Arizona State basketball holds on for high-scoring non-conference win over Cal Poly

On By Littum

With a tough enough schedule coming up once Big 12 play starts, the Arizona State Sun Devils couldn’t afford to lose a non-conference game that typically goes in the win column. It was a close call, but the Sun Devils emerged with a 93-89 victory over visiting Cal Poly on Wednesday night at Desert Financial Arena.

The Sun Devils (5-1) had double-digit leads in both halves, but it came down to the wire and the Mustangs (3-3) had the chance for the upset.

Joson Sanon made two free throws with 13 seconds left for a 91-87 advantage. But ASU’s BJ Freeman fouled Jarred Hyder on a 3-point attempt with six seconds left. Hyder made two of three to cut the deficit to 91-89. However, Freeman made two attempts from the line to put the game away.

“It’s definitely not our finest work,” coach Bobby Hurley said. “Our defense took a step back and we didn’t protect them individually off the dribble and we didn’t protect the line. One-on-one they just made some tough shots, definitely, but overall that end of the floor hurt us.

“We had different times where we got it to double digits, got it to where we could have taken control of the game and then let them hang.”

Let’s take a closer look at the competition:

What went right

Rebounding advantage: ASU finished with a 44-24 advantage on the boards. This is an area where the team has improved significantly. Jayden Quaintance had 12, giving him 26 in ASU’s two games this week. Basheer Jihad was next with seven while Freeman grabbed six. This was the biggest positive Hurley highlighted in the game.

Inside game by Acquaintance: The freshman phenom had four blocks, giving him 22 on the season. He started the night ranked second in the nation with 18, two behind the leader, Amarion Dickerson of Robert Morris. He is now averaging 7.4 rebounds after getting off to a slow start on the boards the first few games. He didn’t have a stellar offensive game with 11 points on 4-for-11 shooting from the field, but had a steal and an assist.

Lots of scores: Putting the ball in the basket was a struggle last season, so much so that it was difficult for the Sun Devils to get past 65 or so points. Offense isn’t the problem so far, as this marks the fifth straight game the Sun Devils have scored more than 80. Sanon scored a team-high 22, followed by Adam Miller with 16. Sanon was 7-for-13 from the field, while Miller was efficient going 4 for 6, including 4 for 5 from 3-point range. Alston Mason added 14 and Freeman 13. ASU shot a respectable 48.3% (28 for 58), with 41.7% (10 for 24) from long range.

What went wrong

Defense: You can’t give up 89 points to Cal Poly. The Mustangs also shot 51.6% (33 for 64), which included a 13 for 37 (35.1%) from long range. Hyder led Cal Poly with 27 points, which included seven 3-pointers. Isaac Jessup had 17 points with four 3-pointers.

Free throw: The Sun Devils went 27 for 41 (65.9%), which doesn’t sound terrible. They were 5 for 6 in the final minute, preventing the final score from getting any worse. Miller was 4 for 4, but Quaintance was just 3 for 7. The team has better shooters this season, so Hurley isn’t worried.

Couldn’t pull away: The Sun Devils led by as many as 13 points in the first half, albeit early, at 23-10. They also led by 12 early in the second half, at 56-44, but the Mustangs crept back into the game each time the Sun Devils began to stretch the lead.

Staff notes

Hurley only used seven players. Junior guard Austin Nunez missed his second straight game with an ankle/foot injury, while junior forward Shawn Phillips, who had averaged 13.2 minutes, also did not play with a calf strain in Sunday’s game. . . Hurley started a lineup of guards Miller, Mason, Freeman and forwards Jihad and Quaintance. It was the third game in a row with that starting line-up. Sanon had started the first three in place of Freeman.

They said so

ASU guard Adam Miller

“With teams like that, it’s easy to underestimate them. Our effort should have picked up a little bit, our urgency. They might not be a big name like Gonzaga, but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter, we have to go out there and do what we do every night, on the defensive end we didn’t do our job.”

Next

The Sun Devils are back on the road for a neutral court tournament, the Acrisure Classic on 28-29. November in Palm Springs, California. Their first opponent will be New Mexico (4-1). The second game will be against either USC or St. Mary’s.

The next home game is December 3 against the University of San Diego.