Arizona State Basketball: 2019-20 keys in home matchup against Arizona
By John Vaccaro
Take Advantage of the Free Throw Line
There isn’t much that Arizona’s defense doesn’t do well. They hold their opponents to low shooting percentages both inside and outside the 3 pt line, they create turnovers, and they’re in the top 100 in blocked shots. However, the defense has one clear weak point. They foul a lot.
The Wildcats have allowed opponents to get to the free throw line 21.1 times per game and even let the Sun Devils get to the line quite a bit the first time these two teams met. ASU managed to get 19 free throw attempts in that game in spite of the fact that they are thoroughly dominated from start to finish. Unfortunately, they only made 8 of those, meaning they shot a miserable 42.1% from the line.
To beat U of A the second time around, the Sun Devils are going to need to not only get the line, but they have to capitalize when they do get there. I’m not expecting them to suddenly turn into Villanova and become automatic at the line, but 42.1% isn’t even an acceptable performance from a high school team. Even their season average of 68% really isn’t good enough to beat teams like Arizona. If ASU can knock down even 75% of their free throws in this game then they should give themselves a chance to beat a team that isn’t going to give up a lot of other easy scoring opportunities.