Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said his team has reached a “premium frustration level” with a five-game losing streak heading into Tuesday’s home game with No. 5 Houston in Tempe, Ariz.
The Sun Devils (12-13, 3-11 Big 12) lost in double overtime at Texas Tech last week and came up short after rallying from a 13-point deficit in the second half against TCU at home Saturday.
The Sun Devils played without freshman forward Jayden Quaintance (ankle sprain) in those losses, and veteran forward Adam Miller was ejected early in the second half against TCU, his second ejection in two weeks.
“My players didn’t even want me to talk to them after the game,” Hurley said after the 74-70 loss to the Horned Frogs. “‘What do you want me to say at this point?’ is some of the comments I got from my own players. We’re kind of finding new ways maybe each game to not be able to get a win.”
Houston (21-4, 13-1) strengthened its lead in the conference with Saturday’s 62-58 road win against No. 13 Arizona.
The Cougars hold a two-game lead in the Big 12 standings over Texas Tech and Arizona.
They are 7-0 on the road this season and going back to last season, they have won their last 11 road games, the longest active streak in the nation.
Houston has won four straight games and 17 of its last 18 since Dec. 7.
“We’re really good at staying in the moment,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. “It’s not just about basketball lessons, it’s life lessons, focus. If you focus on what’s in front of you and not what’s ahead of you, you usually make better decisions.”
Houston leads the nation in scoring defense, giving up 57.3 points per game. It was sixth in field-goal percentage defense at 38.1 percent.
In an overall improved approach from recent Houston teams under Sampson, the Cougars are also efficient offensively.
They are averaging 75.8 points per game and were 11th nationally in 3-point shooting at 39.4 percent, entering NCAA play Sunday, despite going 5 of 17 (29.4 percent) against Arizona.
The Cougars’ top two scorers, LJ Cryer (14.3 points per game) and Emanuel Sharp (11.8), are shooting better than 40 percent from beyond the arc.
Cryer is making 40.8 percent of his 3-pointers while Sharp is shooting at a 41.5 percent clip.
“The main thing was just having the confidence to take the shot — that’s how you win on the road,” Cryer said. “You’ve got to be confident in your abilities.”
BJ Freeman, who had a game-high 21 points for Arizona State against TCU, said the Sun Devils must improve their confidence to adequately compete over the 40 minutes of a game.
“We play good basketball by getting stops, getting back on defense, rebounding the ball, kicking the ball ahead and playing real fast,” Freeman said. “Once we’re not doing that, we know something is up. We start playing sluggish and getting lazy and just watching the basketball.”
Freeman mentioned that the players are aware of the stress placed on Hurley and potentially Hurley’s job security because of the five-game losing streak. The Sun Devils have also lost six consecutive home games.
“We need to get that stress off his back,” Freeman said.
–Field Level Media
