Arizona State men’s basketball redshirt junior Adam Miller finally had the chance to make his Sun Devils debut Saturday against TCU, and within two minutes he had six points. Miller knocked down a pair of triples to give ASU an early lead, and he finished the first half with a game-high 15 points on 4-for-6 shooting.
His 20-point night was the highlight for an ASU (6-4) performance that fell off the rails in the second half, as a 16-0 TCU run led to a 79-59 Horned Frogs victory at the Coast-to-Coast Challenge in Fort Worth.
The former LSU Tiger and Illinois Fighting Illini was sidelined over the Sun Devils’ first nine games due to the NCAA’s restrictions on second-time transfers. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against the NCAA rule that allowed players in Miller’s situation the opportunity, and ASU head coach Bobby Hurley inserted the guard into his starting lineup.
Welcome to ASU, @AceWolf44 🤝
Adam Miller immediately drills his first two threes as a Sun Devil 👌
📺 @ESPNU
📱 https://t.co/uyVCDJgbe2 pic.twitter.com/FngGCtL55A— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) December 17, 2023
The Sun Devils jumped out to a 23-9 start over the first 10 minutes of play, but the offense stagnated and TCU cut the deficit to 30-26 at halftime.
ASU led 38-37 after a Bryant Selebangue bucket with 13:32 remaining when everything changed. Big man Alonzo Gaffney was handed a technical foul from the bench, which was his fifth foul and ended his night.
Hurley picked up a technical of his own.
TCU led 44-38 by the time ASU got the ball back, and the Horned Frogs were off and running from there.
From the first technical foul call, ASU was outscored 42-21 until the final horn. Micah Peavy became the third player in TCU history to record a triple-double with 13 points, 10 assists and 12 rebounds.
The third triple-double in program history is by Micah Peavy!#GoFrogs pic.twitter.com/IjwPX0dAtp
— TCU Men’s Basketball (@TCUBasketball) December 17, 2023
The Sun Devils committed a season-high 19 turnovers and allowed 26 points off takeaways.
Miller played 31 minutes as a major piece inserted into the lineup, but it was a quiet night for the other four starters. Frankie Collins, Jose Perez, Jamiya Neal and Gaffney combined to score 20 points with Perez providing 11 of those.
Miller’s statline included two rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Saturday was a rematch from the NCAA Tournament this past March when TCU eliminated ASU 72-70 in the first round. The two programs will be conference foes next year in the Big 12.
Arizona State has lost two straight games with one contest left on the nonconference slate. The Sun Devils face No. 25 Northwestern at the Jerry Colangelo Hall of Fame Series at Footprint Center on Wednesday.
