Game Recap: Sun Devils Rolled by Cal in Return to Action

Sometimes you're the hammer, and sometimes you're the nail.

The Arizona State Sun Devils, after having their previous three games either canceled (Florida A&M due to power outage) or postponed (USC and UCLA due to COVID), learned that lesson the hard way in a 74-50 drubbing by Cal on Sunday night.

ASU, which last played on Dec. 19, showed obvious signs of rust and lack of cohesion on the court.

Still without forward Marcus Bagley (knee), the Sun Devils were also without forward Alonzo Gaffney who did not make the trip with Arizona State for unknown reasons.

Cal, which recently had its game against UCLA postponed, looked the better of the two squads in the comfy lines of their home court.

Here's how the action panned out in Arizona State's return to the court:

First-Half Recap

ASU Starters

G DJ Horne

G Marreon Jackson

F Jay Heath

F Jalen Graham

F Kimani Lawrence

With the Golden Bears playing true to their identity as a team that loves to slow possessions down and bang down under the rim, head coach Bobby Hurley opted for more size in his starting lineup, giving forward Jay Heath his first start of the year with guard Luther Muhammad coming off the bench.

The aforementioned rust made its presence known early, as Arizona State quickly trailed 9-2 with Cal sinking four of their first five shots.

The Sun Devils then settled in, going four-of-four from the field after the first media timeout to eventually trail 13-11.

However, that's about as close as ASU would get in the first half. Center Enoch Boakye had two early fouls in two minutes of play, forcing the Sun Devils to reach deep into their bench rotation.

With a three-minute scoring drought and ASU trailing 20-12, Hurley called a timeout in an attempt to rally his troops.

Yet his words didn't work, as guard DJ Horne commited a turnover immediately out of the timeout, setting the pace for the rest of Arizona State's half.

The Golden Bears went on a 12-1 run to put the lead out of reach for ASU. The Sun Devils, trailing by nine with 7:39 left, eventually saw the deficit increase to double digits for the remainder of the first half.

Arizona State trailed 41-23 at halftime thanks to Cal shooting 50% from the field. ASU woefully shot 0-for-7 from downtown while the Golden Bears outscored the Sun Devils 13-0 in bench points in the first 20 minutes of play.

Second-Half Recap

Fortune would not shift for Arizona State, as the second half featured more dominance from Cal in what was a fairly uneventful second half of basketball.

The Golden Bears led by 15 points at the first media timeout with 15:14 remaining. However, Arizona State finally made its first three-point shot (by Horne) after nine unsuccessful attempts.

At the next media timeout, Cal held a 54-36 lead, still maintaining the 18-point margin the Golden Bears carried into the break. The next media timeout at 7:07 featured no greater luck for ASU, as they trailed 60-43.

The game went from bad to worse when Horne, who led ASU with 14 points, went down on the court with apparent discomfort in his leg after landing from a jumphot.

However, Horne resumed play with no apparent injury holding his play back.

That wasn't enough for Arizona State, which transitioned into a full-court defense in order to speed up Cal's tempo. The Golden Bears held their significant lead until the game's final moments, eventually winning 74-50.

Arizona State Final Leaders
Scoring: Horne (17)
Rebounds: Boakye (9)
Assists: Jackson (2)

Cal snapped what was a seven-game losing streak to the Sun Devils. Arizona State dropped to 5-8 on the year and 1-2 in Pac-12 play.

The Sun Devils are next in action Wednesday, Jan. 5 at UCLA.

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