Arizona State men's basketball coach Bobby Hurley was searching for answers throughout the Sun Devils' ugly 71-56 loss to Mississippi State in Chicago on Wednesday night. (Paul Schulz / Inferno Intel)
The Arizona State Sun Devils (0-1) lost their season opener to the Mississippi State Bulldogs (1-0) by a score of 71-56 in the Barstool Invitational at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.
Prior to tipoff on Wednesday, ASU coach Bobby Hurley said the game would be a street fight. The first half quickly turned into a mugging.
MSU went on a 30-8 run over the final 11 minutes of the first period to take a 21-point halftime lead.
Defense carried the Bulldogs last season, who qualified for the NCAA tournament despite being the worst 3-point shooting team in the country. This was not the case on Wednesday night. MSU made 10-of-26 attempts from 3-point range and sunk 22-of-55 field goals.
The Bulldog defense suffocated the Sun Devils’ offense from the start. ASU had 14 points through the first 14 minutes of the game and scored only four more points in the final six minutes.
Sun Devils senior guard Jamiya Neal made the team’s first 3-point conversion of the game a little over a minute into the second half. ASU made half as many 3-pointers as MSU with five makes on 21 attempts. The Sun Devils made 17-of-53 field goals total.
ASU pulled ahead 10-9 eight minutes into the game. The Bulldogs regained the lead on the next possession and never looked back.
Sophomore guard Kamari Lands led ASU with 13 points, followed by junior guard Frankie Collins with 10. Sun Devils forward Bryant Selebangue led the team with six rebounds and provided the team a few highlights after he slammed home a pair of dunks.
Bulldog junior guard Trey Fort led all scorers with 21 points. Fort made as many 3-pointers as the entire ASU team. He was five-of-10 shooting from 3-point range and six-of-12 shooting overall.
The Bulldogs dominated the game despite missing their best player. Graduate forward Tolu Smith, a preseason 1st Team All-SEC selection, will be out until January with a foot injury.
MSU redshirt sophomore forward KeyShawn Murphy also missed the game with a foot injury. Senior guard Shakeel Moore was the third unavailable Bulldog for violation of team rules.
Despite coming into the matchups as underdogs, the Sun Devils entered the game with optimism. Prior to Wednesday, ASU was 7-1 in season openers under Hurley and had an 8-2 non-conference record last season.
This year’s squad is a work in progress. ASU welcomed back only three players from last year and added 11 new members to the squad. Graduate starting guard Jose Perez joined the team only two weeks ago. Perez scored all of his five points from free throws.
ASU was without redshirt junior guard Adam Miller, who was still not eligible to play after transferring from LSU. There is no timetable for the NCAA’s decision on Miller.
The Sun Devils made a higher percentage of shots and all five of its 3-pointers in the second half. The team also outscored Miss State in the paint in the final period. ASU trailed by 25 points with 12 minutes remaining and narrowed the margin to 15 points by the end of the game.
With ASU’s volume of newcomers, chemistry issues were expected. The Sun Devils were projected to finish in sixth place in the conference by the Pac-12 media because of its lack of continuity from last season’s 23-win team. The Sun Devils have a few days to regroup and discover their identity.
ASU hosts Texas Southern (0-1) in its home opener Saturday at 1:30 p.m. MST at Desert Financial Arena.