Arizona State turned the first half of 17 points into a game they didn’t even reach 50. The Sun Devils shot 2-20 from three en route to a 77-49 loss to a now 5-0 BYU. Arizona State is now 2-2.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Frankie Collins, Jamiya Neal, and Bryant Selebangue all scored in the double digits, but besides that, it was an incredibly cold night from the field.
The first half started fantastically for ASU; they took a 7-3 lead while making their first three shots. It looked like ASU had finally found the offense they’d been looking for early in games. Plus, BYU, a very good shooting team, was very cold early on. However, ASU’s hot streak stopped after they got to seven points. They didn’t score again for 9 minutes and only scored 10 points in the last 18 minutes of the half.
Fell for the pump fake 😅@Frankiecollins0 drills it from distance
ASU 7 | BYU 3
17:49 – 1st Half pic.twitter.com/HOQDTzh8TZ— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) November 24, 2023
BYU only scored 12 points in the first 15 minutes of the first half, but after back-to-back threes feel for the Cougars, they would go on a run and score 20 points in the last 5 minutes of the half to take a 32-17 lead.
WAT3RMAN.
📺: https://t.co/JnUZPR6033 pic.twitter.com/qh5KW1uLwx
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) November 24, 2023
The second half went better from a shooting perspective. They shot 37% compared to the 29% in the first half, with Selebangue scoring 10 points. However, it was a great half for BYU, too. After only shooting 31% in the first half, BYU shot 51% in the second half, completely tearing apart the solid Sun Devil defense. They went 8-14 from three, while ASU only made two threes the whole game.
Noah Waterman, Trevin Knell, and Jaxon Robinson combined 8/9 from the three-point line in the second half. Waterman had 24 points and went 6/9 from three leading the Cougars.
3 for @trevin_knell ❕
📺: https://t.co/JnUZPR6033 pic.twitter.com/PU9vAB3PCE
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) November 24, 2023
Arizona State could never close the gap with how well the Cougars were shooting. The closest this game got was a 13-point game when Selebangue made a layup to open the half. The largest lead for the Cougars was 29. It never got close, and the major story from the second half came at the end. With 33 seconds left, Atiki Ally Atiki, a rotational forward for the Cougars, punched Sun Devil Akil Watson in the face, leading to a scrum on the floor. It drew players from both benches onto the floor, which is illegal. This resulted in Atiki, Watson, Waterman, and Jose Perez being ejected, with many more lucky they weren’t.
That’s on Atiki. Can’t do that. pic.twitter.com/tsHjpAP27E
— 🍍Andy Splatz🍍 (@AndySplatz) November 24, 2023
It was an unfortunate ending to a terrible game. BYU will face NC State tomorrow for the championship. However, due to these ejections, there is a chance players will be suspended for that game, too.
Arizona State’s issue is they can’t come from behind against good shooting teams but don’t have the offensive firepower required to get ahead. It’s a situation that doesn’t seem to have any solution for ASU and could haunt them this season.
Arizona State will face Vanderbilt tomorrow in the third-place game.
