Arizona State men's basketball team faces critical final stretch of Pac-12 games

The number of games left in the regular season for the Arizona State men's basketball team can now be counted on one hand. There is a definite sense of urgency.

In the latest NCAA postseason projections by bracketologist Joe Lunardi, ASU is one of the next four out after the first four out, so basically eight out of making the bracket. The good news is the five games left all have the potential for the Sun Devils to bolster their resumé considerably.

The easiest part of the equation, if you want to call it that, comes this week as the Sun Devils (18-8 overall, 9-6 Pac-12) round out their home schedule with games at 6 p.m. Thursday against Colorado (14-12, 6-9) and 4 p.m. Saturday against Utah (17-9, 9-5) at Desert Financial Arena. That's not a knock on those opponents, but a testament to how tough it gets after that.

The Sun Devils then hit the road for games at No. 8 Arizona (22-4, 11-4), No. 4 UCLA (21-4, 12-2) and USC (17-8, 9-5), all teams to whom they lost the first time around on their home floor. All three of those will be Quad 1 games, one of the most significant factors in deciding who advances.

Also at stake is a first-round bye in the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas, which is afforded to the top four teams.

“It would be nice for us to finish the season at home on a good note,” ASU head coach Bobby Hurley said. "With the standings being real tight, we’re trying to get into that top four. There’s a lot to play for. We’re playing teams that give us an opportunity. All these teams are good teams. You wanna take care of business on your home court. We’ve done more than our fair share of work on the road. We just haven’t won enough of these home games. This is our last opportunity.”

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ASU is coming off a sweep of the California Bay area schools, although neither came easy. It took the Sun Devils overtime to beat last-place Cal 80-72. The 69-65 win over Stanford came even though the Sun Devils trailed the majority of the game. And while Stanford does have a losing record, two days later it upset Arizona.

That marked the second road sweep of the season, the first coming last month when the Sun Devils beat both Oregon schools.

Hurley has appreciated his team's resiliency much of the season. That showed last week when his squad was without 7-foot senior forward Warren Washington who was out with COVID but has been practicing this week and is expected to return to the starting lineup this week.

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Among those stepping up in Washington's absence was true freshman Duke Brennan, who drew his first career start against California. Senior Alonzo Gaffney started against Stanford and although he scored just four points he totaled 18 rebounds in the two contests.

Brennan, a native of Gilbert and product of Hillcrest Prep, managed nine points, eight rebounds and three blocks with a season-high of seven rebounds coming against Cal. In many games this season he has had a tendency of picking up some quick fouls when he comes into a game, then has to check out. He is noted for bringing energy into the game and acknowledged that sometimes can lead to a quick foul but made a concerted effort to not let that happen last week, knowing Washington was unavailable.

“It was really good to get out there,” Brennan said. “Without Warren Washington, I knew coming into those games I was gonna have more minutes, taking that responsibility, taking that leadership for the team was good for me as a freshman to understand what to do. I was just working hard through it.”

The silver lining of the weekend, according to Hurley, was seeing Brennan respond to being given a heavier workload.

“It’s a great experience for him,” Hurley said. “Going into the week, you don’t sleep good knowing we’re not gonna have Warren knowing what he’s meant to the team all year. On the flip side, now that we were able to win both games, Duke gets that extra experience to play more minutes. As we’re moving forward and the season’s on the line, at a certain point, there’s certainly more trust to put him out there and get the job done.”

Hurley is not letting his team look too far ahead because this week's foes are formidable too. ASU beat Colorado 60-59 earlier this season in Boulder, but it took a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Desmond Cambridge Jr. to do so. The Sun Devils trailed that one by 15 at the half.

Colorado has been hard to figure out. The Buffaloes have beaten two nationally ranked foes in Tennessee and Texas A&M but losses have included Cal, as well as Grambling State, a nonconference opponent whom ASU also played and defeated handily. Colorado is coming off a 73-62 loss to Utah.

ASU has not yet played Utah but that is a squad that looms as perhaps the most improved in the conference. The Utes sit third in the Pac-12, behind only UCLA and Arizona after finishing 11-20 overall and 4-16 in conference play last season which placed them 11th.

"There’s a lot to play for,” Hurley said. “The spirit in practice was good coming off a couple of wins. We have confidence. We have something to prove to ourselves in terms of taking care of home court.”