Good teams find a way to win. Bad teams find a way to lose.
This simple fact rang clear after the Sun Devils' 81-72 loss to UA, their fourth straight home defeat.
Like many of their recent losses, ASU looked to be in control for most of the game but one or two bad stretches were all it took for the win to slip away.
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Against UA, offensive rebounds proved to be the difference. ASU was dominated on the glass 52-38. The Wildcats' 18 offensive rebounds turned into 14 second-chance points, most notably in the last five minutes.
With 4:15 left in the game, senior guard BJ Freeman drained a three-pointer to keep ASU within striking distance down three. UA scored 13 points from that point to close out the game thanks in part to UA's four offensive rebounds extending possessions.
"We're playing longer possessions and that's shooting us in the foot," said redshirt senior guard Adam Miller. "We've got to close out the play and that gives us a chance to go down and score."
Whether it's the shooting, the turnovers, or the rebounds, each game seems to present a new issue for the Sun Devils who seemingly can't win tight games.
The turnover issue that has plagued ASU all year was negated for the first 25 minutes of the game. Then, UA enacted a full-court press that led to a pair of giveaways in the middle of the second half.
"Part of it was that stretch where we were up five and turned the ball over twice, and they got a dunk off one, and they got a lot of life out of those couple of possessions," said head coach Bobby Hurley.
In recent matchups against Baylor and No. 3 Iowa State, ASU appeared to play well for over half of the game but couldn't play through to the final buzzer.
"We've done a good job of coming together and putting on that ASU jersey and coming out and performing for 30 minutes, but it's a 40-minute game," Miller said. "People watch the game, they go to the bathroom and they come back, and it’s like 'Damn, Arizona State is down.'"
The solution is not as simple as cleaning up mistakes. The team seems to lack an identity on both sides of the court.
In the half-court, the Sun Devils' offense frequently stagnates with possessions devolving into isolations instead of the ball movement that arises in transition.
Shot selection has also been spotty throughout the year. ASU shot a meager 13-34 from inside the arc against UA and settled for many contested mid-range shots when a simple drive-and-kick may have created a better opportunity.
"We've got the superhero mentality," Miller said. "Sometimes we get that, and it kind of backfires sometimes, when it's okay to trust your teammate a little bit more in some situations ... If we have that one more mentality, trust your teammate, I think we'd go up by even more points."
Miller said he plans to set up a player-only meeting to discuss these issues.
Against high-level opponents, the small details matter even more and make the difference between winning or losing. After this loss, ASU is now 3-7 in conference play and sliding down the Big 12 rankings.
Edited by Jack Barron, Sophia Braccio and Natalia Jarrett.
Reach the reporter at pvallur2@asu.edu and follow @PrathamValluri on X.
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Pratham is a sophomore studying sports journalism with a minor in business. This is his fourth semester with The State Press.
