Arizona State Basketball: 3 takeaways from a tough loss to Creighton
By John Vaccaro
The Saint Mary’s Game Was an Anomaly for the Defense
It’s easy to begin questioning just how good a defense actually is after they allow an opponent to shoot around 60% both from the field and from 3, but ASU’s defense was able to bounce back and remind everybody that they’re for real in Saturday’s game against Creighton.
They managed to hold Creighton 10 points below their season scoring average and 8 points below their 3-point shooting percentage in this game.
It was a strong bounce back game for the defense after being absolutely trounced by Saint Mary’s earlier in the week. There honestly isn’t much you could have pointed to in this game that the defense could have done better. They kept Creighton off the free throw for most of the game and forced them to take quite a few tough shots (they just unfortunately hit some of them).
Even with them picking up a few points late because ASU was trying to chase their way back into the game, the Sun Devils managed to hold Creighton to their second lowest scoring total of the season and the only team who has held them lower was a very impressive San Diego State defense.
The defense absolutely did their job in this game, but the offense unfortunately didn’t do their part. If there is any positive to be taken from this game, it’s that the defense is as good as we thought it was before Wednesday’s debacle.