STILLWATER, Okla. — It’s been a tough season for the Arizona State Sun Devils. And just when you think it can’t get any worse, it has.
The Sun Devils trekked here for a Super Bowl Sunday showdown against Oklahoma State, a team that entered the contest with the same Big 12 record (3-8) as the Sun Devils, and were dealt an 86-73 setback at Gallagher-Iba Arena
Coach Bobby Hurley normally has a rotation of eight players but was so shorthanded that his son Bobby, who has played seven minutes in three previous games this season and played only 20 all of last season, saw 15 minutes.
Trevor Best, the 17-year-old who could still be in high school, played four minutes while walk-on Connor Braun got in the game only long enough to break a sweat before leaving with a shoulder injury.
The reason for the lineup chaos was the loss of starting guards Adam Miller and B.J. Freeman who had to sit. Both drew Flagrant 2 fouls in the previous two games, which warranted ejections from those contests. Freeman’s came in the loss to rival Arizona, while Miller’s came in the loss to Kansas State.
Miller’s suspension was NCAA-mandated because it came under the category of “fighting” because he slapped an opposing player. Freeman’s did not fall under that category but his suspension came from Hurley for what the school is calling “conduct detrimental to the team.”
Miller made the trip but was not on the bench with the team. Freeman did not make the trip. Hurley said both will be back for Wednesday’s game at No. 13 Texas Tech.
Another blow came midway through the first half when freshman phenom Jayden Quaintance, who has six double-doubles on the season, aggravated an ankle injury that sidelined him for one game. He left in the first half after playing just nine minutes.
ASU has had its starting lineup intact for only five of its 12 conference games. Joson Sanon was injured in the Big 12 opener against BYU and missed five games.
“It’s frustrating, we have guys out for non-injury stuff, and that’s on us, but we also had one of our key guys get hurt,” he said. “I feel like we’ve been dealing with this since the BYU game when Joson (Sanon) got hurt.
“He showed signs that he’s moving better and I think he’ll get better as the year goes on. We’re just plugging our finger in a dam this whole Big 12 schedule with guys in and out of the lineup for various reasons.”
Despite the revolving door, Hurley saw a bright spot in the way his players battled. Hurley said there were games this season the team won in which it did not play with such intensity.
“This was as good as we’ve played and competed,” he said. “We’ve won games and not competed as hard as we did today. Proud of the team.
“The guys that we did have on the floor, down three starters virtually the whole game and had no bench and we were doing things we hadn’t done all year, sit in a zone and different things. I told the guys I respect them and how hard they played.”
ASU trailed by as many as 19 points, 59-40 in the second half. They pulled to within eight points four times and seven once, 71-64 on a three-point play by Basheer Jihad with 6:34 to go, but each time Oklahoma State answered with a bucket.
The flaws that have been apparent all season were again an issue as ASU tallied 12 turnovers with the Cowboys scoring 17 off those. The Sun Devils, averaging 13 turnovers per game, had nine in the first half but only three in the second.
ASU (12-11, 3-9) was being outrebounded even before Quaintance went out. The Cowboys (12-11, 4-8) finished with a 46-34 lead in that department. Oklahoma State also had 32 points in the paint to ASU’s 16.
Senior point guard Alston Mason played all 40 minutes and led ASU with a season-high 25 points, which included a 7-for-7 from the line. He also had five rebounds and three steals. Sanon had 17 points, shooting 7-for-20 from the field and 5-for-6 from the line.
Hurley was asked about Sanon’s shot selection and said he was OK with it and, in fact, wanted him to shoot more and that “no shot was a bad shot” from him.
Freshman Amier Ali played a season-high 35 minutes and notched his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
“It’s unfortunate not having our key guys, but it gives other guys the opportunity to step up and play a role and a lot of guys were doing that and are getting more comfortable,” Mason said.
Mason said Hurley underscores the need to stay composed and not let the tensions of a game get to the team.
“Any game we go into we think we can win,” Mason said, “so it was big for us to motivate our guys, make sure they had the right mindset and try and come out and play hard.”
Another bright spot was ASU’s showing at the line (22 for 26).
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: With 2 starters suspended, Arizona State comes up short at Oklahoma State
