ASU men’s basketball gets by Idaho State in disjointed win

TEMPE — ASU men’s basketball was elite on defense for stretches of its season-opening 55-48 win over Idaho State on Tuesday, making up for a disjointed offensive performance.

“It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t inspiring,” coach Bobby Hurley said postgame. “Very frustrated by how we came out to start the second half. I described it like it was an AAU game how we approached it. A game that had no meaning to it.

“Especially in the first game you would imagine there’s a lot of juice … and the last thing you would think you have to worry about is being motivated.”

The Sun Devils got off to a rough start too, as freshman phenom Jayden Quaintance missed two 3s and committed two fouls before he had played two minutes. It was part of an 8-0 start by the Bengals.

The ASU defense weathered the hot start, surrendering just 12 points over the final 16:57 of the first half. The Sun Devils were suffocating, cutting off driving lanes and forcing a lot of possessions into the final five seconds of the shot clock.

While Quaintance struggled through his collegiate debut offensively with a team-high three turnovers and an 0-for-6 shooting line, he was a big part of the defensive success with six blocks and two steals.

“He was lost out there on offense, and we gotta point him in the right direction,” Hurley said. “Like I haven’t seen that from him, so I’m gonna try and figure out why he looked the way he did on offense, and we’ll try to help him out and coach him up.

“He was altering shots even when he wasn’t blocking them, so that was a positive for him.”

His backcourt counterpart, Joson Sanon, flashed one-and-done potential on both ends but was inconsistent in his approach overall en route to 11 points and three assists.

bobby hurley’s grueling opening remarks after he starts with “it wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t inspiring” about asu’s 55-48 win in the season opener. pic.twitter.com/iWSry14rTi

— Damon Allred (@iamdamonallred) November 6, 2024

Unfamiliarity between teammates keeping ASU from playing as unit

When asked why the offense looked as disjointed as it has, including during the exhibition loss to Duke, transfer point guard Alston Mason pointed to the influx of transfers and freshmen into the rotation.

“I think the hardest part in where we’re at right now is we got so many transfers and new guys coming in, and we still got coach trying to feel us out and where he can incorporate us,” Mason said. “The hardest part is the chemistry and coming together as a team. I think that’s what we got to figure out more.”

The Sun Devils had plenty of careless mistakes that led to turnovers, a category ASU lost 14-9.

Mason and BJ Freeman, who combined for 26 points on 9 of 18 shooting and five assists, took accountability for the underwhelming win and said they need to do a better job as leaders.

“A fast-paced, tempo team. Like coach Hurley’s always been playing. Getting the ball up there, kicking ahead, like we had 24 fast break points. Just doing that more,” Freeman said of what the Sun Devils envision their offensive identity being. “I don’t feel like some teams can keep up with us with the size and the shooters we got.”

He later promised to get the team shored up and back on track toward the internal expectations of consistently winning.

“We’re gonna pick this up, I can promise you guys that,” Freeman said. “New team jitters, but it’s all gonna come together. My word.”

ASU (1-0) plays Santa Clara (1-0) and former head coach Herb Sendek next on Friday at 6 p.m. MST in Las Vegas. The Broncos won their season opener, 85-78, over Saint Louis.