Brad Cesmat
It’s a litmus test, not a final exam.
Where exactly does the unbeaten Arizona State Sun Devil basketball team stand against a national power? In a weekend that looks like it could be mistaken for the third week of March rather than the second week of December, the Sun Devils beat St. Johns Friday night and will try to remain perfect on Sunday afternoon in Lawrence, Kansas. Gotta give Bobby Hurley a ton of credit for coming up with a schedule that would stretch and challenge his team.
Kansas lost their first game of the season to Washington this past week. Not the best time to be catching the Jayhawks, but no one is going to change the schedule, so let’s see if the unbeaten streak will reach 9.
With three weeks to go before the opening of Pac-12 play at Arizona(7pm Saturday the 30th) I’m looking forward to seeing the guard play of the Sun Devils, which has been so good through the first eight games. IF this team wants to have a deep March Madness run, the veterans(Holder, Evans, Justice) play has to continue to be as strong as we’ve seen in the first month of the season.
The addition of forward Mickey Mitchell for Sunday will be an added attraction. The skilled 6-7 forward who started seven games and played in 23 as a freshman at Ohio State in 2015-16. Whenever a new piece is added there could be a few bumpy moments out on the court. Let’s see how this works out on Sunday. You wouldn’t think there’d be much of an adjustment, but it’s worth watching for sure.
A win, and ASU would be ranked in the Top 10. A loss, and they’d still be in the Top 25 in my opinion. Again, this isn’t a final exam, not even a midterm. It’s a litmus test…
