California @ Arizona St - 1/01/21

[nwhoopfan]

Devils eek out a 56-53 win. They should be credited w/ a L for letting a team that bad take them down to the wire.

 

[willtalk]

Teams like Cal typically get better as the season wears on. How much is the question?

 

[azfan]

As I mentioned at the top of the thread there's always a possibility for an upset. ASU like Cal hadn't played in over 2 weeks. Also ASU was down three players. Eboni Walker and Bre'yanna Sanders, the only senior on this young team, didn't play. The announcement indicated it was not for injury or for disciplinary reasons so I can't help but wonder why they weren't on the court. Iris Mubilito was also unavailable as she's recovering from a shoulder injury. So ASU started junior Taya Hansen and four freshmen even given the challenges that Cal has this year that's a recipe for heartburn and potential upset.

Coming into this game ASU had seven quarters of basketball where they scored less than 10 points. Given the offensive challenges of this very young team I anticipated that there might be a possibility that the Devils would get so far behind they couldn't pull a rabbit out of the hat as they've done several times this year.

That said the Cal bears deserve kudos for their gritty play. Their guard I thought was particularly energetic.