Maybe the ASU men's basketball team should try practicing what its coach preaches.
Defense has always been a staple of ASU head coach Rob Evans' teams, but almost none could be found Monday at Wells Fargo Arena.
It's not an encouraging sign for a team struggling to beat opponents from the Big West Conference and Northeastern Conference. What's going to happen when No. 15 UA, Stanford and California come knocking in the first week of the Pac-10 season?
"We just weren't guarding," said Evans, whose team allowed Fairleigh Dickinson to score 81 points and shoot 50 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from three-point range. "They were getting too many good looks at the basket. We weren't closing out on them."
Most of ASU's struggles on defense came as a result of its inability to pressure Fairleigh Dickinson's guards on the perimeter. Junior forward Ike Diogu and sophomore forward Serge Angounou held down the inside, but Diogu got winded late in the first half, and Fairleigh Dickinson capitalized on ASU's 17 turnovers.
The Sun Devils started the second half with more energy, as sophomore guard Bryson Krueger took a charge and senior guard Jason Braxton forced a jump ball. However, defensive lapses allowed Fairleigh Dickinson to cut ASU's 50-40 lead to 53-51 with 12:56 left.
"Just simple breakdowns," Diogu said of ASU's defensive lapses. "It's not necessarily one person, but the whole as a team. We've just got to tune that up, and then we'll be fine."
Krueger heats up
Krueger rediscovered his shot in the first half, nailing a pair of three-pointers and laying in a bucket after fighting through the lane. In the second half, he scored on a hanging jumper and on a scoop shot in the lane.
Evans moves up charts
USC head coach Henry Bibby's firing Monday made Evans, in his seventh year at the helm, the fourth longest-tenured coach in the Pac-10. Evans trails UA's Lute Olson (22nd year), California's Ben Braun (ninth year) and Oregon's Ernie Kent (eighth year).
Asked for his reaction to Bibby's firing, Evans said, "I don't have any reaction at all to people getting hired or getting fired. I'm real busy this time of year, trying to figure out how to keep my guys going and keep guys focused."
Free throws
Angounou was just the second Sun Devil to foul out this season. The other was Braxton, who fouled out against Vanderbilt.
Sun Bowl representatives were in attendance, passing out Vitalis products, including conditioner and hairbrushes. They also gave away hot sauce, trail mix and Sun Bowl pins.
Web Devil Editor Jeff Hoodzow contributed to this story. Reach the reporter at brian.gomez@asu.edu.
