At the beginning of the second half, the Arizona State Sun Devils seemed to be in control as they led the Iowa State Cyclones by 45 to 41. The game, however, was soon altered because the Arizona State offense faltered, and Iowa State took over the game with a decisive running game.
Costly Offensive Drought
Arizona State suffered a long drought of scoring, which swung the tide of the game. The Iowa State almost scored 24 points in a row as the Sun Devils failed to score for almost nine minutes. It was also a period when ASU did not make a field goal in 10 minutes and 30 seconds.
After shooting an impressive 58 percent in the first half, the Sun Devils struggled to maintain that efficiency, often settling for contested perimeter shots as the Cyclones tightened their defense
Turnovers Prove Decisive
Another significant point was ball control. Arizona State made a record number of 23 turnovers, 13 of them during the second half. Iowa State capitalized on these errors and made the most out of it by scoring 29 points and only allowing ASU eight points on turnovers.
The team had a general difficulty securing the ball in the hands of the players. Massamba Diop led Arizona State in scoring but also committed a team-high seven turnovers.
Bobby Hurley thinks that the aggressive defense disrupted the offensive flow of the Sun Devils and brought Iowa State back to the game. The defensive pressure often forced the ball out of Moe Odum’s hands, preventing Arizona State from running its usual offense.
Transition Dominance
Transitioning was also in favor of Iowa State, which ended with an overwhelming 25-2 lead in fast-break points. The Cyclones used that advantage to build and sustain their lead following the critical second-half run. The offensive drought and turnover problem of Arizona State was too much to take.