Northwestern sends Arizona State men to third straight loss in last nonconference game

Arizona State finished the non-conference portion of its schedule on Wednesday night and the pattern was a familiar. The Sun Devils were blown out by Northwestern 65-46 in Footprint Center at the Jerry Colangelo Hall of Fame Series.

The five losses for ASU (6-5) are by a combined 87 points, an average margin of defeat of 17.4 points. This one was never close as ASU trailed at the half 36-13. It was similar to Saturday's game against TCU in Fort Worth that the Sun Devils lost 79-59.

It is quite a contrast from last season when the Sun Devils were 9-2 in the early portion of their schedule and finished 23-13 overall. But with 10 new players the Sun Devils have not found a chemistry yet.

"You have to respond," coach Bobby Hurley said. "We're not as tough as we need to be right now. We're kind of melting out there. As teams are coming at us, we don't have a response. We're not making shots. We're missing free throws. Across the board it was, I think we were tied with one of the players from Northwestern at halftime.

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That's how bad we were at that end of the floor so we got to look at it and evaluate it and see what changes we need to make and how we need to play at that end of the floor to give ourselves a better chance at staying in the game."

Frankie Collins led ASU with 10 points, four assists and three steals but was the only ASU player in double figures.

A closer look at the problems facing ASU:

Arizona State has a major rebounding challenge

The Sun Devils entered the game ranked tied for 346th out of 351 Division-I teams in rebounding margin at -7. It hasn't helped that two of the taller players, 7-0 Shawn Phillips and 6-9 Zane Meeks, have missed seven and five games, respectively. The two tallest players left are Alonzo Gaffney (6-9) and Bryant Selebangue (6-8), and they came in averaging a combined 8.2 rebounds. Collins and Jamiya Neal are the team's leading rebounders and they're the starting backcourt. That's not a good thing.

Northwestern finished with a 41-31 advantage on the boards, a 9-3 advantage in second-chance points and a 30-26 edge in points in the paint. In a lot of other games the numbers were more lopsided in those areas.

ASU's poor free throw shooting

Another area in which ASU is among the worst teams in the country. The Sun Devils are ranked 342nd at 62.18% and that is including the 7-for-7 Adam Miller had in his debut on Saturday. The Sun Devils were 11-for-18 in that department against the Wildcats, which is about their average.

The top players at the line are reserve Kamari Lands (69.2%) and Jose Perez (68.7%). Selebangue is shooting just 35.1%, which means at the end of a close game he's a liability and will likely have to come out even though he's a bigger player needed to go get a rebound.

When you aren't efficient offensively you have to make the "free" throws.

Three-point shooting another ASU weak spot

The Sun Devils were 3-for-18 (16.7%) from long distance Wednesday night. That's even worse than ASU had been faring on the season. The Sun Devils were 297th in that area (30.10%) coming into the game.

The Sun Devils have won some games when they weren't reliant on the 3-pointer. They nabbed a win over San Francisco on a day they made 5-of-15 from long distance, but to do that you need to do some other things well.

Graduate transfer Brycen Long has been ASU's top long-distance shooter, making seven of nine tries, but his playing time has been sporadic and dependent on matchups. Gaffney is shooting 21.3% and yet has the second-most attempts. So the right people aren't taking them either.

Last year's chemistry missing for ASU

The team really hasn't found a rhythm or chemistry yet and that was one of the most significant factors in ASU's success last season. With 10 new players, that can take some time. There also hasn't been a steady personnel rotation, either. Jose Perez was a late addition to the team and Hurley has mentioned that shifted the team dynamic a little.

Then there were the two injuries previously mentioned to Phillips and Meeks, which shortened the bench. Then Adam Miller was deemed eligible last week after originally having that denied by the NCAA, so that was yet another personnel change. The rotations and lineup have been ever-changing.

Indications are that both Phillips and Meeks could return when Pac-12 play starts on Dec. 29, which should help, but there are a lot of issues that need to be remedied.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Northwestern sends ASU men to third straight loss before Pac-12 play