, having his foot stepped on by an opponent attempting to rebound a missed shot. He was assisted off the court gingerly and headed to the locker room briefly before amazingly re-entering the game after just two minutes of game time elapsed.
Freeman has returned to the ASU bench wearing a knee brace and just checked back into the game. @SunDevilSource https://t.co/cvw79LXxbq pic.twitter.com/2HF6OFaxUz
— Blake Niemann (@Blakes_Take2) January 18, 2025
The Devils already lost Austin Nunez for the year after he underwent foot surgery in early December. Freshman Joson Sanon also missed time with injury before returning last week. The team cannot afford any more injuries with its bench already so thin.
It's unclear if Freeman will miss time with any residual pain from Saturday's injury but he's been a pivotal piece of the offense, averaging 13.3 points-per-game and shooting 41.5 percent entering the game.
Losing four straight in conference play has now put ASU in a deep hole that will be incredibly difficult to recover from unless it can rattle off consecutive wins of its own down the stretch. What was once a promising-looking start to the year has evaporated before the Devils' very eyes but until Hurley can get his boys playing consistent offense and steady defense, fans might as well chalk this up to be another lost year in Tempe.