Arizona State traded blows early with Colorado but eventually ran away with a 17-point victory on the road Thursday night. With the Sun Devils securing their third victory in the last four games, here are seven takeaways from the opening win of the mountain road trip.
1. Defensive excellence leads to offensive efficiency
Enough has been written about how this Bobby Hurley team is better defensively than offensively. At its best, the defense fuels the offense. As the Sun Devils built their first-half lead, they did so through excellent defensive effort and execution. In the right place at the right time, seemingly at every turn, super senior guard Marreon Jackson came up with five of ASU’s nine steals on the night.
Not only was the first-shot defense excellent, but Arizona State did a solid job of rebounding throughout the night and kept second chance opportunities for Colorado at a minimum. The Sun Devils' advantage on the glass was 38-26, and the Buffaloes only created four opportunities for second-chance looks through offensive rebounds. The rebounding effort for the Sun Devils was a group effort, with junior forwards Jalen Graham and Alonzo Gaffney tying with Jackson for a team-high five rebounds.
2. Second half offense puts its foot on gas
One of the positive trends for Arizona State during Pac-12 play has been the ability of the Sun Devils to execute after the halftime break. Thursday night was the fourth time this season Hurley’s group came out of the halftime break to shoot above 50 percent from the floor. In the process of doing so, a stretch of eight consecutive makes from the floor for ASU was capped by sophomore guard Jay Heath hitting back-to-back 3-pointers, which stretched ASU’s lead to its highest point with a 72-46 advantage with 6:53 to play in the game.
Four Sun Devils made multiple 3-point attempts as the offense flourished Thursday night. Included in the positive scoring performance was redshirt junior guard Luther Muhammad, who was 2-for-2 on 3-point attempts en route to a season-high 15-point showing. The offensive success wasn’t limited to just the 3-point line, as ASU outscored Colorado in the paint, scoring 40 points there.
3. Heath has career night
Heath produced a career-high in his ASU career with 18 points to lead all ASU scorers. On a night where ASU’s offense was clicking, he was uber-efficient -- shooting 70 percent from the field -- while being effective as a perimeter threat and off the dribble. Heath played within himself offensively and scored multiple times off great assists from his Sun Devil teammates.
On one second-half basket, the developed passing skills of Graham were on display as he found Heath cutting backdoor for a layup. Heath’s offensive effort included two assists and just one turnover.
4. Jackson becoming a consistent producer
When Bobby Hurley came out of the transfer portal with reigning MAC Player of the Year Marreon Jackson, this is the player he expected to find. Jackson has come off the bench in 12 of the last 13 games for ASU, but he’s done so effectively and early. In recent games, Hurley has inserted Jackson into the game quickly, often making his first substitution within the first two minutes of the game.
Thursday night against Colorado, Jackson was the spark plug for ASU, scoring 13 first-half points and 10 of the Sun Devils' first 22 points in the game. Jackson struggled with injuries throughout the early season but told reporters recently his wrist injury has significantly improved. In eight of Arizona State's last nine games, Jackson has scored in double figures, averaging 15.5 points per game over that stretch.
5. Pick-and-roll offensive work-in-progress for Boakye
As Arizona State continues to come together as a group ahead of the Pac-12 Tournament in a few weeks, one of the few areas of weakness Thursday night was in the pick-and-roll game between ASU guards and freshman center Enoch Boakye. On two occasions in the first half, the Sun Devils tried to orchestrate an offensive opportunity for the Canadian big man. One of the possessions failed as sophomore guard DJ Horne ran into a CU defender for an offensive foul. Another failed as a pass from Jackson bounced out-of-bounds for a turnover.
Boakye's most significant contributions come in rebounding and shot-altering, but his development -- he only played nine minutes Thursday -- is still a work-in-progress.
6. Jalen Graham continues effective play out of mid-post
Against UCLA Monday, Mick Cronin matched up 7-footer Myles Johnson with Jalen Graham. The UCLA big man posed some problems for Graham, and on-ball pressure from the Bruins made it more challenging for the Sun Devils to get Graham the ball in the high post. That defensive impact for the Bruins was a significant factor in why Arizona State was held below to 52 points and failed to have any scorers get into double figures.
Graham’s ability to work out of the high post is instrumental to the ASU offense having success. With Colorado forward Jabari Walker either playing with foul trouble or being off the court, Graham had a favorable matchup and was able to have success on the offensive end. At one point following a signature Graham floater, Pac-12 Networks analyst Don MacLean lauded his ability to convert on that shot type. With 14 points, five rebounds, three assists, and a block, Graham was spectacular again in the ASU win.
7. Magnifying the importance of Saturday’s contest
Arizona State’s win over Colorado was its seventh in conference play this year and improved the Sun Devils to 11-16 overall. The Sun Devils currently sit a game back of Stanford in the Pac-12 standings. If ASU can catch the Cardinal, they can avoid the 8-9 matchup in the conference tournament and a potential quarterfinal matchup with Arizona.
That’s absolutely crucial to ASU’s success as the Sun Devils match up much better with USC, UCLA, or Oregon, any of whom could become the No. 2 seed in Las Vegas in two weeks. A trip to Utah on Saturday night presents ASU with an opportunity for a rare road sweep. Under Bobby Hurley, the Sun Devils had only swept a Pac-12 road swing once -- when they swept Stanford and Cal in February of 2020.
This is a much improved Sun Devil team that seems to have found its footing. Much of the second half of the Pac-12 Networks broadcast was spent by MacLean and play-by-play man Ted Robinson speaking on the improvements of ASU. As the Sun Devils show improvement all around, a meeting with the Utes Saturday becomes all the more important.
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