Coming into this game, fans and coaches alike knew this would be a hard-fought battle. Everyone also knew that the Sun Devils would have to play perfectly if they wanted a remote possibility to win this game. Houston was ranked #3 defensively and #10 offensively entering this game on Tuesday night. From start to finish it was all Houston basketball in Tempe.
1ST Half:
Early in the game, they were double-teaming the dribbler, trapping, playing immaculate off-ball screens, and jumping lanes to cause turnovers. The defensive effort for Houston surely wasn't lacking early and that was evident. The Sun Devils didn't score for the first 2:02 of the game which proved difficult to come back from already as Houston scored seven in that timeframe.
Prior to the game, Coach Hurley said that he thought that Jayden Quaintance (JQ) looked good in practice this week and hoped to keep him under wraps to use as a weapon in the offensive game. Unfortunately, JQ picked up two early fouls in the first four minutes of the game which put a hamper on the plans for Coach Hurley. After missing 3 of the last 4 games, Rookie Phenom Joson Sanon entered the game at the 14:03 mark in the game and immediately put a stamp on the game, with 2 turnovers and a personal foul.
Although Houston's defense ranks #3 nationally, where they struggle defensively is defending the 3-point shot. It was clear that Coach was trying to exploit that as the Sun Devils put up 10 3-point shots in the first half alone. The only issue? They only made 2 of them. If 30-40% of your scoring is going to have to come from behind the arc, you simply can't shoot 20% in that facet of the game.
To top it all off, knowing they had to play a perfect game, it was clear that Hurley wasn't happy with the seven turnovers in the first half. The issue with that, however, is it wasn't Houston's defense that was causing the turnovers. With 4 of the turnovers being unforced, it showed a clear sign of mental lapsing on the player's side of things. It also wasn't very clear if the team knew that Houston was good at offensive rebounding and second-chance points because the Cougars had more Offensive Rebounds than the Devils had defensive in the first half. BOX OUT!!!!! I could hear Hurley screaming from the sideline.
2ND Half:
Early on in the second half, it was much of the same. It was almost like the team just stayed on the court and made 0 halftime adjustments. While being down 16 at the half was never a good sign as for what was to come, if the Devils showed some life, the fans would have stayed to back them until the finish. Instead, LJ Cryer lead his little barrage of scoring pushing the lead out to 22 for the Cougars with a 6-0 run out of the break. To compound the issues, the Devils continued to have unforced errors with errant passes, offensive fouls, and terrible shot selection down the stretch.
While this has been a common theme the last few games at home, at around the 13-minute mark in the game, "FIRE HURLEY" chants were raining from the stands, mostly from the student section. Right before the U12 official timeout in the second half, ASU cut the lead to 14 with a 6-0 run of their own and it looked like there may be a second wind. Until Emmanuel Sharp hit back-to-back 3's to push the lead back to 20.
After the U12 timeout, at around the 10-minute mark in the game, Bobby Hurley called a timeout in an attempt to stifle another Houston run. The issue? The players ignored Bobby's timeout and had their own huddle at mid-court. Hurley hinted at the fact that he thought he lost the locker room after the TCU loss on Saturday and it was going to take a miracle to win it back. Was this a public sign from the team that they no longer trusted his coaching, judgment, and opinions? To wrap up the game, after it was pretty much all said and done, the Devils had an 11-1 run to finish the game.
With the loss, the Devils move to 12-14 (3-12) in Big XII play. While the hope was all but gone before this game, it is going to take nothing short of a miracle to make it to the Big Dance this season. What started with a #3 recruiting class in the nation and a 9-2 start in one of the nation's toughest schedules, quickly turned on its head in the blink of an eye. As fans realized there was no chance for the Sun Devils to come back, fans started filing out of the game with about 8 minutes left. With not much left to play for, can the team expect fans to show up for the final 2 home games?