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👋 GOOD MORNING
Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025 — Happy Tuesday! Congrats to the Ohio State Buckeyes, who topped Notre Dame to earn their first National Championship since 2014. Things sure took a turn after that loss to Michigan in November, and coach Ryan Day finally has a ring to show for his tenure in Columbus.
On the hardwood, the Suns were absolutely rolled by the league-leading Cavs yesterday afternoon, falling back to .500 after a 26-point defeat. Any good vibes that were felt after Nick Richards’ stellar debut have been dampened, as the center followed up his Suns-debut double-double with four points and four rebounds in 22 minutes — a game in which he started.
Bradley Beal added five points in 25 minutes off the bench in his return from an ankle injury.
It would appear the Suns are still a move or two away from any sort of postseason run — hear what our amazing PHNX Suns crew thinks about that in the podcast listed below the main story.
On to the show!
Sun Devils, Wildcats On Very Different Big 12 Trajectories
The Arizona and ASU men’s basketball programs are having very different experiences as first-year members of the Big 12.
The Wildcats may have just dropped their most recent game against Texas Tech, but they still sit at 11-6 overall, and their 5-1 mark in the conference is tied with No. 3 Iowa State for second place. The Sun Devils, meanwhile, are 10-7 overall, but their 1-5 Big 12 record is tied with Kansas State for 14th, and ahead of just one other school — the 0-6 Colorado Buffaloes.
Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd and ASU coach Bobby Hurley had strikingly different tones lately, and it sure feels like the programs are on two very different trajectories.
Wildcats’ 7-Game Streak Snapped, But There’s Optimism Abound
Arizona’s 70-54 loss in Lubbock on Saturday had a final score that looked worse than how the game actually played out, but that point is typically reserved for teams clinging to an excuse. That was not the approach Lloyd took following the defeat.
“We’re going to bounce back from this,” he said. “We’re not going to hang our heads. It comes when you play in a tough conference. When you play on the road, you’re going to have some days like this. We’re not going to dwell on it.”
And why should they? Arizona has beaten the last three ranked teams it played: No. 16 Cincinnati, No. 21 West Virginia and No. 25 Baylor, and the first two of those were, in fact, on the road. The Wildcats’ first season in the Big 12 has gone about as swimmingly as possible, rolling to wins over TCU and UCF in addition to the aforementioned victories.
Tough tests still remain, including a home date against No. 3 Iowa State next Monday, but the contributions Arizona has gotten from players like Caleb Love (14.9 points per game), Jaden Bradley (11.6 ppg), KJ Lewis (10.2 ppg) and Tobe Awaka (7.4 rebounds per game) have made the transition to the powerhouse conference slightly more tolerable.
“Every team in the Big 12 is going to fight until the end,” Lewis said. “I think we have to get accustomed to that, that every team we’re going to play now is going to fight for 40 minutes. I think we have to be ready for that.”
The Wildcats have also gotten contributions from some unsung heroes, such as Henri Veesaar. The sophomore forward averages 7.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, but notched a combined 33 points and 12 rebounds in the two games leading up to the Texas Tech loss.
Veesaar failed to score and recorded just two rebounds in the 70-54 loss to the Red Raiders, something that Lloyd said is a learning opportunity for not just him, but the whole team.
All the other teams don’t take long to get you on the radar.
“Henri’s really been making progress,” Lloyd said. “But I told him, you just don’t assume.”
Each game presents a new test, but so far, the Wildcats have passed them with near perfection.
“It’s a challenge, you’re having a lot of teams you’ve never played before,” Lloyd said. “Every game is a fresh, new prep. You just don’t have the familiarity.”
Sun Devils Still Searching For Answers as March Draws Closer
Arizona State had elevated expectations heading into the season given the arrival of freshmen Joson Sanon (4-star recruit) and Jayden Quaintance (5-star recruit), and they have been impressive to watch, but it has not yet materialized into conference wins for the Sun Devils. Quaintance has lived up to the hype despite being the youngest player in college basketball at just 17 years old, and is averaging 10.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game.
That’s pretty darn impressive stuff.
Even so, ASU has struggled to find its footing in its new conference after a sparkling 8-1 start. The Sun Devils have dropped five of their last six games, including four straight, and also have yet to beat a top-25 opponent. They now have back-to-back matchups against ranked foes on deck: tonight at No. 23 West Virginia, and Saturday vs. No. 3 Iowa State in Tempe.
Arizona State’s recent stretch hasn’t cast a complete pall over its season, especially when considering each of its last three losses have come by seven-or-fewer points. The issue has been consistency.
“t’s just frustrating, because we’ve been a top-30 defense most of the year,” Hurley said after a 95-89 home loss to UCF last week. “It’s, I feel like, a dam that has holes in it. One day, the offense isn’t showing up for half a period of the game. In this case, we couldn’t stop them from scoring.”
Quaintance was the leading scorer in ASU’s most recent defeat, a 67-60 loss at Cincinnati, and also leads the Sun Devils in rebounds (8.6 per game), steals (1.2 per game) and blocks (3.2 per game).
Again — the kid is just 17 years old.
“I’m just trying to play a bigger role and make a bigger impact in the game,” Quaintance said. “I feel like I’m doing a little bit better at that now.”
Sanon has been battling the injury bug on-and-off this season, but remains one of the top scorers for the Sun Devils, ranking second on the team with 13.2 points per game. He’s one of five players that have averaged double figures in scoring, led by guard B.J. Freeman’s 13.2.
The talent is there for ASU, but it is still trying to find its footing in the Big 12.
“Sometimes we stop to celebrate, or we don’t get back in transition, because we kind of let the high of what just happened affect the next play,” Quaintance said. “I feel like if we just stay grounded and keep trusting the process, that we’ll improve as we go forward.”
There’s Still Plenty of Runway for Both Teams
Neither team is even halfway through its Big 12 schedule yet, and in a conference that features three AP top-12 teams, both have the opportunity to tack on statement victories. Of course, the two will square off against each other twice this season as well (Feb. 1 in Tempe, March 4 in Tucson), offering the opportunity for the traditional in-state bragging rights.
Can the Wildcats keep up their winning ways? Can the Sun Devils respond in the second half of their conference schedule? And can either do any damage this March at the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City?
We’ll have all of those answers soon enough.
Full PHNX Wildcats Coverage
Full PHNX Sun Devils Coverage
🧢 TIP OF THE HAT BY BRANDED BILLS
Congrats to Ohio State, which won the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff!
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