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Social Media Reacts to Arizona State's Battle Against Top-10 Houston

The Sun Devils wrapped up a short-term road trip on Sunday with another elite opponent on the docket.
Kevin Hicks|
Jan 14, 2026; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Bobby Hurley yells towards players during the first half of the game against the Arizona Wildcats at McKale Memorial Center. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images
Jan 14, 2026; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Bobby Hurley yells towards players during the first half of the game against the Arizona Wildcats at McKale Memorial Center. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

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Arizona State Sun Devils

TEMPE -- Bobby Hurley's Arizona State Sun Devils capped off one of the most daunting stretches of road games that any program in division one college basketball will face this season on Sunday.

The Sun Devils unfortunately fell to the seventh-ranked Houston Cougars by a substantial margin, although there were still several intriguing developments that came from the final game of the two-game road trip set.

Follow the major happenings from the game below with Arizona State on SI.

Arizona State in Spotlight, Opt to Use New Starting Five

Arizona State and Houston tipped off just after 4:30 P.M. MST as the lone power conference game that was being played at the time. This is the second time that the programs have squared off as Big 12 rivals, as Houston overcame chippy play from ASU to win a game in Tempe last February.

On the note of starting lineups - head coach Bobby Hurley made a move that was somewhat surprising heading into the game in the form of switching up the starting lineup. While Moe Odum, Santiago Trouet, and Massamba Diop remained in the unit, two others were swapped out. Sophomore guard Noah Meeusen replaced forward Allen Mukeba, while junior guard Bryce Ford took the place of Anthony "Pig" Johnson to start the game out.

This ensured the bench rotation would consist of Johnson, Mukeba, and Grbovic - potentially giving Hurley more freedom to make more rapid adjustments to what Houston was doing at any given time.

Houston Defense Overwhelms ASU Early

The Houston defense, which is consistently among the best in college basketball, forced the Sun Devils to begin the game 2 of 12 from the floor, while they eventually forced 12 first half turnovers and blocked four shots in the first 20 minutes of action.

Kelvin Sampson's brand of denying entry into the post, pressuring the ball, and trapping ball screens left an ASU offense that has regularly been productive in a state of discombobulation.

Kingston Flemings and Chris Cenac Jr. are a pair of Houston freshmen that made an incredible impact in the first half of action, with Cenac knocking down a pair of three-point looks, while also blocking a shot.

The offense-defense combination that the Cougars are able to roll out make them as dangerous as anyone in the country - it showed on Sunday in full force.

Arizona State returns to action on Wednesday at home against West Virginia.

Read more on why the Arizona State men's basketball team will exceed expectations in the 2025-26 season here, and on why the bright future of the football program isn’t dimmed by the loss to Arizona here.

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Kevin Hicks
KEVIN HICKS

Kevin Hicks is an Arizona State alumni and now serves as the Arizona State Beat Writer On SI.