When ASU head coach Bobby Hurley sought out a difficult non-conference schedule to begin the 2024-25 season, a road game against No.4 Gonzaga and a neutral site matchup against cross-town rival Grand Canyon University were the contests that first came to mind. Following the win over GCU, Hurley claimed, “There’s nobody in the country through four games has played a harder schedule than us,” an argument that did carry a lot of merit.
An 81-66 home win over St. Thomas (3-2) presented a final score that was quite deceiving. The Tommies proved to be anything but a pushover, as Arizona State (4-1) had to sweat out the Summit League challenger in a contest where the Sun Devils were leading by just three points with 7:36 left in the game.
“I knew it was gonna be a tough game,” Hurley said. “Their style is different. They're a very unique team. They move very fast. They cut back, cut shoot it, a lot of threes, a lot of long rebounds, a lot of long possessions of defense. There are easier teams that you most likely could find to buy than this one, particularly with how we started the season, with the difficulty of a lot of these games, and the emotion involved certainly in the last two games prior to tonight.”
Coming off an emotional win over GCU just three nights ago, ASU seemingly lacked the energy and purpose to begin each half of action. In the first ten minutes, they produced a scoring drought that lasted five minutes, going down as much as six points before turning it around and taking a commanding 39-29 halftime lead. The second half, however, was a carbon copy of the first. The Tommies climbed back into the game through a 10-3 run, staying within striking distance for the majority of the second half. A key issue for the Sun Devils throughout Sunday’s contest and the season has lied in the turnover margin, trailing 13-10. In fact, Arizona State has yet to win the turnover battle in any game this season.
“We got to still do better at the turnovers,” Hurley admitted. “We just can’t turn the ball over like this, and they’re not really pressuring us and trying to turn us over. So this should be a game where we are under 10 for sure. So that’s something that's been a pattern that we have to correct and fix.”
The Sun Devils did manage to pull away in the final moments of the contest, outmatching the Tommies in all facets on a 23-11 closeout to the game. ASU has now notched its fourth straight game, scoring 80 points or more, shooting efficient percentages across the board in 50% from the field and 41% from beyond the arch.
“I think it's balanced,” Hurley said about his team's offensive approach. “We had four guys in double [figures] tonight. Shot distribution is pretty good; our percentage of three-point shots compared to two-point shots is a pretty good ratio right now. We were 9 of 22 from three, 27 of 54 overall. So we kind of do it in different ways, so we're not just one-dimensional in how we're scoring.”
Three of the four double-figure scorers on Sunday were the three true freshmen on ASU’s roster. Forwards Jayden Quaintance and Ameir Ali, along with Guard Joson Sanon. The trio combined for 41 points on Sunday, shooting 16 of 26 from the field. All three were ranked in the Top 50 players in the class of 2024 and have consciously justified their recruiting ranking.
Quaintance, the No.8 ranked prospect in the class of 2024, produced a career-high 13 points, shooting 6 of 9 from the field while knocking down his first three-pointer as a Sun Devil. Sunday night also marked his first double-double as a Sun Devil, as he corralled 14 rebounds, four assists, and three blocked shots.
“Felt good. I finally calmed down on one, and I took some dribbles, so it helps,” Quaintance said about his three-pointer. I just had to calm down a little bit. It felt good, for sure, though.”
The five-star freshman had gotten off to a slow start offensively, averaging more turnovers (2.25) than made field goals (1.75) a night through four games. For the youngest player in college basketball, who only turned 17 in the summer, his emphasis lies in slowing down and playing with poise, allowing him to produce the well-rounded performance he exhibited.
“I feel like the biggest part, trying to go into the next level, is play a little bit more patient,” Quaintance explained. “I feel like that's kind of been the main focus for me. I've been kind of playing 100 miles per hour, trying to make an impact, and slowing down a little bit. It's helped me a lot. So that's kind of been the biggest adjustment.”
Joson Sanon, another bona fide blue-chip recruit, has strung together impressive outings in back-to-back games. On the heels of his 21-point showing in a win over GCU, he came off the bench again and scored 18 points, shooting 6-11 from the floor and 3-5 from beyond the arc. The 6-foot-5 guard was versatile on the offensive end, attacking the basket as well. Hurley’s praise for Sanon, however, lay in his extra effort across the floor, registering nine rebounds.
“He's got that look; he's really confident playing the way I expect him to play,” Hurley said. “Why we brought him here, and why people think he's an NBA prospect, That's what he looks like. I liked his rebounding. He had eight defensive rebounds, which was huge for us. So I'm glad for [Joson] because people identify him as this kind of lethal score, and it's good that he's branching out and doing some other things we need him to do.”
Senior forward Basheer Jihad has emerged offensively with each passing game, as his 20-point outing on Sunday led all scorers. Using his 6-foot-9 frame to overpower a smaller St. Thomas squad made him impossible to slow down, converting seven free throws to couple his 6-12 shooting.
“It's part of my game,” Jihad noted about getting to the basket. “I had the matchup I wanted. I knew that I was the favorite in that matchup, so I was just trying to be aggressive. Their tallest player for them was 6-foot-8. That's what we're supposed to do with teams like that. You know, if we're small like that, we need to dominate the painting. I feel like we did that.”
Despite a contest filled with peaks and valleys, the Sun Devils emerged on top through an impressive display of three-level scoring and passionate defense. From their inaugural home game of the 2024-25 season, a very unconvincing 55-48 win over Idaho State, Arizona State has taken advanced strides and improved exponentially.
”I think after the Idaho State game it was a lot of a lot of doubt in the program,” Jihad confessed. “Internally, I think just it's natural, you go out and lose to Duke (in an exhibition game) by 50, and then you play a mid major team and win by eight. So it created some doubt, but, you we went back right back to practice, and, we knew we were capable of playing a lot better. We had the pieces to be very good. I was concerned about how those pieces were going to fit together. And I think it's coming along.
“I think we, as a team, came together and figured it out. It just happens, playing with all new guys. It’s going to take some time; I think that the Duke game was a (rude) awakening for us to where we were. We weren't where we were supposed to be.”
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