Slide continues as Arizona State drops Big 12 opener to Colorado

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The Arizona State Sun Devils took to the court Saturday, Jan. 3, for their Big 12 Conference opener, and it was already a must-win. Why? Because the Sun Devils had already ended nonconference play with two straight losses, and this game was coming against one of the most winnable opponents in an otherwise stacked conference.

Arizona State may have been picked last in the conference, but Colorado was pegged 15th. And the Sun Devils defeated the Buffaloes twice last season.

But the downward trajectory continued as Colorado surged past the Sun Devils 95-89 at Desert Financial Arena.

Oh, and three of ASU's next four games come against teams ranked in the top 10, and all three of those games are on the road. So the Sun Devils (9-5) could not afford to lose his one.

ASU rallied from a 14-point deficit and took a lead in the second half, but could not hold it.

The Sun Devils closed to within 88-86 with 43 seconds left with a chance to tie or take the lead, but Moe Odum turned the ball over on consecutive possessions.

ASU trailed 91-86, but Anthony "Pig" Johnson nailed a 3-pointer with 23 seconds left to cut the lead to two at 91-89. ASU had to foul to stop the clock, and Colorado's Isaiah Johnson hit both tries to put the game away.

A closer look at what went down:

What went right

Moe Odum back to being Moe Odum: He racked up 21 points and had 12 assists for his first double-double and the fourth by an ASU player this season. He also had three rebounds, two steals and four turnovers.

Rallied in the second half: ASU battled back from the double-digit deficit and took an 81-80 lead with 3:50 left. The Sun Devils last led at 84-83 on a driving bucket by Johnson, but that lasted only seconds as Johnson scored at the other end to put Colorado up for good. ASU outscored Colorado in the second half 51-47.

Defense at rim: The Sun Devils had 10 blocks, seven by Diop, two by Mukeba, and one by Noah Meeusen. That was a season best, two more than the win against Southern Utah. The seven by Diop was a season best.

What wrong

Got off to a slow start: ASU trailed at the half 48-38, going just 12-for-31 from the field and 3-for-13 from 3-point range and being outrebounded 25-12. Colorado shot 52.9% (18-for-34) from the field in the half. ASU trailed by as many as 14 points at 39-25 with 3:30 left.

Defense: It's hard to win a lot of games when you give up 95 points, 32 of those at the line, and your opponent shoots 49.2% (29-for-59) from the field. Besides the 32 points at the line, Colorado scored 40 points in the paint. This was a season-high for points allowed and marked the third time the Sun Devils have given up 90 or more points.

Colorado made its free throws: The Buffaloes made 32 of 38 tries from the line, with Sebastian Rancik making 12 of 14. With ASU facing a double-digit deficit, Colorado's success at the line made it a tough road back.

Rebounding still an issue: Colorado dominated the boards 42-32, with a 28-20 advantage on the defensive boards. ASU has lost the rebounding battle in six games, won the rebounding battle in five and been even in three games, but the games in which they won the rebounding battle were wins over non-power conference teams, the exception being the Oklahoma win.

Personnel

Meeusen and Mukeba both made their first starts, and Mukeba finished with 16 points and six rebounds. Santiago Trouet (lower leg injury), who had started every game, was out with an injury, while Andrija Grbovic, another mainstay in the starting lineup, played despite illness. He checked into the game for the first time with 5:08 into the contest and made his first two shots of the game, both 3-pointers. ASU also has two players who have not played this season, Vijay Wallace and Adante Holiman.

ASU coach Bobby Hurley: "We weren't ready to play and defend and play with energy at that end of the floor, and it cost us. We had to play from behind, and these games aren't played like this anymore. Maybe in the Pac-12, you could go and think we could beat someone 88-86, or something like that. All day today, I'm watching these games, and it's like 66-60, you know, rock fights. Every possession matters. That's crazy. You give up 95 points, you're not going to beat many teams."

ASU forward Allen Mukeba: "We got to keep our heads up. We've got to keep going. Everything is possible. We have to stop having to play catch up. The first half was really sluggish. Second half, we were playing better. We have to work on that."

Up next

The Sun Devils hit the road for a game at Brigham Young (13-1) on Wednesday, Jan. 7. The Cougars opened conference play with an 83-73 win over Kansas State in Manhattan behind a 24-point, eight-rebound effort from A.J. Dybantsa.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona State basketball drops Big 12 opener to Colorado Buffaloes

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