Arizona State will look to avoid a third straight loss on Sunday when it travels to Stillwater, Okla., for a matchup with an Oklahoma State team going through similar struggles.
The Sun Devils have lost three of their last four games and the Cowboys have lost four of their last five, leaving both teams towards the bottom of the Big 12 standings, with only Colorado faring worse.
Arizona State (12-10, 3-8) lost a fiery rivalry game against Arizona 81-72 last Saturday before falling to Kansas State 71-70 in a heartbreaker on Tuesday. Oklahoma State (11-11, 3-8) ended a three-game skid with an 81-72 win over Utah last Saturday before falling at No. 5 Houston 72-63 on Tuesday.
Arizona State has lost seven of its last nine. Two of the Sun Devils’ three wins in Big 12 play came against a Colorado team that remains winless in the conference.
“We all are searching,” Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley said. “We’re right there. You know, we’re knocking on the door in all these games. We just can’t figure out a way to get over the top. I’ve tried to do the best job I can with this team, and I’m not getting through to them enough. It’s not going well right now.”
The Sun Devils have an emerging star in Jayden Quaintance, a 17-year-old freshman forward who averages 9.5 points and a team-high 8.5 rebounds per game. Guard BJ Freeman leads Arizona State in scoring at 12.9 ppg, while forward Basheer Jihad trails just behind Freeman with 12.5 ppg and 6.2 rpg.
Oklahoma State’s recent stretch hasn’t been any better, with four losses by at least 10 points in its last five games.
Perhaps being back in Stillwater will be a good thing for Oklahoma State.
“(Home court advantage) is just a weird deal,” Cowboys coach Steve Lutz said. “Sleeping in your own bed, it’s different. When you go on the road, and we’ve been on the road, it just kind of throws your body off. And let’s just be honest, these guys have made thousands of shots on these rims at (Gallagher-Iba Arena).”
Oklahoma State is led by the senior trio of Marchelus Avery, Abou Ousmane and Bryce Thompson. Avery leads with 12.7 ppg, while Ousmane averages 12 points and a team-high 5.9 rpg. Thompson averages 11.8 points on a team-high 24.9 minutes per game.
–Field Level Media
