The murmurs began shortly after Arizona State took its first double-digit lead of the night. Following a late-game collapse to UC Riverside the week before, Sun Devils fans in Desert Financial Arena had reason to be nervous. And Bobby Hurley’s squad continued to give them reasons to be as the second half wore on Monday night.

After junior forward Jalen Graham spun baseline and hit a floater to open a 10-point Sun Devil lead, North Florida answered and tightened up the ASU crowd. Back-to-back 3-pointers by UNF’s all-conference duo of Jose Placer and Carter Hendricksen quickly cut the ASU lead back to four at 56-52. A bogged down Sun Devil offense which turned the ball over three times in two-and-a-half minutes – including once in the backcourt for a steal and slam for the Ospreys – allowed North Florida to cut the deficit to 60-58.

“We wanted to try to commit to getting the ball inside more, and we did that with (super senior forward) Kimani (Lawrence),” said Hurley. The ASU frontcourt of Lawrence, Graham, and freshman center Enoch Boakye combined to shoot 12 of 19 as the Sun Devils attempted to work through the post with greater frequency. “I think some good things happened when we were able to do that. We’ve gotta be able to have balance.”

In a slower-paced game, which featured little transition offense for ASU, the closing offense ended up being more of what Hurley teams of the past have been accustomed to: late-clock shot-making from guards. First, it was freshman Jamiya Neal who gave ASU some breathing room with a catch-and-shoot right wing three that opened a 63-58 advantage with 2:52 to go.

“His 3 was a key shot for us at a critical time for us,” said Hurley of the local prep product, who shot 2 of 3 from beyond the arc. His first make from the perimeter came late in the first half at a critical juncture, with ASU trailing by five.

Out of a timeout, North Florida went to a zone, and Arizona State’s answer was a 3-pointer from graduate student guard Marreon Jackson, who hoisted and made his second of three long-range attempts from well beyond the arc to push the ASU lead to six.

“I was pressing – getting comfortable with my new team,” Jackson said of his struggles in his first two games at ASU. “I wasn’t worried about my offense. I knew it was going to come around. I’ve been doing this.”

On the next ASU possession, time wound down on the shot clock before Jackson realized he needed to get a shot up. With one second remaining in the possession, Jackson heaved one standing just to the side of Hurley. The shot fell, the Sun Devils led 70-61, and a sigh of relief could be felt sweeping Desert Financial Arena as Arizona State (2-1) would go on to defeat North Florida (0-4) 72-63.

“Maybe he can build off that and get some momentum,” said Hurley of the performance of Jackson, the reigning MAC Player of the Year, who tallied 13 points and three assists. “That was exciting to see.”

“I’ve seen him shoot those shots in practice all the time, so I had the most confidence that as it was leaving his fingers, it’s going down,” said Boakye of Jackson’s late-clock heroics. “I’ve got confidence in my teammates to knock down those shots. No doubt about it.”

As 16-point favorites, Arizona State trailed by as much as 12 in the early moments of the first half but rallied with a grind-it-out victory over North Florida.

“I’m glad we’re getting these tough games like this because it’s going to teach us later on how to close games,” explained Jackson of the positives he sees from the first set of ASU home games. “Especially in conference play at this level, there’s not going to be too many games where it’s blowouts. There’s going to be games where you know you’ve got to grind it out, and this is teaching us how to do that.”

A woeful shooting performance Arizona State who was a mere 7 of 18 from the free throw line. Super senior forward Kimani Lawrence took the bulk of the ASU free throws and went 4 of 10 as Hurley downplayed the issue postgame, citing previous proficiency from Lawrence – who was 6 for 6 entering the night – as a reason for belief in the future.

“You don’t want to shoot those numbers. I don’t think anyone was trying to,” Hurley said. “Kimani had been shooting them really well besides this game. That’s certainly a problem, but I don’t think we had any of our guards taking many free throws. It’s obviously not something you want to see.”

For as poor as the free throw shooting was, the shot-making abilities from beyond the arc were still on display. On 19 shot attempts from beyond the arc, the Sun Devils made nine attempts, including makes on 4 of 6 attempts in the second half. Not only were the 3-point makes efficient, but they were timely, too.

“The way DJ has shot the ball throughout the summer and into the fall, guys expect him to make shots if he has an opening,” Hurley said of Horne, who led all ASU scorers with 16 points on 66 percent shooting. “And he’s more than just a shooter. He can put it on the floor, and he’s a playmaker.”

“He’s got a burner,” described Jackson of Horne’s shooting prowess. “I ain’t ever met nobody that can shoot like that, and he’s quick. He’s got a quick first step. All of our guards, once we get on the same page, it’s going to get real scary for college basketball.”

Once again, Arizona State could not compete with its full cast of characters. Graham (12 points) and Boston College transfer guard Jay Heath (2 of 9 shooting) returned from COVID protocols, while redshirt junior guard Luther Muhammad did not play due to a violation of team rules, and sophomore forward Marcus Bagley did not play in the second half of the contest due to a knee injury. Bagley missed portions of the preseason with a minor knee issue and spent the second half with ice on it.

“I am,” Hurley responded when asked if he was concerned about the sophomore’s injury situation. “I want to see what he looks like, what the doctors say, and how he feels tomorrow, and then we’ll get a plan for it. Because we’ve had some setbacks over the last couple of weeks, and he made strides and was doing very well, so this is another minor setback.

“We’ve got to be careful and see what he looks like tomorrow.”

Arizona State now embarks on a four-game road trip to round out November, leaving Tempe with a 2-1 record and some battle-tested experience, a positive that Hurley and Jackson chose to harp on following Monday’s win.

“Playing in close games is beneficial when you get some work in when the game is on the line,” said Hurley. Thursday, ASU will take its 8-2 record in out-of-conference road games to San Diego State for a rematch with the Aztecs. “In these types of games, you’d like to be up 15 or 20 and get a chance for other guys to play, but as it turned out, these games have been closer, and they’ve had more game pressure on them to execute and figure out how to win a close game.”

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