Arizona State’s next two games are on the road against No. 1 Arizona on Wednesday night and No. 7 Houston on Sunday, which means a win over struggling Kansas State at home in the last game was essential.
The Sun Devils (10-6, 1-2 Big 12) and Wildcats (16-0, 3-0) will play at McKale Center at 8:30 p.m. The game will be televised on FS1 with Aaron Goldsmith and Casey Jacobsen as broadcasters. The game will also be on Wildcats Radio (1290-AM) with Brian Jeffries and Reggie Geary calling the action.
“This was much needed, this outcome, just for the morale of the group,” Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said after the Sun Devils (10-6, 1-2 Big 12) gave Kansas State its third straight loss to start conference play.
Arizona State snapped a four-game losing streak with the 87-84 win, its 48th win by six points or fewer dating to the 2019-20 season
“When you start losing, you feel like, when are you going to win again?” Hurley said.
Arizona State persevered despite being shorthanded.
Bryce Ford (hip) and Marcus Adams (back) did not play against Kansas State.
According to Hurley, Ford is likely to return against Arizona or Houston while Adams is out indefinitely.
Arizona State, which improved its interior play against Kansas State, will need that element against an Arizona team that ranked No. 2 nationally in average rebounding margin (by 14.5 a game) entering the week.
The Sun Devils outrebounded Kansas State 48-34, with a 30-18 advantage on the defensive glass.
Arizona State is 1-6 when losing the rebounding battle.
Santiago Trouet led all players with 10 rebounds against Kansas State, while 7-foot-1 freshman Massamba Diop had nine and Allen Mukeba eight.
The Sun Devils outscored Kansas State 50-28 in the paint and recorded 10 blocked shots, five by Diop.
“I approach this game like any other game,” Lloyd said of the rivalry. “I don’t make more of it. I don’t look for bulletin board material. Nothing like that. I just look at it as another game on schedule that is going to be one of our 18 games in our conference standings.
“I understand people on the outside might get emotional, but I don’t think that helps us perform better. We’re obviously excited to play the game and have a lot of respect for Bobby and for Arizona State, and we know how dangerous they are. We felt it firsthand many times before, so we’re going to approach the game with that respect and go out and try to play well.”
Arizona similarly dominated Kansas State inside last week, winning the rebounding battle 55-32 and scoring more in the paint by a total of 56-36.
The Wildcats are coming off an 86-73 victory at TCU on Saturday.
They outrebounded the Horned Frogs 38-32, led by 10 by 7-2 post player Motiejus Krivas.
Diop going against Krivas inside will match Diop’s athleticism and agility against Krivas’ physicality.
“Massamba is going to be tested in the most severe way in this game, and his play has been encouraging,” Hurley said. “He’s always shown this huge upside, and where he’s taken steps and shown growth is the defensive end, which we need desperately.
“His length and his activity in the paint. Arizona is as good as anybody in the country at scoring in the lane, whether it’s going into the big guys, getting offensive rebounds, or their guards attacking the basket, so his presence is going to be crucial to our ability to hang in with Arizona in the paint.”
Lloyd knows what he has in terms of physicality with Krivas, Tobe Awaka, and Phoenix-area product Koa Peat. He wants to see even more of it.
“Our guys probably got to figure out how to find a few more advantages with that physicality,” he said in regards to how TCU was competitive in rebounding against the Wildcats. “All in all, I’m happy with how our guys responded and with all the adversity that we faced.”
Arizona’s 16-0 start matches the second-best in program history, trailing only the 2013-14 team that started 21-0.
The Wildcats’ current five-week run at No. 1 in the AP Top 25 matches their third-best streak (2002-03).
The 2002-03 team also had a six-game stretch of being No. 1. The 2013-14 team holds the record of eight straight weeks atop the rankings.
Peat had 20 points against TCU, his most since producing 30 on defending NCAA champion Florida in the season opener.
Jaden Bradley scored all 17 of points in the second half, including 10 in the last two minutes to secure the double-digit lead. Anthony Dell’Orso came off the bench to add 17.
Bradley noted Arizona’s versatility when players step up while others might be struggling.
“We got Koa, Tobe, Big Mo (Krivas), forces in the paint, and they make it easier for us guards to get open shots,” Bradley said. “We’re just playing off each other, making it easy for each other. That’s the goal at the end of the day.”
Arizona State lost 104-76 last week at BYU, a game in which the Sun Devils were outscored 31-16 in fast-break points.
Their shots were blocked 10 times.
They made only 27.5% of their shots from the field (11 of 40) in the first half before making 50% (17 of 34) in the second half.
NOTES
— A win over Arizona State would give the Wildcats just the seventh winning streak of 17 games
or more in program history (since 1904-05).
— In three conference games, Arizona is shooting 51.2% as a team and out-rebounding opponents
by 14.0 per game. Awaka is averaging a double-double (11.7 points, 10.0 rebounds).
— The 16-game winning streak is tied for the third-longest active streak in the country, trailing
Nebraska (20) and Miami (Ohio) (18).
— Peat had 20 points in the win at TCU and leads the team in scoring this season (14.8 points a game). He
is also second on the team in assists (47).
–As a team, the Wildcats rank among the nation’s best in rebound margin (second), scoring margin
(sixth), assists/game (10th), fastbreak points (12th), field-goal percentage (12th), and points per game (12th).
— With a 69-6 record at home under Lloyd, the .920 winning percentage is tied for eighth in the
country over that span. The 69 wins are tied for sixth-most.
— The Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 list came out in early January and Arizona had two
players on it — Bradley and Peat.
— Arizona has made 311 free throws this season, while opponents have attempted 300.
— Arizona has shot 50% or better from the floor in 19 of 32 halves so far this season.
— Lloyd, Arizona is 8-1 against Arizona State. The lone loss came Feb. 25, 2023 when ASU made a 65-foot shot at the buzzer at McKale.
— The all-time series between Arizona and Arizona State is 163-86 in favor of Arizona.
— Arizona ranks second in the country in points-in-the-paint per game (47.0) via CBBAnalytics.
— Bradley has 24 assists to just seven turnovers the last four games. He’s also shooting 50% from the floor and 50% from the 3-point line in that span.
— Brayden Burries is second on the team in scoring (14.6) and second in steals (29). He had his
streak of 10 straight games scoring in double figures snapped at TCU (six points). He has 12 steals over the last four games.
— Arizona State is 53-6 (.898) when it shoots 50% from the field under Hurley. They are 3-0 when it has happened this season.
–Hurley’s team is 5-0 when allowing 70 points or less this season. They are also 6-0 when outrebounding their opponent.
— The Big 12 Starting Five of the Week for games running Jan. 5-11 included Diop. He was dominant in both of Arizona State’s matchups last week against BYU and K-State. Diop averaged 21.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks in 34 minutes of action. He shot 16 of 23 from the field (69.6%) and 11-of-14 from the line (78.6%).
— Arizona State guard Moe Odum is third among active NCAA players at the Division I level with 621 assists in 114 games. Former Arizona guard Kerr Krisa, now with Cincinnati, is fifth with 550 in 122 games.
— Odum is one of four players in the nation averaging at least 16 points, 6.4 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals a game (Boopie Miller, SMU; Christian Anderson, Texas Tech; and Tre Donaldson, Miami, are the others).
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