KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It was a familiar song and dance for the Arizona State men's basketball team. It plays hard. It plays shorthanded. And, it tended to come up short on the scoreboard. ASU ended the season with a 71-66 loss to Kansas State in first-round play in the Big 12 tournament Tuesday night at the T-Mobile Center. It was the fifth straight loss and 11th in the past 12 games for coach Bobby Hurley's Sun Devils (13-19). It was one of a dozen games in which the Sun Devils couldn't get one last stop or one key basket to change the outcome. Despite coming up short, Hurley praised his team's effort. "I just want to compliment my team just not only tonight, but over the last six weeks," he said. "Just got a ton of respect for the heart and the will and the determination to keep competing. "I know it hasn't resulted in victories and wins, but these guys, with where our numbers are at and the bodies we have, for these guys to play the minutes they played and been very competitive." Hurley had seven players for this one — barely. There was still no Jayden Quaintance (right knee) and no B.J. Freeman, who was dismissed from the team six games ago. Senior guard Adam Miller returned after missing the last three games with oblique and hip injuries but Hurley shut him down early in the second half after he had played 22 minutes. Miller was struggling not just with those injuries but cramps as well. It was the third meeting between the teams. Kansas State (16-16) defeated ASU 71-70 in Tempe, but ASU responded with a 66-54 win when the teams played in Manhattan on Feb. 23. Quaintance had 18 points but injured his knee late in that game and has not played since. No. 10 seed Kansas State was missing 6-foot-10 senior Coleman Hawkins in that game and his absence loomed large. He was also a big reason the Wildcats came out on top in this one. Hawkins finished with a season-high 26 points, along with eight rebounds and two blocks. He shot 10-for-17 from the field, which included four 3-pointers, and was a matchup nightmare for ASU, particularly with Quaintance out. The Wildcats led by as many as 13 points in the first half, at 17-4, but ASU, the 15 seed, took a brief lead on a 3-pointer by Joson Sanon that made it 24-21. Kansas State took a 38-31 lead into the locker room at the half. ASU also trailed by as many as 14 in the second half at 58-44 with 9:45 to go, but back the Sun Devils came. Sanon hit a long jumper that cut Kansas State's lead to 66-62 with 1:47 left. The deficit was four again at 68-64 with 1:08 to play but that was as close as ASU would get as Kansas State answered with a 3-point play by David N'Guessan that made it 71-64 with 37 seconds left. The Wildcats hung on from there. Alston Mason led ASU with 17 points and three assists. How valuable was he to the team? Well, he played 35 minutes and finished with a plus-minus rating of plus-6 in a game his team lost by five. Shawn Phillips recorded his second double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds with three blocks. Sanon and Basheer Jihad chipped in with 13 points each as ASU shot 38.3% (23-for-60) from the field. "All the guys want to win, and all we can do is just show up and play hard and play together," Mason said. "But, unfortunately, we just couldn't, you know, get the outcome that we wanted." The Wildcats shot 50% (27-for-54), with Hawkins followed in the scoring column by Dug McDaniel with 14 and Max Jones and Brendan Hausen with 10 each. Rebounds favored Kansas State slightly, 36-35. ASU had nine turnovers while Kansas State had 13 with 10 points off turnovers. Hurley doubled down on his belief that he had a roster that was capable of making the NCAA tournament field had it not been decimated by injuries. "I think if we had the whole puzzle together, it was an NCAA tournament team and that's just not what it is right now at the moment," Hurley said. "The injuries and everything kinda made a lot of things a lot more difficult and gave us a challenge that was kind of hard for us to overcome," Mason added. Hurley said his team will participate in the College Basketball Crown event later this month in Las Vegas. It is an event sponsored by Fox Sports and the Anschutz Entertainment Group for teams not advancing to the postseason. Hurley said it would be a good experience for his younger players and provide exposure for his veterans with NBA scouts likely in attendance.
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