It was announced less than an hour before Wednesday night’s game against No. 25 BYU that senior guard Alston Mason (illness) and freshman forward Jayden Quaintance (leg) would both be out with injuries. Shortly after tipoff, redshirt senior Adam Miller went down with an injury and only played 13 minutes, leaving head coach Bobby Hurley with just one regular starter for the majority of the game.
The Sun Devils (13-15, 4-13 Big 12) kept up with BYU (20-8, 11-6) for a majority of the game, but they couldn’t close the gap enough to put pressure on the Cougars, who walked away with a 91-81 win. It seemed that every time ASU put together a few baskets and the crowd gained any type of momentum, BYU came right back with a bucket to wipe out the energy.
Hurley played seven players tonight, but Miller and senior guard Bobby Hurley Jr. only played a combined 21 minutes. With five players out on the court for a majority of the game, ASU’s defense struggled to keep up the pace of BYU. Mason and Miller are expected to return to the court Saturday night against Utah, providing much-needed aid to a hurting Sun Devil rotation.
“I give our guys a lot of credit for not mailing it in,” Hurley said. “I thought we did the best we could, and we had guys playing that haven’t really played much. That’s just the circumstances we’re in, but they all stepped up and they gave something.”
The Cougars held a double-digit lead for much of the second half but left the door open for ASU with their poor free-throw shooting. They got to the line plenty of times, but went 6 of 15 from the line, leaving a plethora of points on the board.
The Cougars made 17 of 34 threes on the night, with junior guard Richie Saunders making six of them and senior guard Trevin Knell responsible for five more. The two consistently found ways to get open off of screens and off-ball movement. The Sun Devils couldn’t guard them tightly with BYU’s big men dominating the paint, allowing the shooters on the perimeter to take advantage of any space they got.
“There were some situations we didn’t handle well defensively,” Hurley recalled. “They’re playing very confidently and they’re a good team. They had a bunch of guys come back and they know and trust each other very well.”
The Cougars finished with 21 assists on 34 made field goals, constantly swinging the ball around the court and running ASU in circles. While the Sun Devils finished with nine turnovers, just the second time all season they’ve had less than 10 turnovers in a game, BYU still found ways to get out in transition. They finished with 16 fastbreak points and 12 points off turnovers.
With the shortened rotation, more players got the green light to play freely, and the freshman class used this to their advantage. Guards Joson Sanon and Trevor Best finished with 18 points apiece, while forward Amier Ali contributed 8 points of his own.
Best has played in a handful of games since joining the team back in January, but he played 24 minutes tonight and displayed his shotmaking ability. All three freshmen have shown throughout the season they can put together scoring streaks that could have them on 2026 NBA mock drafts, and Miller believes they can put it all together heading into next season.
“They’re so raw and I think that it just takes time,” Miller noted. “Some of Joson’s mistakes I made when I was a freshman, so I can’t get mad, I try to just be a big brother to him. Amier has been picking up his play too, and he got out of his slump by doing the little things right. Our freshmen are doing good, and it’s not easy to do what Trevor did, to come off the bench cold and score like that.”
With just three games left in the season, a large majority of hope is out the window in the locker room. Tempers have flared leading to suspensions, some indefinite, but history has shown that teams can string together a few games and get hot in a hurry. The 2024 NC State Wolfpack is a key example of that, after coming into the ACC Tournament as the 11 seed before winning the tournament and making a run to the Elite Eight. A lot needs to change if the Sun Devils want any part of that, but this is where it starts.
“It’s never over ‘till it’s over,” Miller pronounced. “Teams get hot, and it can happen to anybody. If you find yourself hot at the right time, anything can happen. We’re still in that boat and we’re not going to give up.”
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