There's a light at the end of any tunnel, no matter how long or gloomy the path seems. For ASU men's basketball, the last two years in the Big 12 have, for the most part, been shrouded in darkness, winning just 25% of its conference games and posting a 1-14 record against ranked opponents in that span.
Tuesday night's 72-67 win against No. 13 Texas Tech was that light. It was head coach Bobby Hurley's shining achievement in the Big 12 after two seasons of falling short. For the first time in recent memory, the Sun Devil faithful have had enough reason to storm the court, tossing senior guard Moe Odum into the air like the king of Desert Financial Arena.
From tip-off, ASU's energy defensively was on full display. The Sun Devils restricted Texas Tech to a 4-11 start early, but it was the consistency of their effort that yielded results late, holding the Red Raiders to just 35.7% shooting from the field in the second half.
Facing a Texas Tech side that was only two days removed from a hard-fought overtime win against then-No. 1 UA, ASU's extra time to prepare for the Red Raiders' actions was crucial.
Texas Tech's ability to create mismatches for its two potential first-round draft picks, sophomore guard Christian Anderson and junior forward JT Toppin, ensured that the Sun Devils had to be locked in as a team, with extra help coming from an unlikely source.
"We tried to really reprogram our guys, and (director of operations) Mickey Mitchell was actually important to that," Hurley said. "Mickey's a lefty, and he was forcefully trying to get to his left hand in our practices to simulate what Toppin is trying to do out there. We, overall, did a pretty good job guarding those guys."
As Sun Devil fans have become accustomed to, Odum ran the show offensively. The senior put up 23 points on 50% shooting from the field. It was the timeliness of his shots that furthered the momentum and ignited the crowd.
"It meant a lot, because I never beat Gonzaga and I never beat Saint Mary's … so I had to storm the court this year," Odum said. "That's what I was thinking of when I got in the portal. I'm like, 'we gonna be ranked, or we just gonna knock some teams off,' and we just got to storm the court. I've dreamed of this."
Over the past two seasons, the Sun Devils' only ranked win was a 65-57 performance against No. 23 West Virginia last year. This time, however, ASU made the big plays when they needed to. An 8-0 run to end the first half was capped off by a top of the key three from Diop and gave the Sun Devils a 37-36 lead headed into the locker room.
Senior guard Anthony "Pig" Johnson was crafty inside, slicing through defenders coming off pin-downs and finishing with his left on multiple occasions. But it was the defense that truly pushed ASU over the brink, creating 17 Texas Tech turnovers and converting them into 21 points.
Sophomore guard Noah Meeusen was a huge part of that, coming up with a steal and a block, and pressuring Anderson around ball screens all night long.
"It's hard for me to take him off the floor because he's so active on defense, and he plays with a lot of fire at that end of the floor, and that's what we need the most from him," Hurley said.
ASU played clean basketball for 38 minutes, but the final few moments of the contest saw them revert to some old habits. With Texas Tech employing a full-court press to trap the Sun Devil ball handlers near its own baseline, both Odum and Meeusen had turnovers that the Red Raiders capitalized on.
"We were up 10, it couldn't go wrong, but then stupid turnovers, easy missed shots, and then they made some tough shots," Meeusen said.
Once ASU hit a couple of free throws to give itself a cushion, it was redshirt sophomore forward Santiago Trouet's steal that put the finishing touches on the Sun Devils' highest-ranked win since defeating No. 7 UA in 2023.
An upcoming Texas swing includes Baylor and TCU, both below .500 in the Big 12, and the Sun Devils close out the year with two top-10 matchups against No. 8 Kansas and at No. 6 Iowa State.
Edited by Alan Deutschendorf, Jack McCarthy and Ellis Preston.
Reach the reporter at pvallur2@asu.edu and follow @PrathamValluri on X.
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Pratham Valluri is a sports reporter at The State Press. He is a junior majoring in sports journalism with a business minor. He’s in his 5th semester with The State Press working previously as an opinion writer.
