Arizona State would like to forget its first matchup with Washington State this season.
In the Pac-12 Conference opener, the Sun Devils shot just 21.1 percent from the floor (12 of 57) in losing 51-29 on Dec. 1 in Tempe, Ariz.
The teams are scheduled to meet again Saturday night in Pullman, Wash.
“I’d certainly give credit to Washington State’s defense, I thought it was outstanding,” Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said after that game. “That being said, it was disappointing for us on offense. I’ve had a lot of teams here that could put some points on the board. Tonight was as ineffective an offensive performance as I’ve ever been a part of ever, as a player and a coach. It’s disappointing, epically bad, so we have to figure out how to do better.”
While that might have been the low point of the season for the Sun Devils (7-15, 3-9 Pac-12), the high undoubtedly came last Saturday. That’s when they upset then-No. 3 UCLA 87-84 in triple overtime behind Marreon Jackson’s 24 points.
“You know, there’s been a lot of games this season where it was down to two or three plays where we could’ve won,” Jackson said. “We’ve just been building, all that right there builds character for games like this. Hopefully we’re gonna build off this game, get on a run, get going.”
That hasn’t happened.
The Sun Devils dropped a 91-79 decision to No. 4 Arizona on Monday and an 87-64 defeat to Washington three nights later. Arizona State has lost six of its last seven games overall.
The Cougars (14-8, 7-4) had a five-game winning streak snapped Thursday, losing 72-60 at home against Arizona.
Michael Flowers led the Cougars with 16 points, although he shot 7 of 19 from the floor.
Washington State was just 8 of 32 from 3-point range.
“We’ve got to play better. Simple as that,” Cougars coach Kyle Smith said. “We’ve got to make shots. You’re not going to beat a team that good shooting the way we did.”
–Field Level Media
