With a tough enough schedule coming when Big 12 play starts, the Arizona State Sun Devils could not afford to lose a nonconference game that typically goes in the win column. It was a close call, but the Sun Devils emerged with a 93-89 win over visiting Cal Poly Wednesday night at Desert Financial Arena.
The Sun Devils (5-1) had double-digit leads in both halves but it came down to the wire and the Mustangs (3-3) had the chance for the upset.
Joson Sanon made two free throws with 13 seconds left for a 91-87 advantage. But ASU’s B.J. Freeman fouled Jarred Hyder on a 3-point try with six seconds to go. Hyder made two of three to cut the deficit to 91-89. Freeman, however, made two tries from the line to put the game away.
“Not our finest work for sure,” coach Bobby Hurley said. “Our defense took a step back and we didn’t really guard them individually off the dribble and we didn’t guard the line. One-on-one they just made some difficult shots, certainly, but overall that end of the floor hurt us.
“We had different times we got it to double digits, got it to where we could have taken control of the game, and then let them hang around.”
Let’s take a closer look at the contest:
What went right
Rebounding advantage: ASU finished with a 44-24 advantage on the boards. This is an area in which the team has improved considerably. Jayden Quaintance had 12, giving him 26 in ASU’s two games this week. Basheer Jihad was next with seven, while Freeman snagged six. This was the biggest positive Hurley singled out in the game.
Inside play by Quaintance: The freshman phenom had four blocks, giving him 22 on the season. He started the night second in that country with 18, two behind the leader, Amarion Dickerson of Robert Morris. He is now averaging 7.4 rebounds after getting off to a slow start on the boards the first few games. He didn’t have a great offensive game with 11 points on 4-for-11 shooting from the field but had a steal and an assist.
Lots of scoring: Putting the ball in the basket was a struggle last season, so much so it was hard for the Sun Devils to get past 65 or so points. Offense is not the problem thus far, with this marking the fifth straight game the Sun Devils have scored more than 80. Sanon scored a team-high 22, followed by Adam Miller with 16. Sanon was 7-for-13 from the field, while Miller was efficient at 4 for 6, including 4 for 5 from 3-point range. Alston Mason added 14 and Freeman 13. ASU shot a respectable 48.3% (28 for 58), with 41.7% (10 for 24) from long distance.
What went wrong
Defense: You can’t give up 89 points to Cal Poly. The Mustangs also shot 51.6% (33 for 64), with that including a 13 for 37 (35.1%) from long distance. Hyder led Cal Poly with 27 points which included seven 3-pointers. Isaac Jessup had 17 points with four 3-pointers.
Free throws: The Sun Devils went 27 for 41 (65.9%) which doesn’t sound awful. They were 5 for 6 in the last minute, which prevented the final number from getting worse. Miller was 4 for 4, but Quaintance was only 3 for 7. The team has better shooters this season so Hurley isn’t worried.
Couldn’t pull away: The Sun Devils led by as many as 13 points in the first half, although that was early, at 23-10. They also led by 12 early in the second half, at 56-44, but the Mustangs crept back in the game every time the Sun Devils started to stretch the lead.
Personnel notes
Hurley used just seven players. Junior guard Austin Nunez missed his second straight game with an ankle/foot injury while junior forward Shawn Phillips, who had been averaging 13.2 minutes also did not play due to a calf strain suffered in Sunday’s game . . . Hurley started a lineup of guards Miller, Mason, Freeman and forwards Jihad and Quaintance. It was the third straight game using that starting lineup. Sanon had started the first three in place of Freeman.
They said it
ASU guard Adam Miller
“With teams like that it’s easy to underestimate them. Our effort should have picked up a little bit, our urgency. They’re not maybe a big-time name like Gonzaga but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter, we have to go out there and do what we do each night. On the defensive end, we didn’t do our job.”
Up next
The Sun Devils are back on the road for a neutral court tournament, the Acrisure Classic Nov. 28-29 in Palm Springs, California. Their first opponent will be New Mexico (4-1). The second game will be against either USC or St. Mary’s.
The next home game is Dec. 3 against the University of San Diego.
