ASU BASKETBALL

ASU basketball: BJ Freeman expected to play at No. 23 West Virginia

Jan 21, 2025, 6:50 PM

Arizona State Guard BJ Freeman vs. GCU....

Arizona State guard BJ Freeman vs. GCU on Nov. 14, 2024. (Jeremy Schnell/Arizona Sports)

(Jeremy Schnell/Arizona Sports)

ASU senior guard BJ Freeman is expected to play Tuesday’s matchup against West Virginia despite a bone bruise in his right knee, college basketball insider Jon Rothstein reported.

Head coach Bobby Hurley said earlier in the day Freeman was questionable for the matchup.

“BJ Freeman landed awkwardly and was landed on by a Cincinnati player, certainly not intentional,” Hurley said Tuesday on Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta. “We’ll see what he looks like at shootaround tonight.”

If Freeman was a no-go, ASU would’ve been without its two leading scorers. The Sun Devils will still be without their second leading scorer, Joson Sanon, who has missed the last two games with a high ankle sprain.

Freeman landed hard after colliding with Cincinnati forward Aziz Bandaogo on a layup attempt in the second half of Saturday’s 67-60 loss at Cincinnati. Freeman was able to stay in the game and finished with 12 points on 5-of-14 shooting, with two 3-pointers and six rebounds in 37 minutes.

Freeman this season is averaging 13.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 17 games played.

Where would ASU have turned without BJ Freeman?

Hurley said freshman wing Amier Ali would’ve “most likely” gotten the start if the senior had to sit.

“Would love to get him going. He’s a guy we believe in,” Hurley said. “It just hasn’t come all together for him yet. And so he would get the look. Trevor Best … is kinda sooner than I wanted to try to give him a crack at it … He looks pretty good at practice and he’s starting to pick some things up, so he would have an opportunity to play tonight if BJ isn’t able to go.”

Ali has only seen 12.7 minutes a game this season but has played in every single game for the Sun Devils.

Ali’s best scoring performance came against Santa Clara on Nov. 8, when he scored 13 points on 4-of-6 field goals, all coming from the 3-point line.

Hurley said midseason acquisition Trevor Best would get a chance to play if Freeman couldn’t go, but with him in the lineup his chances of playing were diminished.

Best joined the Sun Devils this month after graduating from Word of God Christian Academy, the same high school as his teammate Jayden Quaintance. Best played in 16 games with Word of God Christian Academy, averaging 17.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals in 18 minutes.

ASU will tip off against WVU on Tuesday night in Morgantown at 7 p.m. before it returns back to Tempe for a Saturday matchup against Iowa State at 12 p.m.

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