The Sun Devils ended nonconference play with a 9-2 record following a 78-62 win over UMass. The contest, which marks the team's 47th halftime deficit comeback win under head coach Bobby Hurley, was a back-and-forth affair that saw nine ties and 11 lead changes before Arizona State’s 19-3 run put their opponent in the rearview mirror.
Offense came alive in the second half
After going into the locker room at halftime down 33-31, the Sun Devils started the second half similar to the first half. After going down 46-41, the Sun Devils went on a 13-0 run and held the lead for the rest of the game. The second-half shooting catapulted ASU ahead, going 53.6% from the field and making five of eight threes. Senior guards BJ Freeman (9 second-half points) and Adam Miller each hit a three at different points that smothered any shot of UMass making a comeback.
“We came out flat in the first half,” senior guard Alston Mason said. “It’s something that we’ve gotta fix. Going into the second half, we were kinda mad at ourselves, so we turned it around and figured out what we needed to do best.”
Once the shots started falling for the Sun Devils, they continuously put pressure on the Minutemen to answer, which they couldn't. There were times down the stretch when UMass would get the lead back down to single digits after sluggish possessions from ASU, but the Sun Devils quickly turned the offensive output back on. UMass struggled to string together strong possessions, and the Sun Devils used this time to slowly squeeze the life out of the Minutemen.
Frontcourt duo gets it done on both ends of the court
Senior forward Basheer Jihad has established himself as a premier scorer for the Sun Devils throughout nonconference play, and vice versa for freshman forward Jayden Quaintance, who is second in the country in blocks. But against UMass, the two displayed complete games making plays on offense and defense in a dominant second half.
“Basheer has got a very polished game around the basket, and Jayden is still a baby when it comes to college basketball,” head coach Bobby Hurley commented. “He’s (Quaintance) is getting better every game offensively, and those two guys did a lot of damage around the basket.”
Jihad entered the game second on the team in scoring (13.3 PPG) and scored at will against UMass, finishing with 20 points and eight rebounds. He also had three blocks and three steals, pinning multiple UMass fastbreak layups on the glass and taking it coast-to-coast, finishing with a layup on the other end. If he continues to grow defensively, he and Quaintance could be a scary frontcourt for opposing Big 12 offenses.
Quaintance came into this game as a force to be reckoned with on the defensive end and continued that narrative with an early block. Coming off a career-high 14 points against Florida, Quaintance topped his best scoring performance in the very next game, finishing with 20 points and 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Quaintance, who also had four blocks, displayed much more patience with the ball in his hands, and Mason found him numerous times down low for easy dunks and layups.
“He’s young, and he’s still learning,” Mason mentioned. “He’s a quick learner, and he understands how he can make an impact on the game, both offensively and defensively. He’s learning the game really quick, and it’s good to see that.”
Mason transferred to ASU this year from Missouri State, where he averaged 17.5 points per game. This year he's averaging just 11 points, but has picked up his playmaking skills leading the team with over three assists per game. He finished tonight with six assists, as he continues to further that aspect of his game while learning from Hurley, the NCAA all-time leader in assists (1,076).
“It’s been a very different scene for me,” Mason admitted. “I’ve always been an aggressive scorer type of point guard, but coming in here, there are so many guys who are wired the same way. I’m trying to be impactful by setting them up early and getting them in a rhythm because I can find myself later on in the game. Coach Hurley has done a great job of giving me pointers on where I can improve and what I can do best.”
Turning defense to offense
A large factor in the Sun Devils' second-half turnaround was their ability to get stops on the defensive side and turn them into chances on offense. UMass finished the game, going one of seven from the field and not scoring a single field goal in the final seven minutes of the game. ASU’s energy on defense turned into opportunities on offense, and the Sun Devils took full advantage of them.
ASU forced 11 turnovers, adding 18 points off of them. Quaintance and Jihad combined for seven blocks, and Mason added an eighth as the Sun Devils erased and altered countless shots inside from UMass. The Sun Devils also got out on the break because of their defensive effort, scoring 14 points in transition.
Turnovers hindered ASU for long stretches
While the Sun Devils forced 11 turnovers, they had 13 of their own. Five of them came within a three-minute timeframe where the Minutemen shrunk the lead to six, but ASU quickly picked it up and built a double-digit lead that they would not give up. UMass started using a full-court press on ASU as time winded down, which forced Mason to give up the ball. With Freeman in foul trouble for a majority of the second half, that limited the number of ball handlers on the court.
While the Sun Devils picked it up in the second half, UMass still blocked eight shots. ASU didn’t go up strong on layups, and the Minutemen made them pay for it. Although they don’t count in the stats as turnovers, the Sun Devils were still punished for sluggish play but made adjustments in the second half to avoid soft layups.
Dominant rebounding was key
UMass came into this game averaging nearly 40 rebounds per game, but the Sun Devils held them to just 33. ASU won the rebounding game on both sides of the ball, as Quaintance had four offensive boards. A lot of it is credited to how the Sun Devils came out with a burst of energy in the second half, which turned the tables in nearly every statistical category.
No player for ASU was afraid of diving on the floor, as a majority of the loose balls went ASU’s way. There was one play in the final five minutes of the game where Mason drew a flagrant foul, and that seemed to be the nail in the coffin as any energy left in UMass was sucked out after Mason hit both free throws and nailed a three-pointer in the same possession.
“They (UMass) were a scrappy team that rebounded well, and we held them off the boards,” Mason remarked. “It’s a matter of who wanted it more. Coach Hurley said we can’t let them get those 50/50 balls, so we saw that in the second half.”
The Sun Devils get 10 days off to enjoy the Christmas holiday before opening conference play on the road against BYU on December 31st. Both losses up to this point have come against top-10 teams, Florida and Gonzaga. ASU displayed formidable performances in the first third of the season and enters the gauntlet of the Big 12 schedule on a high note.
“I think we’re excited,” Mason stated. “We had a really tough nonconference schedule, and we kind of dreaded these last couple of games. I know our guys are ready to start Big 12 play, and they’re excited to get after it. Hopefully, we shock a lot of people and make an impact in conference play once we get going.”
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