Five takeaways from Arizona State's 83-79 win over Baylor

This wasn’t supposed to be a classic postseason survive-and-advance game, not that when you lead by 15 points in the second half. Yet amid the loud chatter surrounding head coach Bobby Hurley’s future in Tempe, ASU showed the mental resilience to close out the contest, advance to the second round of the Big 12 tournament, and keep its season alive.

Here are the five takeaways from this victory:

The team played hard for their head coach

The narrative coming into this morning’s contest could not have been clearer. A loss today would not signal the road for ASU’s season, but also mark the last game Hurley would ever coach the Sun Devils. In the post-game conference, he did not dispute On3’s report that only an NCAA Tournament berth could extend Hurley’s contract, which does expire in June of this year. 

Arizona State’s head coach did not shield his team from that report, and his players responded with a formidable effort in this victory.

“I talked with the team, and we saw the reports,” Hurley described. “I don’t want to hide anything from them. They’re playing for each other, and I’m coaching them to the best of my ability. I have not been told anything, although the source (Jeff Goodman) is reputable and a guy that I know. I’m just doing my job and coaching this team and enjoying these moments with this group right now.”

When point guard Mo Odum was asked how he and the team balanced that report with their play on the floor today, and if it makes them elevate their game, he succinctly replied: “We play the same regardless. Next question.”

Whether Hurley’s approach and/or the pragmatic nature of his players were key to victory is probably anybody’s guess. Nonetheless, one has to credit the team’s resiliency as they trailed only for a meager 40 seconds during this game and were already leading in double digits midway through the first half. Time will tell if this win will be a launching pad to an improbable run in Kansas City, but mentally this victory definitely proved that this is a team that can handle the elements, not only on the court but off of it as well. If ASU has any chance of achieving the improbable feat, their mental strength has to be intact, and at least on Tuesday morning, they did pass that test.

Unexpected contributors set the tone early for the Sun Devils

Leading by nine points at halftime, with Andrija Grbovic and Noah Meeusen, while their leading scorer Odum didn’t attempt a shot nor score a point, wasn’t on anyone’s Bingo card today. That tandem, by the way, was 5-8 from a 3-point range on the day. Perhaps the most bizarre stat of the day was the fact that ASU reportedly set an NCAA Division I basketball game record, as their 44 points scored are the most points in a half without attempting a free throw.

ASU had 24 bench points, and something more expected, as the fact that Pig Johnson led the way in that category with 19 points, which also paced his teammates today, to go along with six rebounds. Odum’s 9 points were only the fourth time he was held to single digits, but his nine second-half points in such a tight affair were crucial. Santiago Trouet just missed his sixth double-double of the year with 13 points and nine rebounds.

All in all, five players in double digits for ASU was a rarity and a welcome sight for a team that usually heavily leans on 2-3 players in every game for scoring.

“I thought we played really good offense,” Hurley said. “We had 19 out of 31 from the field in the first half. It was really guys stepping in the shots from three, and points in the paint across the board. I would have been really surprised if I went into the locker room at halftime most of the year and knew I’d be up nine points against Baylor at halftime, and Mo Odum had zero. It’s just a testament of the guys coming along and different guys helping us.

“Andrija Grbovic today had some really good moments and gave us a boost. Noah is always guarding with great energy and defending, and he hit some big shots for us as well. It was impressive how the guys came out and competed. I think we handled the last 48 hours very well, leading into this game in terms of getting the guys ready physically after the Iowa State loss. The guys responded like they have all year.”

“I’ve been struggling,” Meeusen admitted, “but these are the games you live for. It’s do or die. You just got to have confidence. Coach and Mo…everybody keep telling me to keep shooting. I just stay in the gym, work and the work will show.”

 Baylor’s offense shoots itself in the foot

The Bears’ Cameron Carr was the only real offense that Baylor was able to generate, especially in the first half, where he scored 15 of his team’s 35 points, although he was quite the menace for ASU, connecting on 4-7 3-point shots. Even though he led all players with 25 points, 6-17 shooting, and 5-14 conversion from beyond the arc is clear evidence of how well he was defended and how much more weight he had to carry on his shoulders.

Isaac Williams has no fouls in the first half, and yet some bad defensive decisions on his part led to him fouling out when his team was still within striking distance of a comeback. He scored nine second-half points, and if he dipped into the double digits, this could be an entirely different game story.

Sometimes your own mistakes can be the biggest Kryptonite than whatever scheme your opponent can employ.

Free throws and turnovers came close to a different final score

The 17-second half fouls by a team trying to tilt the scales in their favor are understandable. But ASU negated that Baylor stat, missing nine free throws (13-22), seven of them in the last three minutes. Even though this is a well-documented issue for the Sun Devils, this is one aspect that will be much more costly against better opponents. Even just a decent showing at the charity stripe could have avoided the white-knuckle moments where ASU ended the game with no scoring a field goal in the last 4:27.

Iowa State’s trapping defense wreaked havoc on ASU last Saturday in a lopsided loss. Baylor naturally tried to duplicate that approach, and a good number of the Sun Devils’ 15 turnovers, eight of them in the second half, were a direct result of that scheme. Mo Odum playing just 29 minutes due to foul trouble didn’t help either.

Six steals in the second half by the Bears are worrisome as well. This same Iowa State team, with one more day of rest, will want to copy and paste that defensive tactic against ASU, seeing how much it has bothered Arizona State just in their last two games.

Closing out the second half may not have been pretty, but it gets the job done

Second-half comebacks have been Bobby Hurley’s calling card in Tempe, but in what could be his last year at the helm, this is an aspect that has been reversed. In more than a handful of Big 12 games this year, ASU saw a first-half lead ultimately disappear en route to a loss. And in a win over Kansas, the Sun Devils saw a 20-point halftime lead nearly vanish in the last 20 minutes. And today, a 15-point second-half lead was cut to three.

A zero margin of error defines both ASU’s slim chances of making the NCAA Tournament and the prospects for their head coach continuing with the team. Mental toughness was surely on display today, but it will need to elevate quite a bit starting tomorrow against a 25-6 Iowa State team.