With most of the state of Arizona’s attention on the Territorial Cup in Tucson on Thursday night, the ASU men’s basketball team tried to avenge a close loss in Tempe last season.
Each time it seemed like the Sun Devils (3-3) had No. 10 Baylor figured out, the Bears (6-0) came at them with something else.
Unable to stop senior guard LaceDarius Dunn and the BU defense, ASU fell in Waco, Texas, on Thursday night, 68-54.
The Sun Devils held Dunn last season to just seven points when the Bears played at Wells Fargo Arena, but the senior wouldn’t allow a repeat performance, leading all scorers with 24 points, including six three-pointers.
“We know what kind of shooter LaceDarius is,” ASU assistant coach Scott Pera said in a postgame interview. “He’s probably one of the top five shooters in the country and he got a little bit of a run going there, and he doesn’t need much time or space.”
Dunn paced the Bears early on, scoring 12 points in the first half, all from beyond the three-point arch where he made four of six shots.
ASU senior guard Ty Abbott kept the Sun Devils in the game through 20 minutes, adding nine points, also coming exclusively on three-pointers. BU led ASU 33-27 at the halfway point.
The score may have been much different halfway through had ASU been able to better protect the ball against BU’s pesky zone defense. The Sun Devils turned the ball over 10 times in the half, while the Bears only coughed the ball up five times.
“It’s always a concern,” Pera said of turnovers. “We’ve got to find a better way of putting our guys in more difficult situations in practice, keep finding ways to teach them fundamentals of taking care of the ball, and hopefully here the next time out Sunday our turnovers are under 10.”
ASU would end the game with 17 turnovers in all, six at the hands of Abbott, who finished the game with 12 points after spending time on the bench in the second half in foul trouble.
The Sun Devils looked strong coming out of the break as senior forward Rihards Kuksiks opened the second half with consecutive three-pointers to tie the game at 33-33.
On the ensuing BU possession, Dunn answered with a three of his own to give the Bears the lead once again, one they wouldn’t surrender for the remainder of the game.
“We ran into a good team on their home floor and you’ve got to make plays for 40 minutes to be a team like [BU],” Pera said. “We knew coming in they were very good. I thought our guys were prepared and did a good job getting ready for the game, [but] then you’ve got to come out and make plays when it counts.”
Kuksiks led ASU in scoring with 13 points to go along with six rebounds. Freshman forward Kyle Cain also added 10 points and four rebounds, but the Sun Devils were unable to match up with BU’s towering front line.
The Bears outrebounded ASU 36-20, including 13-4 on the offensive end. Junior forward Anthony Jones led BU with eight rebounds while highly-touted freshman forward Perry Jones III grabbed seven to go with 12 points.
ASU fell to 0-2 on the road with the loss, and the schedule doesn’t ease up any time soon.
“All these early-season games on the schedule we’re playing are going to benefit us somewhere down the road, [but] it’s just hard to see when you’re in the middle of it,” Pera said.
The Sun Devils host Richmond in Tempe on Sunday, a team that is 6-2 so far and upset No. 8 Purdue last Saturday.
“They’re an outstanding team,” Pera said. “That’s going to be a heck of a challenge.”
Reach the reporter at tyler.lockman@asu.edu
