A chance to stake one’s claim of the Valley. In a highly anticipated Thursday night matchup at the Footprint Center between Arizona State and Grand Canyon, an opportunity to make a statement on the national stage and declare themselves as the top dog of the town stood between the Sun Devils and Lopes.
For ASU, the team needed a signature win to validate its impressive showing in an 88-80 loss to Gonzaga. And what better occasion to do so than against their crosstown rivals who come into the 2024 season fresh off an NCAA tournament appearance.
For GCU, the program had the chance to finally knock off the Sun Devils for the first time in school history–in front of a mostly GCU crowd–and show how far it had come as a program in five years under Bryce Drew.
Bobby Hurley and his squad had other ideas.
Instead, the night highlighted how far the maroon and gold had come in just three weeks since their exhibition loss to Duke. ASU surged past the Lopes to an 87-76 win to earn the 200th win of Bobby Hurley’s collegiate coaching career.
“I can’t believe how much better we’ve gotten in less than three weeks,” Hurley said. “To see what we’re doing particularly at the offensive end I think has been a real positive.”
Since heading to Vegas to play Santa Clara the Sun Devils’ offense has hit a new gear.
In their three games following a home opener in which Hurley’s squad only mustered up 55 points, ASU is averaging just under 83 points per game. An eye-catching total considering the quality of teams the Sun Devils matched up against since hitting the road–Gonzaga, Santa Clara and Grand Canyon.
One of the many keys to the Sun Devils’ offensive explosion?
The emergence of senior forward Basheer Jihad, who dazzled against GCU with a 22-point performance on an uber-efficient 4-5 from the field. Down the stretch, Jihad proved to be proficient at getting to the free throw line and cashing in from the charity strike shooting 81% on the night from the foul line.
Additionally, the offense relied on scorching hot three-point shooting courtesy of ASU’s guards who shined in the Sun Devil victory.
Leading the charge, freshman guard Joson Sanon caught fire from beyond the arc.
Sanon took shots contested, in transition and off the dribble. It did not matter. He sunk five triples en route to a career-high 21-point game.
“When he gets in a zone like that he’s virtually unstoppable,” Hurley said. “We were trying to get him the ball as soon as he was in the game because he had that look. We had the ultimate confidence he was going to make a play.”
Putting on a Clinic 🫡@joson_sanon /// @hofseries pic.twitter.com/z9YzMNGsaK
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) November 15, 2024
But it also took a strong effort defensively to keep GCU at bay in the second half.
The size and length of ASU’s interior greatly affected Grand Canyon’s ability to finish at the rim.
Freshman center Jayden Quaintance continued his defensive dominance with two monster blocks and a handful of altered shots.
With Quaintance and an array of other Sun Devil bigs, Hurley’s squad stymies opponents in the paint.
“Down low I think we have good size, especially with me and JQ (Jayden Quaintance) starting, both 6’9 plus,” Jihad said. “So I feel like if we need to (we can) go to that or we can go to the finesse (lineup) as well.”
ASU also held up on the perimeter and held GCU’s guards in check. The squad limited Naismith watchlist senior guard Tyon Grant-Foster, who, despite scoring 19 points, only shot 5-17 and turned it over five times in his season debut.
“They’re good with their guards,” Hurley said. “They do a good job of driving the ball and I thought our perimeter held up fairly well. Having Foster shoot 5-17, he’s a really talented guy.”
The win caps off a difficult opening four-game stretch for the Sun Devils, which saw ASU play three games away from home against three difficult opponents–two of whom won games in the NCAA tournament last year.
“Nobody in the country through four games has played a harder schedule than us,” Hurley said. “When you talk about playing Santa Clara neutral (site), this GCU team a 30-win team with a lot of guys back and then on the road at Gonzaga. So, for us to be where we are right now, we’re in a good spot.”
ASU now heads home for the first time since their season opener to take on St. Thomas at 6 p.m. MST.
Leave a Reply