After losing four straight games in conference play, Arizona State (11-7, 2-5) traveled to Morgantown, West Virginia in desperate need of a momentum-changing win to break through its midseason slump.
Perhaps this desperation helped inspire a resilient performance on the road, as ASU clamped down on No. 23 West Virginia (13-5, 4-3) to secure a 65-57 win over the Mountaineers.
Slow starts have played a culprit to many of ASU’s struggles on the road early in conference play.
However, on Tuesday night, the Sun Devils seemed to reverse their first-half misfortunes by roaring out the gate to grab a 10-2 lead. But the Mountaineers responded, ripping off a 15-1 run to provide the maroon and gold with its first adversity of the evening.
In the games prior, Bobby Hurley’s squad floundered after enduring avalanches of scoring runs and failed to stop the bleeding before digging themselves into a hole too steep to climb out of.
Yet, against West Virginia, ASU fought back to grab a lead and managed to escape the first half with a 24-23 advantage behind a solid defensive effort. Sparky held the Mountaineers to just 21.4% from the field in the first 20 minutes, while limiting West Virginia to its second-lowest first-half total on the season.
In the second half, the Sun Devil offense came alive.
Senior forward Basheer Jihad spearheaded the offensive attack with a team-leading 17 points in addition to eight rebounds.
Additionally, senior guard BJ Freeman continued his hot streak in the scoring column by contributing 14 points and coming up with multiple timely baskets down the stretch.
Nevertheless, it was freshman forward Jayden Quaintance who stole the show in the final 20 minutes against West Virginia, as he finished with his sixth double-double of the season, posting 15 points and 12 rebounds.
The freshman phenom already made history early in the half by breaking Mario Bennett’s single-season freshman block record (55). His three blocks against West Virginia increased his season total to a whopping 57 blocks with 13 regular season games still left on ASU’s schedule.
HISTORY. MADE.@qjayhoops now has 5️⃣6️⃣ blocks, the most by a @SunDevilHoops freshman in a single season 😈
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) January 22, 2025
📺 @CBSSportsNet
🔗 https://t.co/6Zb9K1wvDo pic.twitter.com/eIRKeovnkU
But in crunch time, Quaintance truly flexed his muscles on both ends of the floor.
With the game still in the balance and ASU starting to unravel heading toward the last five minutes of regulation, Quaintance switched onto West Virginia’s leading scorer, guard Javon Small (19.8 ppg). The untraditional center easily handled the savvy scorer, plucking the ball away to start the fastbreak, ultimately dishing a perfect pass to Freeman for an open layup to send the ASU bench into a frenzy.
He also continued to make an impact with his play on the boards as his efforts helped aid a strong performance on the glass for the Sun Devils who outrebounded the Mountaineers 46-28.
The team’s physicality was reflected in its overall defensive play, as a stymie Sun Devil defense held the Mountaineers to just under 14% from the three-point line and 31% overall.
West Virginia’s 57-point total against ASU marked only the second time the Mountaineers have failed to surpass the 60-point landmark on their home floor this season.
With the win, the Sun Devils now possess two Quad 1 victories (Saint Mary’s and West Virginia), as they look to build up their resume heading into the heart of Big 12 play.
Now, the Sun Devils stare down a date with another ranked opponent, as they return home on Saturday, Jan. 25, to take on No. 3 Iowa State at noon MST.
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