ASU’s defense has been impressive lately.
On Sunday afternoon at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, it was the defense that came up big again for the Sun Devils (11-4, 1-2 Pac-12). This time, it took the form of a 63-54 win over USC (8-6, 0-3) to snap a two game losing streak.
Against No. 18 Arizona, the Sun Devils held the Wildcats to under 60 points. On the road against No. 10 UCLA, ASU held them to under 40% shooting in the first half.
Bottom line: the 80 points Minnesota put up against them earlier in the season was a fluke.
The Trojans had scored less than the 54 points they scored against the Sun Devils just twice prior to this affair. At 8-6 on the season, USC has had plenty of struggles, but holding any conference opponent to a total that low is notable.
Against USC, ASU won the turnover margin by nine, grabbed 10 steals and won despite shooting 18% from beyond the arc.
This game was no different than previous victories for ASU's team. They held the fort defensively and scrapped together enough offense to pull through.
In their most recent win before Sunday, ASU held Creighton to 32.7% shooting for the game. Against New Mexico State, the Sun Devils limited the Aggies to 10 points in the second and third quarters combined.
This has been the formula all season. The only thing that’s changed from night to night has been where the offensive production is coming from.
On Sunday, it was sophomore forward Jayde Van Hyfte who led the way with 12 points on five of seven shooting.
It hasn’t been all blue skies and sunshine for the Sun Devils this season. They’ve had their fair share of struggles offensively and needed time to find an identity as a team.
But now, it appears that they’ve found their bearings as a deep, defensive and well-rounded team. Whether or not they can translate that newfound identity into more wins is a different question entirely.
For their next game, ASU will host No. 2 Oregon from Desert Financial Arena on Jan. 10th at 6 p.m. MST.
Reach the reporter at kbriley@asu.edu and on Twitter @KokiRiley.
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