Arizona State opens Randy Bennett era with promising, but unpretty win

It wasn’t all pretty for the Arizona State Sun Devils, but head coach Randy Bennett’s first game in charge went in the win column.

On Monday night at Desert Financial Arena, the Sun Devils beat the Eastern Tennessee State Buccaneers 75-65, with 21 points and nine rebounds from top transfer forward Paulius Murauskas.

Despite the win, the Sun Devils have a lot to clean up in many areas, as the Buccaneers hung around for the majority of the game.

“We did an okay job at representing what Randy’s all about,” point guard Joel Foxwell said of the Mesa native after the game. “It’s good that we got the win, but we have so much more work to do.”

With about 10 minutes left, the Buccaneers cut the Sun Devils’ lead down to five points. Despite looking like they were potentially losing grip of the game, ASU didn’t panic and kept its composure. This was the part of the team’s effort that Bennett took the most pride in.

“That’s what I was pleased with: composure, because it was kind of ratty there for a while,” Bennett said. “I thought they kept their composure.”

Bennett noted that defense and rebounding were where he noticed his team struggled the most, the stats of the game reflected that.

The Buccaneers shot 41.2% from three and had 12 offensive rebounds. The Sun Devils won the overall rebounding battle 34-31, but Bennett still expected more on that end.

Notably, for the Buccaneers, guard BJ Ward had a game-high 25 points on 10-for-23 shooting.

“Our habits aren’t where they need to be,” Bennett said. “Defensively, same. We just make errors that we shouldn’t make.”

On offense, however, Bennett was overall pleased with the process the team played with, and throughout the game they looked more and more connected.

In the first half, the Sun Devils shot 3 of 14 (21.4%) from three, while in the second half their 3-point shooting climbed to a 5-for-12 (41.7%) mark.

Foxwell, who finished with 15 points, said that the Buccaneers’ blitzing of screens forced the Sun Devils to adjust in the second half. He said he was pleased with the looks he was able to generate for his teammates in the second half, but knows that he can improve, too.

“I don’t think I was at the rate that I wanted to be at,” Foxwell said. “But Randy’s giving me an opportunity to go out there, run the team and get guys the best shot possible.”

Murauskas was the star of the night, and despite an inefficient shooting night at 0-for-5 from three to go along with five turnovers, he took over the game late to seal the deal with numerous tough paint finishes. He also finished an impressive 11-for-12 at the free-throw line.

“I’m just trying to be aggressive,” Murauskas said. “Crashing rebounds, being physical especially if the three-ball isn’t falling in.

Arizona State will look to start its season 2-0 on Friday as it will host the Northern Colorado Bears at 7 p.m.

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