The holiday season is a time for leisure in many walks of life, but the week following Thanksgiving can often see people carry a sluggish energy due to the time off. For Arizona State (8-1), the program stuffed its face over the holiday—but with a different kind of silverware. The Sun Devils took home the Acrisure Classic, defeating New Mexico and St. Mary's on consecutive days at the Palm Springs event.
Heading into ASU’s final game at Desert Financial Arena before Big 12 play begins, the team had eased off the gas pedal in the days leading up to Tuesday’s contest, partaking in what head coach Bobby Hurley described as “light practices.” That nonchalant energy carried over into game day, as the opening eight minutes of action were lethargic on both ends. Despite dominating in all facets of the second half, the 90-53 win over San Diego (3-5) was anything but simple.
“I didn’t do a good job getting us ready to play this game,” Hurley said. “We just didn’t come out right at all—just a little flat, didn’t have the edge we needed. We can’t afford to do that, so I think I understand why it happened and will make adjustments leading into games going forward.”
“What I did yesterday and Sunday to get us here were the most crucial days, and Sunday was too light, and yesterday was too light. We weren’t ready. I think I put too much in my head about what New Mexico and St. Mary’s back-to-back might have taken out of us physically. So that’s on me, but we had the big break of eight days going into the Acrisure Classic, and we were ready to play those games.”
The opening eight minutes belonged to the Toreros in Tempe, as they jumped out to a 17-5 lead while the Sun Devils shot just 2 of 12 to start. The initial challenge was breaking down San Diego’s 2-3 zone, which clogged the driving lanes and forced ASU to rely on outside shooting and off-ball movement. With few zone defenses faced this season, an adjustment period was needed for the Sun Devils to hit their stride.
“We didn’t come out with the right approach to the game. We got hit in the mouth,” senior forward Basheer Jihad said. “They were playing a 2-3 zone for most of the game, and obviously, we haven’t seen that much this year. They may have made us a little uncomfortable, but once we figured it out, we abused it.”
Despite a tough start, the remainder of the game was all ASU. The Sun Devils ended the first half on a 24-9 run, relying on their athleticism and outside shooting ability to dismantle San Diego. The team capitalized on its speed, forcing seven first-half turnovers and blocking five shots at the basket. Getting downhill led to numerous trips to the free-throw line, where ASU shot 11 of 17 in the first half. Timely free throws helped the comeback as San Diego's hot shooters began to cool off. Freshman guard Tony Duckett scored eight points in the first eight minutes but finished just 2 of 7 from the field after missing five straight shots.
A turning point came when Hurley received a technical foul with the team down by double figures. At the 12:45 mark in the first half, the crowd, already disappointed by the Sun Devils' performance, began to express frustration—possibly sparking the team with the energy it needed.
“I could tell there was a little more juice, a little more pop to what they were doing,” Hurley said about the technical foul. “I was yelling a lot at them in the huddles too. We were all frustrated with how we were performing at that point in the game.”
The second half was all Sun Devils. Defensively, ASU conceded just 26% shooting from the field, with most of the made field goals being late-shot clock attempts contested heavily. The lone spark for San Diego was junior guard KJ Bradley Jr., who scored 12 points in the first half. However, he was held to just three points in the second half as ASU's defensive adjustments to limit his impact worked to perfection.
“We wanted to blitz (Bradley’s) ball screens as much as we could because he had 12 in the first half of their 33 points,” Jihad said. “We wanted to be more aggressive with him. Other than that, we just turned it up.”
The defense quickly turned into offense in the second half as the floodgates opened. ASU resumed its usual high-octane scoring output, shooting 7 of 11 from beyond the arc. Jihad and senior guard BJ Freeman turned up their production offensively, scoring 22 of their combined 33 points in the second half. Hurley credited the halftime break as crucial for the team to regroup after a turbulent first half. Outscoring San Diego 50-20, it seemed to be a positive interruption on both ends of the floor.
“It wasn’t the most pleasant locker room at halftime,” Hurley said. “So, they responded. The guys responded and then played harder. The second half was great—they really sat down and guarded better and played better at the offensive end as well. So, it was a good second half.”
With five straight wins dating back to November 14 against Grand Canyon, the Sun Devils have taken care of business at home and neutral-site locations. However, their upcoming challenge is against No. 13 Florida (8-0). Both teams will travel to Atlanta for a matchup 11 days after the San Diego contest. Given how Tuesday’s game started, the win will likely serve as a wake-up call for the players when prepping for the showdown with the Gators.
“We have a big one coming up,” Jihad said. “So obviously, we’re prioritizing that but also staying in shape, staying sharp. We had a couple of days off after the tournament, and that may not have been what was best for our team. So, we might have to adjust, practice more, and prioritize that over taking days off.”
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