Arizona State ran out to a 9-0 lead over Vanderbilt to start the two teams’ game Monday night, and for a short time it looked like the Pac-12’s highest-ranked team-18th in the latest Associated Press Top 25 Poll released Monday-was well on its way to a third win over a Southeastern Conference squad in three games this season.
As seems to so often happen in games like this where one team gets off to a lightning-quick start, though, that was about as good as it got for the Sun Devils. The Commodores came back to lead by halftime, led the entire second half and won 81-65, improving to 7-2 while ASU dropped to 8-2.
Arizona State couldn’t buy a bucket, shooting 32.3%, while Vandy made 12 of 28 from three-point range. On the road, it happens. It’s yet another example of how different of a ballgame it is to play true road games in college basketball, something the Sun Devils had not done until Saturday’s 76-74 comeback win at Georgia.
It was interesting that the Commodores were the deeper team, getting 36 points from their bench. Also of note: Arizona State’s Luguentz Dort also had a little rough patch the last two games against SEC teams, making just 5 of 23 shots and scoring 22 points total. We see this often with high-profile recruits, who get off to gangbusters starts against favorable competition and oft at favorable sites, then hit a wall as the competition and circumstances become stiffer.
While the Sun Devils lost their first to an SEC team, Vanderbilt is now 2-0 against the Pac-12 after also defeating USC earlier in the year. This was an important one, as those two wins are the highlights of a non-conference schedule that also has losses to Kent State and North Carolina State. Meanwhile, Arizona State has played a challenging stretch over the last 10 days, with a neutral court loss to Nevada and then the trip across country, and it gets no easier next time out when it hosts Kansas on Saturday.
Also in this game, former Mississippi coach Andy Kennedy provided analysis on the SEC Network, and he sounds like a natural. Great insight-including his criticism of college basketball replay late in the game-great Southern accent, and great sense of humor too.
Side Dishes:
- Gardner-Webb seems to snap up and bite name brand competition on a fairly regular basis, and Georgia Tech seems to be on the receiving end of such upsets often. It felt like a natural that the Runnin’ Bulldogs might take care of the Rambling Wreck on the road Monday night, and they did, 79-69 victors in scoring their sixth straight win after a 2-5 start to the season. D.J. Laster tied a career high with 25 points and his team led most of the way and was in control throughout the second half, never letting the Yellow Jackets make a run. Gardner-Webb continues to be a solid and unsung Big South program, and this adds to high-profile wins over the likes of Nebraska, Clemson, Purdue and DePaul in recent years. And on the other side of that, Tech saw another loss similar to ones against Wright State, Grambling State, Georgia State and Ohio, East Tennessee State and USC Upstate-all at home-just in the last couple years.
- Wake Forest topped Davidson 67-63, leading pretty much wire-to-wire in what almost might be a surprise. Solid efficient performance by the Demon Deacons, who shot 47.1%. The Wildcats were playing without leading scorer Kellan Grady, who missed his second straight game.
- Florida State actually was tied with SE Missouri State at halftime before pulling away as expected in the second half for an 85-68 win. Phil Cofer made his first appearance of the season for the Seminoles, playing five minutes without scoring a point.
- Tulane held off stubborn Texas Southern 77-70, in control most of the night though the visiting Tigers cut a 21-point second half deficit down late to make it respectable. Salute to the Green Wave’s Samir Sehic, who scored a career-best 28 and added 11 rebounds.
- New Mexico State played for the first time since its near-miss against Kansas nine days ago. The Aggies never trailed in taking care of Northern Colorado 74-62, with Ivan Aurreocoechea getting 20 points and nine boards off the bench.
- Oregon State handled Pepperdine 82-67, and Kylor Kelley set a Beavers single-game record with nine blocked shots and just missed a triple-double (10 points and nine boards too).
- California Baptist is in just the first year of its four-year transition to NCAA Division I, but it’s already abundant the Lancers are going to be a tough out. Cal Baptist rolled past Southland contender SE Louisiana 73-52 on the road Monday, and other than a blowout at Nevada its other four losses include three by three points or less and a fourth in triple overtime.
- Florida Gulf Coast leading scorer Haanif Cheatham is done for the season due to a shoulder injury he’s been dealing with all season. A Marquette transfer, Cheatham averaged 13.2 points through 10 games, trying to play through shoulder pain before deciding to shut it down for the season. A senior, his college career is likely over.
- Another out for the season is Notre Dame’s Rex Pflueger, who injured his knee in his team’s win over Purdue on Saturday and found out it was indeed an ACL tear. Pflueger came onto the scene with NCAA Tournament heroics in 2015 as a freshman and has been a mainstay in the Fighting Irish lineup for years, and was averaging 8.1 points and 4.7 rebounds this year.
Today’s Menu: A busier schedule, but still with few particularly intriguing games.
- The game of the night is in upstate New York where Buffalo is at Syracuse (8 p.m. Eastern, ESPN2). The undefeated Bulls visit the Carrier Dome and a tough test could be even more of one after the Cuse lost at home to Old Dominion last time out. Can the Bulls score on or over the zone? Does Syracuse have enough firepower to score enough to make it matter?
- The second-best game is Creighton at Oklahoma (9 p.m., ESPNU). The Sooners lost Trae Young and have become a better team than they were at the end of last season. It’s not a hot take, it’s just the truth. The Bluejays look poised to be on the NCAA tourney bubble for the next three months.
- Xavier takes on Missouri (7 p.m., ESPNU) and its two schools that will be forever intertwined due to the Musketeers’ 1987 NCAA Tournament upset of the Tigers, really the game that got X started on the way to national prominence. This year, it’s an important game because both may end up needing it in March.
- The night opens with Duke playing against Princeton at home, naturally on the Blue Devils’ public access arm network (6 p.m., ESPN2).
- Another on TV is Appalachian State at Georgetown (6:30 p.m., FS1). The Mountaineers’ Davidson-inspired offense plays a lot like the Hoyas used to under John Thompson III.
- Another example of how conference networks are truly tailored to nobody but the few fans of one team or another: Youngstown State is at Ohio State on Big Ten Network (7 p.m.).
- College of Charleston won at VCU last time out and now goes for its seventh straight win when it travels to Siena.
- St. Bonaventure and Vermont provided one of the finishes of the season a year ago when Matt Mobley hit a three at the buzzer to give the Bonnies the win in Rochester, N.Y. The Catamounts now get a chance at home this year.
- A really, really good regional matchup: Radford at UNC Greensboro.
- Bradley has slumped since beating SMU and Penn State before Thanksgiving. The Braves now are on the road at solid Georgia Southern.
- Liberty is quietly 9-2 and did recently blow out by 26 the same Georgia State team that defeated Alabama. The Flames have a sporting chance at this one on the road.
- North Texas still has just one loss as the 10-1 Mean Green go to New Mexico.
- USC is at Santa Clara, a plenty manageable chance on the road for the Trojans. If the Pac-12 team loses this one…
Enjoy your Tuesday.
Twitter: @HoopvilleAdam
