Elias Valtonen made a quick correction. A question thrown in his direction started: “You had to guard Anthony Edwards to start the first and second half …”

“I wouldn’t say had to,” Valtonen interjected. “I had the chance to.”

In that case, Valtonen was one of three Sun Devils (guards Rob Edwards and Alonzo Verge the others) who had the chance to match up against Georgia’s 6-foot-5, 225-pound guard, a projected Top 5 pick and the main reason 25 scouts were inside Desert Financial Arena Saturday.

Before he arrived in Tempe, Edwards was averaging over 20 points a game and shooting nearly 42 percent from the field. He had scored more than 20 points in five of Georgia’s eight games, including a 37-point onslaught against Michigan State in Maui.

In a sense, as Edwards goes, so do the Bulldogs.

ASU (8-2) knew this. Shut Edwards down -- put the ball in the hands of anyone else wearing red -- and the Sun Devils had a good chance.

“We knew we’d have multiple guys on him, we wanted to try and trap him in any ball screens, try and get the ball out of his hands,” Hurley said. “A player of that caliber, as gifted as he is, you have to give him that type of attention and hope that you force other guys to beat you.”

So Valtonen, Edwards, and Verge rotated on Georgia’s prized possession. They swarmed him. They hopped over screens to deny him space. They crept on him from half-court, closing out on him in a hurry. They brought help, so when he tried to shimmy and shake and hesitate, they could be disciplined knowing someone had their back.

“We wanted to blitz him and get the ball out of his hands,” freshman guard Jaelen House said. “So we stayed until he got rid of the ball.”

After the first half, Edwards had 12 points. After the final buzzer sounded, the Bulldogs’ best player finished with 13 points on 5 of 12 shooting. He missed all five of his tries from beyond the arc and recorded just four rebounds and two assists.

All of those numbers are below his season average. And unsurprisingly, so was Georgia's margin of defeat. Like they blitzed Edwards, Arizona State blitzed Georgia (6-3), locking it down defensively to grab a 79-59 victory.

“He’s been banged up, he is dealing with a bit of an injury issue that has really affected him the last two days, including today,” Georgia coach Tom Crean said of Edwards. “I thought he got out to a good start but has to play better than that, you know everybody does.”

The struggles Edwards magnified itself to the rest of Georgia’s team -- because as he goes, it goes. Edwards missed all five of his 3s -- the Bulldogs finished with an abysmal 2-of-24 mark from deep. Edwards had three turnovers -- his team, as a whole, finished with 19.

It was a clinic by ASU’s pesky defense. Not only in shutting down a team’s best player, but also forcing his entire team into some downright ugly shots.

“We executed the game plan and played good defense all around as a team,” forward Kimani Lawrence said. “Being in a good position and trying not to let him get going. Once he gets going, it kind of boosts everyone else on their team.”

Added Hurley: “Our energy defensively has been pretty much a constant all year. It’s no different tonight, holding a team, I think, was third in the nation in scoring coming into this game to 59 points.

Before Saturday night, it seemed ASU had an identity crisis. In their last two games, the Sun Devils won unconvincingly. They struggled connecting from deep and their rugged, pressure-packed defense was allowing easy baskets.

Saturday alleviated that.

At its best, ASU plays fast and uptight. It suffocates opponents then capitalizes with transition buckets. And it feeds the ball to Romello White, who recorded 18 points and 17 rebounds against Georgia -- his fourth straight double-double.

Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, the brunt of that fell on them. For ASU, it couldn’t have come at a better time, the first of a three-game stand against Top 70 KenPom opponents (St. Mary’s and Creighton appear next on the schedule).

Saturday also proved ASU’s identity can stymie the best. And not just Georgia, it most likely won’t make the NCAA Tournament, but Edwards -- the Sun Devils likely won’t face a better player this season.

At times, he looked solid. He hit his first five shots rather quick, but three of those came in transition, either via a steal or cherry-picking on defense, which left him with an uncontestable shot. And of all his 3-point attempts, a hand was always inches from his face.

“You just have to keep your hand up and contest the shot as best you can. You just have to live with the results and when you do your best, usually it’s enough,” Valtonen said.

“Just says a lot about what we’re doing,” Hurley added. “I think we’re playing with great energy; we’re contesting everything. To have them shoot 2-for-24 from three is really good work for us.”

Offensively, ASU made strides Saturday. Remy Martin finished with 23 points. Verge had 15. Lawrence had 11. And behind 18 from White, more than half of the Devils’ points came in the paint.

The Devils, however, still shot 24 percent from beyond the arc -- its 3-point struggles only continuing.

But just as it was against Georgia, ASU’s defense may need to be its spark plug in Pac-12 play. And when it gets there -- and starts playing Washington and Oregon and Arizona -- it can always look back to Saturday, when it gave no hope to one of the nation’s top offense’s and players.

“We’ve been very good on defense,” Martin said. “And once our offense clicks, we’ll be a pretty dangerous team.”