Arizona State (8-1) looked like its struggles in Desert Financial Arena this season would continue in Tuesday’s game against the University of San Diego (3-5).
Perhaps it was a Thanksgiving hangover but it didn’t last long. The Sun Devils dominated the Toreros 90-53, scoring 90 or more for the second time this season. The Devils were aided by a 50-20 second-half score after their sluggish start.
Tuesday’s win maintained ASU’s perfect home record, pushing that total to four wins.
Out of the gate, the Sun Devils looked slow, with many sloppy turnovers on both sides. ASU also struggled to shoot the ball, digging an early hole.
“I didn’t do a good job getting us ready to play for this game,” Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said. “We just didn’t come out right at all; we’re a little bit flat and didn’t have the edge we needed.”
At one point within the first ten minutes of the first half, the Toreros held a 14-5 lead, one of their largest leads of the night.
After several disappointing possessions and foul calls, Hurley was assessed a technical foul, which resulted in not only himself but the crowd getting into the game. A fashion change for the veteran head coach signified it was on for him and his Devils.
“I mean, I was hot but I’ve been doing this so long now that nothing really surprises me anymore,” Hurley said. “Once I lost my tie, I just kind of moved on, and that was kind of closure for it.”
After the tie came off, ASU dominated the remaining 12 minutes of the half. Freshman guard Joson Sanon recorded 13 first-half points against the Toreros. He ultimately finished with 19 points going 6-11 from the field with five 3-point makes.
“I have always been a shooter,” Sanon said. “Everybody has always been hyping my head up; I just try to stay in the middle of not too high, not too low, and just stay focused on winning.”
Sanon is fresh off winning MVP at the Acrisure Classic in Palm Springs, California, so Tuesday’s performance continued the run of quality form for the freshman.
Another freshman who continued to awe the fans and his head coach was freshman forward Jayden Quaintance. After Tuesday’s game in which he blocked five shots, Quaintance leads the country in shots blocked with 27.
“I was just kind of in awe of seeing it,” Hurley said. “Even his block in the first half when he fell down and then got up and blocked it, I mean, it’s scary, like his timing and his instincts and his mobility for someone so big.”
From Another Planet 👽@qjayhoops /// @TheSunDevils pic.twitter.com/n1fasjcsYJ
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) December 4, 2024
Quaintance also scored ten points and nine rebounds, along with five blocks, on the night.
“We wanted to blitz [Kjay Bradley Jr.’s] ball screens as much as we could,” senior forward Basheer Jihad said. “He had 12 in the first half, so we wanted to blitz his ball screens to be more aggressive with them. Other than that, you know, just turn it up.”
Jihad’s defensive effort combined with Quaintance helped the Sun Devils hold San Diego to just 33% from the field on Tuesday. Jihad also scored 19 points on the night in just 21 minutes of action.
As Jihad promised, they did turn it up and then some. The final score was the biggest margin of victory by the Sun Devils all season long with a blowout of 37 points which included a significant amount of playing time for walk-ons.
The Sun Devils don’t have a busy month, as they’ll be back in action against the No. 13 Flordia Gators on Dec. 14 in Atlanta for another neutral site game. The Gators will be the first ranked opponent for the Sun Devils since their trip to Spokane in November.
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