ASU follows big win with disappointing loss at Washington State
Unlike Arizona State's upset of rival Arizona last week, the Sun Devils were playing from behind Friday against Washington State. And making like ASU's Bo Barnes did against the Wildcats, Cougars guard Dexter Kernich-Drew drilled a contested three to stamp out the chance of an ASU rally.
Herb Sendek's squad fell 74-71 in Pullman, Wash., as its defense failed it in the second half. Kernich-Drew scored a career-high 27 points on 9-for-12 shooting.
"He killed us all night and made a big shot at the end of the game with the shot clock running down," ASU assistant coach Larry Greer said on the postgame radio show. "We didn't have a good team effort defensively."
Guard Gerry Blakes led the Sun Devils with 24 points, his season-high, and scored ASU's final, desperate 16 points. He nearly helped his team win despite it allowing 52 percent shooting to the Cougars.
Trailing 68-60 with 1:43 to play in the game, Blakes drilled a three off a drive-and-kick. Thirty seconds later following a missed front end of a Cougars' one-and-one free throw trip, he scored and was fouled taking the ball to the basket.
ASU suddenly found itself behind 68-66. But with 39 seconds to go, Kernich-Drew drilled a contested three over Sun Devils center Eric Jacobsen at the end of the shotclock to bump the lead back to five. That would be enough for Washington State to hang on.
The Cougars hit 59 percent from the field in the second half as they emphasized using the hot outside shooting to loosen the Arizona State interior defense.
"Defensively, in the second half, we had some breakdowns," Greer said. "You really want to take away their three-point shot, but we didn't do a good job of taking away the paint."
ASU lost its first four Pac-12 games before winning four of its last six, the last of those games coming with a 81-78 victory against then-No. 6 Arizona. But the glamor of that rivalry upset is gone, and the Sun Devils find themselves back to fighting for positioning in the heart of the Pac-12.
One of Arizona State's strengths this season, its three-point shooting, was dearly missed.
Barnes and his 41-percent three-point accuracy on the year left the game in the first half with a right ankle injury -- Greer said it was a sprain and Barnes was to undergo X-rays -- and Sendek stayed with Goodman and Shaquielle McKissic rather than Jonathan Gilling, a 48 percent 3-point shooter who played just 13 minutes.
"I don't want to make excuses for our guys," Greer said. "They missed shots. When Bo goes down, he's one of our shooters, it allows them to do different things against us."
McKissic, the team's leading scorer on the season, struggled by going 3-of-13 from the field. Meanwhile, ASU point guard Tra Holder scored 12 points and added three assists, while Jacobsen added 12 points and six boards.
There were a few good signs for ASU, though they seem perplexing in a loss.
For the game, the Sun Devils out-rebounded Washington State 42-28, and much of that came with forward Savon Goodman building upon his success against Arizona. He closed the evening with eight points and a career-high 14 rebounds, nine of which came in the first half.
The Sun Devils led 34-29 at halftime following a hectic first half. They committed 10 turnovers in the first 20 minutes but the Cougars couldn't take advantage, scoring just two points off ASU mistakes. The Sun Devils made up for its miscues by outrebounding Washington State 25-10 in the first half alone, grabbing 10 offensive rebounds that yielded 12 second-chance points. But ASU added just two more second-chance points in the second half.
Perhaps the Sun Devils can right their defense and find the touch from long range Sunday with a visit to a reeling Washington squad that on Friday fell to Arizona 86-62.
"We've taken one game at a time no matter what we're doing," Greer said. "We got to go up to Washington and give a great effort."