ASU men’s basketball lights up Santa Clara from deep in win over former coach
Nov 8, 2024, 9:54 PM | Updated: 9:56 pm
ASU basketball players (left to right: Austin Nunez, Joson Sanon, Basheer Jihad and BJ Freeman) during a win over Idaho State on Nov. 5, 2024. (Photo by Bruce Yeung/Getty Images)
(Photo by Bruce Yeung/Getty Images)
ASU men’s basketball pulled out an 81-74 win over former coach Herb Sendek and Santa Clara on Friday in Las Vegas.
It was an important win for ASU (2-0) to get after it squeaked by Idaho State by the same margin in its season opener on Tuesday.
BJ Freeman had 17 points and three assists off the bench, and he made the clutch plays down the stretch to give ASU the win.
The Broncos took a 69-68 lead with 3:34 remaining, and ASU won the final stretch 13-5, with Freeman supplying seven of the points.
Dagger 🏀🔚@B_greatb /// @TheSunDevils pic.twitter.com/8y0Ykum081
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) November 9, 2024
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After shooting 29.2% from 3 in its season opener on Tuesday, ASU shot 15 of 37 (40.5%) in Friday’s win. The 15 makes marked the most for a Sun Devil team since the 2021-22 season.
Highly touted freshman guard Joson Sanon once again got ASU’s scoring started, and now both games have featured a Sanon 3-pointer as the Sun Devils’ first bucket. He finished with 11 points and played solid defense alongside fellow freshman Jayden Quaintance late to seal the win.
Quaintance had a much better second game with five points (2 of 3 shooting) and a team-high 12 rebounds after he had two points (0 of 6) and a team-worst one rebound in the opener. He also had three blocks after swatting six shots on Tuesday.
Freshman wing Amier Ali came off the bench to hit 4 of 5 3-pointers, the highest percentage of any player with at least two attempts.
Fourth 3-pointer on the night for Amier Ali👌@SunDevilHoops | @FloCollege pic.twitter.com/tOeOlTKymt
— FloHoops (@FloHoops) November 9, 2024
ASU had 15 assists on 24 made shots. Last year’s Sun Devils reached that total on no more than 24 buckets just once.
Former Arizona Wildcat Adama-Alpha Bal topped Santa Clara (1-1) with 17 points, including a 3-pointer from the corner with 4:21 remaining to get the Broncos within 68-67. Elijah Mahi scored 14 with five assists for the Broncos, who trailed 36-34 at halftime.
ASU continues its trip to the north with No. 6 Gonzaga awaiting the Sun Devils for a Sunday matchup at 3 p.m. MST on ESPN with play-by-play coverage available on KTAR News 92.3 FM and the Arizona Sports app.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
