It wasn’t quite as exciting of a matchup for the Arizona State Sun Devils (4-1) as the one Thursday night against GCU in front of a packed Footprint Center. However, every game is important with a schedule as difficult as ASU’s.
While it wasn’t a complete, dominating 40 minutes of mistake-free basketball from ASU, there were specific stretches throughout the game where they played to their strengths and ultimately got the job done, defeating the St. Thomas Tommies (3-2) 81-66.
Although St. Thomas isn’t a high-profile team, nor a group that should be giving the Sun Devils a scare, it was a matchup ASU coach Bobby Hurley knew wouldn’t be a walk in the park.
“I knew it was going to be a tough game,” he said. “Their style’s different. They’re a very unique team. They move very fast. They cut … There are easier teams that you most likely could find to by then this one.”
Starts are crucial, and for ASU, it wasn’t one they were happy with, trailing St. Thomas 19-13 halfway through the first half.
“We started a little slow, kinda stuck back up, but we really haven’t proved nothing yet … we gotta take games like this seriously, can’t get too high, can’t get too low,” freshman guard Jayden Quaintance said.
“As leaders, as seniors on the team, I think we did a poor job of getting our guys ready; we didn’t come out the way we should have,” said senior forward Basheer Jihad.
While the start was rocky for the Sun Devils, it didn’t take long for them to swing the momentum. ASU went on a 10-0 run with just over five minutes left in the first half to erase the Tommies’ six-point lead, their largest of the game.
The Sun Devils have struggled with turnovers early in the season. Against St. Thomas, that trend continued as they had eight turnovers in the first half and 13 by the end of the game.
“We just can’t turn the ball over like that, and they’re not really pressuring us and trying to turn us over, so you know, this should be a game we’re like under 10 for sure,” Hurley said. “So that’s something that’s been a pattern that we have to kind of correct and fix.”
The height matchup favored the Sun Devils, with St. Thomas only playing two players over 6 feet, 6 inches. Because of that height disadvantage, the Tommies emphasized cutting and moving to look for open shots around and outside the perimeter.
It forced ASU to adjust defensively, but the height difference allowed them to capitalize offensively and do damage around the rim.
Jihad and Quaintance thrived throughout the game on the offensive end. Jihad finished the night leading the team in points with 20 and found open looks consistently throughout the game.
“I had the matchup I wanted,” Jihad said. “I knew I was favored in that matchup … I was just trying to be aggressive.”
Quaintance collected his season-high in points with 13 and rebounds with 14. His offensive game was on full display, but that didn’t stop him from being his reliable self on the other side of the ball.
“Besides the points, I loved how (Quainitance) was just going after the glass and rebounding for us, and then just his normal defense was kind of what I’m used to seeing from him,” Hurley said.
It was the Sun Devils’ fourth straight game in which they hit the 80-point mark, and the offense they created against St. Thomas came from multiple areas on the floor.
“I think it’s balance; we had four guys with doubles tonight, which is great to see. Shot distribution is pretty good. Our percentage of three-point shots relative to our two-point shots is a pretty good ratio right now,” Hurley said. “We were 9 of 22 from the three, we were 27 of 54 overall, so we were able to score 30 points in the paint, we got to the free throw line, so we’re kind of doing it in different ways, so we’re not just like one dimensional in how we’re scoring.”
Much like the first half, the Sun Devils started off the second half just as sloppy. Although St. Thomas never led again after the Sun Devils strung a few buckets together to close out the first 20 minutes, they did have a strong push to open the second, making it a three-point game just under four minutes in.
That was as close as the Tommies could get, as the Sun Devils quickly woke up and began to widen the gap. The Sun Devils continued to drive through the paint and did a tremendous job getting fouled. They finished the night with 26 free throw attempts, sinking 18 of them.
The Sun Devils were on cruise control for the final 10 minutes as they continued to do the things that made them successful all game: taking the ball to the rim, hitting open shots, causing St. Thomas to turn the ball over, and stepping up on the three-point line, where the Tommies liked to generate a lot of their points.
ASU dominantly closed the game, having a 20-point lead with 1:53 left to play.
The Sun Devils have come a long way in such a short time from barely squeezing out a win against Idaho State in their season opener.
“We knew we were capable of playing a lot better,” Jihad said. “We knew we had the pieces to be very good … I think it’s coming along.”
With their win over St. Thomas the Sun Devils improved to 4-1 and remain undefeated at home. While it was an overall solid performance from ASU, there are a few things they are going to want to improve on before their next game against Cal Poly Wednesday night.
Leave a Reply