Prior to the season, ASU men's head basketball coach Rob Evans said he needed someone other than Ike Diogu to step up if the Sun Devils were going to be successful. Senior guard Steve Moore has answered the call.
For the second game in a row, Moore hit clutch game-winning free throws for the Sun Devils (5-1), giving them a 67-66 comeback victory over the Cal State Northridge Matadors (1-5) Saturday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena.
After hitting two free throws to ice the game for ASU against Temple on Tuesday night, Moore stepped to the line on Saturday with his team trailing 64-66 and just 14 seconds remaining.
Moore, who was shooting three free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt by Matadors guard Ian Boylan, calmly stepped up and drilled all three shots.
"Steve is big time, he's a big time player that makes big time plays," Diogu said. "He stepped up to the free throw line and assured all of us that he would knock down the shots."
Moore's clutch shooting helped ASU win the game, but didn't erase the struggles that the Sun Devils had against the Matadors' zone defense. Northridge played a 1-3-1 defense most of the game, which took ASU out of rhythm offensively and forced the Sun Devils into 23 turnovers.
"We worked on the 1-3-1 zone [in practice], but our guys didn't execute against it," Evans said. "They [Sun Devils] were just trying to make plays on their own, split guys. There just wasn't a lot of focus."
The Sun Devil's lack of focus nearly cost them a game they should have easily won, as they trailed by as many as 14 midway through the second half. However, the Matadors made the mistake of going into a spread offense with just more than nine minutes remaining. The spread offense was completely ineffective and allowed ASU to get back in the game as it went on a 17-2 run during a five-minute span.
Diogu capped off the run, hitting on two free throws that gave the Sun Devils a 58-57 lead with 3:25 remaining. Northridge responded with a jumper by forward Austin Waggener, before Diogu brought both the crowd and his teammates to their feet with two thundering dunks that gave the Sun Devils a 64-61 lead.
The Matadors refused to go away, as they once again responded with back-to-back scores from Boylan and forward Calvin Chitwood, a Paradise Valley native, before Moore delivered the game-clinching effort.
"We were making a lot of mental mistakes," Diogu said. "Once we corrected that, we started hitting the open people and it started rolling from there."
Diogu once again turned in a solid effort, finishing with a team-high 25 points and 13 rebounds, great numbers considering he only played nine minutes of the first half due to foul trouble.
Saturday's game was extra special for Moore, a California native, who finished with 20 points, connecting on 7 of 16 from the field, because he knew most of the players on the Northridge team, which was added incentive to get the win.
"I really wanted to beat them [Northridge]. I told my teammates when we were in the huddle that we needed to beat these dudes [Northridge] by 30," Moore said. "So when I go back home they can't talk that mess."
The Sun Devils return to action tonight when they take on Farleigh Dickson at 7 at Wells Fargo Arena.
Reach the reporter at matt.reinick@asu.edu
