Then, ASU sophomore forward Santiago Trouet was assessed a technical foul after a defensive stop by the Sun Devils.

Shortly after, ASU head coach Bobby Hurley picked up a technical foul of his own after contesting a no-call on freshman center Massamba Diop’s layup attempt.

Gonzaga senior center Graham Ike went on to make three of the four technical free throws to extend the Bulldogs’ lead to 12. The Sun Devils — and their home crowd in Tempe — were never fully able to get back into the game.

Arizona State suffered its first loss of the season, 77-65 to Gonzaga, who rose six spots to No. 13 in this week’s AP poll.

Ike was an anchor for Mark Few’s team in the win, finishing with 20 points and 9 rebounds. Ike made his presence felt on the defensive end, holding Diop to just 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting.

While Hurley cited the officiating as a vital reason for the Sun Devils’ stumble, ASU also created self-inflicted wounds at the free-throw line. 

While Gonzaga shot 27-of-35 from the stripe, the Sun Devils left 10 points at the line on Friday, only making 13-of-23 free throws.

However, ASU had several bright spots in the loss. Trouet picked up his second double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds, while senior guard Moe Odum led the Sun Devils with 12 points.

Following the game, junior guard Bryce Ford, who scored 11 points against the Zags, spoke about how even in defeat, ASU showed glimpses of being able to hang with the nation's best teams on any given night.

“For being such a new group of guys,” Ford said. “We have a lot of potential, and I will say we are a tournament team.”

The numbers back up Ford’s claim as well. The Sun Devils gave Gonzaga–a team that won their first three games by an average of 32.3 points–their closest contest of the season so far. 

However, ASU doesn’t get much time to dwell on the loss. The Sun Devils are back at Desert Financial Arena, Nov. 17, against Georgia State.

Georgia State is still searching for its first win against a D1 opponent, ahead of its Sun Belt Conference slate. ASU is the second Big 12 team on Georgia State’s schedule, as the Panthers lost 74-64 on Nov. 7 at Cincinnati.

The Big 12 ties don’t stop there, as Georgia State is led by sophomore guard Jelani Hamilton, who started his college career at Iowa State. 

Hamilton was named to the Preseason Sun Belt All-Conference Second Team and is averaging 14.7 points per game while shooting 95% from the free-throw line.

After wrapping up the opening homestand against Georgia State, the Sun Devils head to O’ahu to face off against Hawaii in ASU’s first road game of the year. 

The Rainbow Warriors are off to a sizzling 4-1 start, with the lone loss coming in a 60-59 heartbreaker to Oregon.

Hawaii’s main attraction has been its defense. The Rainbow Warriors are allowing 61.6 points per game, good enough to be a top-30 defense in the nation so far. 

The defensive engine is graduate senior guard Dre Bullock, as he’s averaged 2.2 steals per game, along with 12.6 points and 6 rebounds.

Senior center Isaac Johnson has also been a presence for Hawaii. The Utah State transfer leads the Rainbow Warriors in both points per game (14.8) and rebounds per game (9.2).

ASU has occasionally shown signs of a team that can contend in the Big 12, but needs to put all the pieces together if it wants to make a deep run in March.

Now, the Sun Devils face two hungry mid-majors who are poised to give Coach Hurley’s squad a strong test.

Thankfully, Ford and his teammates have been in the shoes of Georgia State and Hawaii before, and they’re confident they can hold strong.

“We’re a whole lot of kids from the mid-major level, and we’ve been greedy for this big stage,” Ford said. “I feel that can take us a long way.”