Arizona State smashed in 2nd half by No. 9 Texas Tech in 85-57 loss

1st Half: Basheer keeps Arizona State alive

It was poetic for senior forward Jihad Basheer to have one of his best halves in his last game in Tempe. In the first half of his farewell performance, Basheer played with a level of aggression that was needed against a tough Red Raiders’ defense. The Detroit native got to the charity stripe eight times, on route for him scoring 14 first half points.

Basheer got the energy going early, with help from his freshman teammate, guard Joson Sanon. The 6’5 guard joined Basheer in his downhill attack against the Red Raiders’ interior defense getting to the foul line. The duo shot all of ASU’s free throws in the first half that kept the program close against a balance Red Raiders offense.

Texas Tech had no one player in double figure but shooting 8-for-20 from beyond the arc as a team gifted them a slim 4-point lead heading into the break

2nd Half: Arizona State runs out of gas

Throughout the last few weeks, a tired Sun Devils team would come out after the break sluggish and fatigue that allowed team’s to go on monster runs for a blowout win. That formula was the same on Saturday. ASU offensively couldn’t get anything to fall. In the second half, the Sun Devils shot 28.6% from the field and made only one 3-point shot.

Meanwhile, sophomore JT Toppin woke up from his slumber to kill ASU’s defense. In the last matchup, Toppin dropped a season-high 41 points against head coach Bobby Hurley’s squad. However, the sophomore only had eight first-half points, as it looked like Hurley and his team had adjusted. That was not the case.

Toppin dropped 17 second-half points, all inside the paint or free throw line. ASU was without freshman center Jayden Quaintance and it wasn’t anymore apparent then when Toppin exploded for Texas Tech in the second half.

ASU turns its focus to the Big 12 tournament on March 11th as the 15th seed, where its opponent is still unknown until Saturday’s slate of conference games end.