Busting Brackets
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Arizona State Basketball: 2019-20 keys to upset Oregon in Eugene

By John Vaccaro

DAYTON, OHIO - MARCH 20: The Arizona State Sun Devils mascot performs during the second half against the St. John's Red Storm in the First Four of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at UD Arena on March 20, 2019 in Dayton, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
DAYTON, OHIO - MARCH 20: The Arizona State Sun Devils mascot performs during the second half against the St. John's Red Storm in the First Four of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at UD Arena on March 20, 2019 in Dayton, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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DAYTON, OHIO – MARCH 20: Shamorie Ponds #2 of the St. John’s Red Storm handles the ball against Remy Martin #1 of the Arizona State Sun Devils (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
DAYTON, OHIO – MARCH 20: Shamorie Ponds #2 of the St. John’s Red Storm handles the ball against Remy Martin #1 of the Arizona State Sun Devils (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

Defend the 3-point line

Throughout the season, Oregon has been one of the best 3 point shooting teams in the country. They currently shoot the 8th highest percentage in the country at 39.2%. That is in spite of 3 consecutive games where they have shot below that number. Those 3 games included shooting 16.7% against Colorado, 35.3% against Utah, and 30.4% against Arizona. They lost to Colorado, won a close game against Utah, and snuck away with an overtime win against Arizona. One of their other two losses this season also saw them struggle from 3. They shot 28.6% against Gonzaga and lost by 1.

Arizona State looked like a great 3 point defense early on in this season. It was one of their biggest strengths until Saint Mary’s rolled into Phoenix and put on a shooting clinic. Even after that, they managed to slow down the 3-pt attack of a Creighton team that is still 63rd in the country in 3-pt percentage. Before that, they slowed down a San Francisco team that is currently 77th in the country in that same category. They even managed to hold U of A to 26.7% while they were getting dismantled in every other area of the floor. They were also actually doing a pretty good job against Oregon State until they hit 3 of their last 4 during their comeback attempt.

If the Sun Devil defense shows up as the version of themselves we’ve seen against just about everybody other than Saint Mary’s, they can absolutely give themselves a chance to make life difficult for the Oregon offense and win this game.

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