The Arizona State Sun Devils (11-10, 5-5 in conference) lost 71-62 to the Stanford Cardinal (11-9, 6-4 in conference) during Thursday’s Pac-12 matchup.
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Second-half meltdown
The story remained the same as several ASU losses this season. The team got off to a hot start but fell victim to an opposing second-half run.
@Frankiecollins0 with a monster slam in traffic to end the first half. Sun Devils lead Stanford 33-29. #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/KwYUItUqMW
— Burn City Sports (@BurnCitySports) February 2, 2024
Stanford put together a late 17-2 run where nothing was going right for Arizona State.
The Sun Devils simply did not have an answer for 7-foot-1 Cardinal big man Maxime Raynaud. Raynaud ended with 12 points and a game-high 17 rebounds.
Arizona State’s 7-footer Shawn Phillips Jr. played just 11 minutes before exiting the game with a cut in the second half.
Struggles from beyond the arc
The Sun Devils once again struggled to shoot the ball. Over the last three games, the team has collectively shot an alarming 20% from beyond the three-point line.
Head coach Bobby Hurley is well aware of how impactful these shooting struggles were against a defense like Stanford.
“When you’re playing that defense, you’ve got to be able to make some shots to try and stretch the defense, open up driving lanes for someone, or to get them out of that defense because you’re shooting them out of it,” Hurley said. “We weren’t able to do any of those things.”
Adam Miller misses a three but immediately makes up for it with a tough and-1 finish. Sun Devils lead 58-52. #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/77CaljzsJy
— Burn City Sports (@BurnCitySports) February 2, 2024
There are still 10 games remaining for the Sun Devils and if they want a shot at the NCAA Tournament, they know that jump shots need to start falling at a consistent rate.
In addition to Raynaud, Stanford forward Brandon Angel put up a double-double performence. Angel finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
“When you have guys with those types of stat lines, you’re in pretty good shape,” Hurley said.
After having a shot at the top spot in the Pac-12 just three weeks ago, ASU now drops to seventh in the conference.
Key Stats
Arizona State:Â Field goals: 23/60 (38.3%), 3 Pointers: 8/32 (25%), Free throws: 8/13 (61.5%)
Stanford: Field goals: 25/58 (43.1%), 3 Pointers: 8/27 (29.6%), Free throws: 13/17 (76.5%)
Arizona State:Â 29 total rebounds, 10 turnovers, 10 points off turnovers
Stanford: 41 total rebounds, 13 turnovers, 8 points off turnovers
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Saleh Awwad is a writer/reporter covering Arizona State Sun Devils, Phoenix High School Sports, and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @SalehAwwad_
