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

Make Free Throws

Just about everything Arizona State did in Thursday’s win over Oregon State was great. The obvious thing that wasn’t, was the way that they closed out the game. The biggest culprit was their free throw shooting. In the last 4 minutes of the game, they went 5-10 from the free throw line, including going 4-8 in the last minute of the game.

This left the door open for what was a very embarrassing collapse in a game that ASU couldn’t really afford to blow. The stretch also brought them down to shooting 66.7% for the game, below their season average of 68.9%, which is already below average compared to the rest of the country.

That might’ve been okay in Corvallis, but it’s not going to get the job done in Eugene. To win on the road against a team as tough as Oregon, Arizona State is going to need to knock down free throws consistently throughout ht game and they’re going to need to do it at a better rate than they have all season. In games against top 10 teams, you can’t afford to leave points on the court.

This is especially true against an Oregon team that doesn’t tend to give their opponents many opportunities at the free throw line to begin with. They only allow opponents to attempt 16.4 free throws per game, which is among the 100 least in the country. The Sun Devils are going to need to take advantage of every free opportunity they get because the Oregon defense doesn’t give many opportunities.

If ASU finishes Saturday’s game the same way they finished Thursday’s, then this game isn’t going to end well for them.