TEMPE — Stagnant offensive performances have become commonplace for an ASU men’s basketball squad looking to translate its higher-end talent into contending in the Big 12.
It was again the case on Saturday, as the Sun Devils mustered a 20-point first half they were unable to make up for in a 72-66 loss to Baylor at Desert Financial Arena.
Baylor made four of its first five shots in overtime while ASU missed its first six, which all but sealed the deal with 1:15 remaining.
A late Basheer Jihad 3 cut the deficit to four with 20.8 seconds left, but the Bears hit the required free throws down the stretch.
It was ASU’s first home loss of the season. The Sun Devils trailed by as much as 15 points.
How did ASU come back to force overtime vs. Baylor?
Adam Miller had a corner 3 to bring ASU within five with 6:22 remaining, and two-and-a-half minutes later, the Sun Devils forced a shot clock violation with a seven-point deficit at the final media timeout.
Jihad keyed a 7-2 run by himself before a fast break by BJ Freeman made it a one-score game. Freeman would then cut a six-point deficit to four before forcing a traveling violation by Baylor in its backcourt.
Free throws by Alston Mason made it a one-score game once again, and a Baylor shot clock violation gave ASU a chance with 18.8 seconds and down three, which Mason cashed in with a quick two instead.
After Jeremy Roach split two free throws, Miller scored on a fast break layup to tie the game with 1.9 seconds left.
Forward Norchad Omier, Baylor’s leading scorer on the season, hit his third and fourth buckets on the night early in the second half to make it a 13-point lead, which is when the game started to swing back and forth.
Freeman responded with a 6-0 run by himself to cut the deficit to seven, and Baylor responded with an 8-0 run with Omier showing up again to get the second bucket.
Omier’s frontcourt mate Josh Ojiunwuna was also big for a Baylor group with a lot of length, as he and Omier finished with 31 points and 25 rebounds combined.
Slow start puts ASU behind the 8-ball
Neither team had more than one made shot through the game’s first five minutes, as both defenses came out much more ready than their corresponding offensive units.
When their offenses started to produce, ASU was most often able to do so on broken plays where a tough shot went down or the Baylor defense was slow to get back.
Baylor, meanwhile, more often strung multiple off-ball actions together to open up shots for some of their best players, such as VJ Edgecombe, who was ranked No. 4 on ESPN’s most recent top-100 NBA draft board.
ASU finished the first half with three assists to seven turnovers as a team.
ASU’s NBA hopefuls outdone by Baylor’s projected lottery pick
In a game featuring multiple freshmen with likely NBA futures, 6-foot-5 guard VJ Edgecombe of Baylor came out looking the best.
He led all scorers at the half with 12 points and had a 4-for-5 shooting stretch after starting the game with two misses.
Joson Sanon first returned from an ankle injury that kept him out of the last two after ASU started the game 2-for-9 start over 6:04, and he knocked down a baseline mid-ranger on his first possession back.
After a stretch of six games with at least 18 points (55.4% shooting and 58.8% from 3), Sanon had lost his rhythm when the team was on a three-game road trip in December (30.8% shooting and 25.0% on 3s).
He ended the night with the ankle wrapped after scoring five points on five shots in 17 minutes, though he played the final minute of overtime.
Jayden Quaintance, who is self-admittedly still looking for his offensive footing, went the entire half without a made shot but communicated like he’s just waiting for the right support to set him up for success.
He managed two blocks and a steal in the half, continuing to make his greatest impact on the defensive end.
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