It went from bad to worse for the Sun Devils, who never looked like they belonged on the same Footprint Center floor as Northwestern. The Northwestern Wildcats shut down the Sun Devils 65-46 in the Jerry Colangelo Classic. It was the worst offensive performance of the year for ASU.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Sun Devils fall in Phoenix.
ASU has wrapped up the non-conference schedule and begins Pac-12 play on December 29th pic.twitter.com/sBAqauitej
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) December 21, 2023
Frankie Collins led the Sun Devils with only 10 points, while Northwestern had three different players who passed that mark. Boo Buie led them with 22. Brooks Barnhizer had 16, and Ty Berry had 12.
The issue, as it has been all year, is the three-point shooting. The Sun Devils went 3/18 from three tonight, which adds up to 17%. They also allowed Northwestern to shoot 42% this game.
First Half
The first half didn’t start terribly offensively for Arizona State. A Brycen Long three gave them 10 points in the first 10 minutes, which is actually pretty good for the Sun Devils. However, the issue was, uncharacteristically, the defense. The Sun Devils allowed 18 points in that same ten minutes. So, Northwestern held an 18-10 lead halfway through the first half.
Northwestern’s Ty Berry Hits a 3. Sun Devils down 18-7 early with 10:18 remaining.#ForksUp pic.twitter.com/qO3QPhPlZ6
— Burn City Sports (@BurnCitySports) December 21, 2023
However, from that point forward, it wasn’t good. Bryant Selebangue made a layup with six minutes to go in the half, and that was the only basket made by the Sun Devils in the final ten minutes. How did Northwestern do at that same time? They had 16 points. The Wildcats went on a 16-3 run to end the half and take a 36-13 lead going into the break.
Only five players scored for the ASU in the first half. Jamiya Neal led with five. Barnhizer led Northwestern with 13 in the half. Berry and Biue had nine and eight. Arizona State shot 5-26 from the field and 2-13 from three. In contrast, Northwestern shot 11-25 from the field that half.
Second Half
Arizona State went on runs in the second half. They just could never get close. Whenever they went on a run, someone from Northwestern would hit a three and end it. Arizona State did win the second half. They outscored Northwestern 33-29 in the second half. However, when you only score 13 in the first half, you aren’t going to win much.
The second half was led by Frankie Collins and Akil Watson, who combined 15 points. Northwestern was a one-man show in the second half. Boo Buie had 15 points in the second half and was the only player with more than four points.
Arizona State shot 44% from the field in the second while allowing the Wildcats to shoot 40% from the field and 44% from three. Arizona State did limit their three-point shooting in the second half, which forced them to attack the paint, and it worked. Maybe we will see more of that going forward.
Recap
This was a non-conference play to forget for the Sun Devils. They never looked good once in the first two months and now head into a weak Pac-12 with many bad losses. They will need a miracle to send their current 6-5 squad to the tournament. Northwestern now boosts their case for a top 25 bid after being knocked off this past week. They are 9-2 heading into Big 10 play.
The shooting will be the death of the Sun Devils, and it will need to improve heading into conference play. They start with Stanford next Friday in Palo Alto.
