GAME NOTES: After suffering their first loss of the season, the Alabama Crimson Tide head right back to the hardwood to challenge the Arizona State Sun Devils in the CBE Hall of Fame Classic on Tuesday.

The Tide won four straight to start off the 2014-15 campaign, all of them at home in Tuscaloosa. However, upon moving to Kansas City for the final games of this tournament, the team was turned away by 13th-ranked Iowa State on Monday night, 84-74.

As for the Sun Devils, they too began the season with success at home, three wins in as many opportunities to be exact. But just like Alabama, the Sun Devils also met with their first setback of the season while in Missouri, bowing to Maryland by a score of 78-73.

According to Alabama sources, the series between the programs is knotted at one game apiece.

The Sun Devils were knotted with Maryland at 71-71 in their meeting on Monday, but then the ASU offense grew cold, allowing the Terrapins to steal away the win. Arizona State ended up shooting 50 percent from the field and 14-of-27 behind the 3-point line in the losing cause. Off the bench, Jon Gilling tallied 21 points, followed by fellow reserve Bo Barnes with 17 points as the pair combined to make 12-of-17 beyond the arc. Gerry Blakes and Eric Jacobsen both added 14 points to the attack.

Heading into action on Monday night, the Sun Devils were focused mostly on their defense, limiting those first three opponents to only 44.3 ppg. The opposition was shooting only 30.5 percent from the field and a dismal 17.0 percent beyond the arc. At the same time, the only double-digit scorer on the ASU roster was Shaquielle McKissic with 10.3 ppg.

The Tide opened the meeting with Iowa State on an 8-2 run, but then the Cyclones took over, limiting Alabama to just 35.9 percent shooting from the floor in the first half and 38.6 percent for the entire game. Rodney Cooper managed to produce 27 points in the losing cause, followed by Levi Randolph with 18 points, the duo accounting for eight of the unit's 10 made free throws along the way.

Randolph, who has held at least a share of the scoring lead in three of the first four games on the schedule, is putting up a team-best 18.8 ppg. His 51.1 percent shooting from the floor is certainly noteworthy, but it is his perfect performance at the free-throw line (25-of-25) that grabs your attention. Because of his efforts, and those of Ricky Tarrant (11.5 ppg) who has made 84.2 percent of his attempts off the bench, the team as a whole is making goof on 78.9 percent currently.

If it comes to crunch time at the free-throw line, you can be sure Alabama's key contributors will have something to say about the outcome of this meeting.