No. 25 BYU’s shooting too much for ASU’s stellar freshman-led effort

Physicality and competitiveness have become hallmarks of ASU men’s basketball games of late. Even when it was faced with mounting personnel issues going into a game against No. 25 BYU, Wednesday was no different, though it ultimately fell 91-81.

Not only were the Sun Devils dealing with a recent dismissal of leading scorer BJ Freeman and a leg injury to star freshman center Jayden Quaintance, they were also without starting point guard Alston Mason (illness).

Once the game was underway, it was nearly without Adam Miller, who took a couple body blows over the game’s first 10 minutes. The second prompted an exit for the rest of the half. When he unexpectedly came out to play the second half, however, he forced an official’s hand for a double-technical when he retaliated against some physicality early in the half.

But with all this working against ASU — as well as BYU’s 5-for-5 start from 3 — the Sun Devils again found 40 minutes worth of fight, mirroring the effort they gave in a losing streak-breaking win at Kansas State on Sunday.

They were led — in the absence of one freshman — by the efforts of their three other freshmen: Joson Sanon, Amier Ali and Trevor Best, who scored his first collegiate points after playing five scoreless games earlier in conference play as a midseason addition.

Sanon had the best game of the three, putting on a scoring clinic inside the arc while he still hasn’t regathered his 3-point shooting stroke from before an ankle injury. His 18 points were his most since a Dec. 3 outing against San Diego (19).

Best let his defense guide his game, as his first bucket came on a swipe-and-score before another came on a stolen inbounds pass. He had two steals and two assists in addition to his 18 points, playing as more of an initiator without Mason in the lineup.

Introduce himself to College Basketball 👋@trevoramarebest is having a night 😎 pic.twitter.com/UHReD8rqXL

— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) February 27, 2025

Ali would’ve joined Sanon and Basheer Jihad in the group of players to play all 40 minutes if not for a short breather. His two 3s gave him consecutive games with multiple makes for the second time this season.

BYU’s offense was never going to be overcome when it was hitting the way it was. It was 17-for-34 (50%) from 3 to hit four more than ASU had allowed all year.

Reigning Big 12 Player of the Week Richie Saunders paced BYU with 26 points, including six 3s. Projected first-round pick Egor Demin had a game-high 10 assists, three of which went to Saunders 3s. ASU, meanwhile, hit just eight of its 23 3s.

The loss gave ASU its eighth straight loss at Desert Financial Arena, which is tied for the longest home losing streak in program history. Just one home game remains to break the streak in the regular season finale on March 8 against top-ten Texas Tech.

Before that, the Sun Devils have a trip up to Salt Lake City for a matchup with head coach-less Utah on Saturday at 5 p.m. MST.

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