by Connor Johnson, SDA Intern
TEMPE, Ariz. – Four players scored in double figures, and the Arizona State men’s basketball team held the visiting Loyola Marymount Lions to just over .281 percent from the floor in a 68-44 victory Thursday night at Wells Fargo Arena.
QUICK NOTES...
--ASU is 37-5 in its past 42 home games and has defeated the eventual Pac-12 champion in each of the past two seasons at home. It topped UCLA in 2012-13 and Arizona in 2013-14.
--ASU is 19-1 in its past 20 home games, and has won 11 straight at Wells Fargo Arena.
--ASU held LMU to just 16-of-57, its best defensive performance in the past 141 games, when ASU held Oregon State to .246 (14-of-57) on Feb. 11, 2010.
WORST OPPONENT SHOOTING NIGHTS VS. ASU UNDER HERB SENDEK (265 GAMES)
.208/11-53 by Delaware State (Dec. 5, 2007)
.231/12-52 by Western Illinois (Nov. 13, 2009)
.246/14-57 by Oregon State (Feb. 11, 2010)
.250/12-48 by Delaware State (Dec. 12, 2009)
.255/14-55 by Cal Poly (Nov. 26, 2007)
.267/12-45 by Pepperdine (Nov. 23, 2008)
.281/16-57 by Loyola Marymount (Nov. 20, 2014)
The Sun Devils shot 21-45 (46.7 percent) on the night, while Loyola Marymount shot 16-57, including just 8-30 in the second half. The 28.1 percent mark was the lowest an opponent has shot against ASU since February 11, 2010, when Oregon State was held to 24.6 percent shooting.
“I was really pleased with our defensive preparation and execution,” ASU head coach Herb Sendek said. “I thought we played an outstanding defensive basketball game.”
Shaquielle McKissic scored five of ASU’s first seven points and finished the first half with eight points and two rebounds as the Sun Devils opened up a 28-22 halftime lead.
Chance Murray led ASU with a career-high 12 points and four assists, Jonathan Gilling and Bo Barnes each had 11 points, and McKissic finished with 10. Eric Jacobsen chipped in 11 rebounds and four blocks to go along with his seven points.
“My teammates helped me out a lot.” Murray said. “Bo (Barnes) hit a lot of shots. We were driving it into the lane and dumping it out to the big men who were finishing it. Overall, I feel like defense was our best offense tonight.”
Evan Payne led Loyola Marymount with nine points, but shot just 3-13 from the field after averaging 22.5 points in the Lions’ first two games.
“Payne is a terrific guard who can play anywhere,” Sendek said. “Collectively we were able to hold him under 10, so he was certainly a big focus for us.”
After a layup by Patson Siame gave Loyola Marymount an 8-7 lead with 14:24 left in the first half, Barnes and Gilling had five points apiece during a 17-3 run that gave ASU a 24-11 lead with 5:36 remaining in the half.
The Sun Devils started out slow in the second half, missing their first four shots until a Bo Barnes three-pointer gave ASU a 31-24 lead with 17:02 remaining.
Three-point shooting proved to be one of the big differences on the night. ASU shot 10-22 from deep (45.5 percent), while the Lions shot just 1-11 (9.1 percent), including going 0-5 in the first half.
“We continue to share the basketball,” Sendek said. “Tonight we had 15 assists on 21 field goals and I really like how the ball is moving.”
A layup from Payne made the score 48-38 with 6:16 remaining, but the Sun Devils were able to close the game on a 20-6 run that included nine points from Murray.
Up next for ASU is a matchup with Maryland on Nov. 24 in the first round of the CBE Classic in Kansas City, Mo.
QUOTING COACH SENDEK
“I was really pleased with our defensive preparation and execution. I thought we played an outstanding defensive game. Today’s shootaround was filled with energy and spirit, the last two days of practice have been terrific days for us. Over the course of the last two weeks, I would say our defense has improved dramatically, I thought our guys just did a fabulous job at that end of the floor. (Evan) Payne is a terrific guard, can play anywhere, came into the game averaging 22.5, and collectively we were able to hold him under 10. So he was certainly a big focus for us.
"We continued to share the basketball tonight 15 assists on 21 field goals, I like how the ball is moving, the elephant in the room for us is our turnovers, we are turning over the ball way too much. So that, has to be something we continue to address. We knew rebounding would be critical tonight, we made that adventurous at times especially on the free throw line, but we are going to have to work on being a better defensive rebounding team.
"I think Eric Jacobsen is off to a fantastic start through his first three games, going back even farther into the fall. Llike I said last week, I think he is ready to succeed in the line of front court players that have shown amazing improvement in our program over the course of their career, starting with Jeff Ayres, Eric Boateng, Jordan Bachynski, and now Eric. Those guys have all really, really improved. I am excited about how Eric is playing and his future. It’s good to see him with double-digit rebounds again, two games in a row that he has double digit rebounds. Loyola is big, and athletic and older, they start to guys that are graduates, a senior and two juniors, so they are and older group of guys with great size, so that is really impressive that Eric did that.
QUOTING CHANCE MURRAY
“Playing a lot helped me because I’m not really used to playing. It gives me more confidence in playing it. I look at Tra (Holder) and I learn from him, believe it or not, even though it’s my second year because he has been playing it his whole life. It gave me a lot of confidence getting more minutes. “Tonight went pretty well. My teammates helped me out a lot. Bo (Barnes) hit a lot of shots. We were driving it into the lane and dumping it out to the big men who were finishing it. Overall, I feel like defense was our best offense tonight. I feel like with so many athletic and quick guys, we can fly around on defense and we’ve been holding the team’s best player to pretty low points.I feel like it’s a team game with us."
QUOTING BO BARNES
“They were doubling the post, so it was going to be pretty open shots because Eric (Jacobsen) was doing a good job skipping it or kicking it out. I think defensively, we were in our gaps and were helping each other and got gang rebounding as well. I think definitely on the defensive end helped us get that spark going. we were moving the ball a little better, but it was a totally different look than Monday. They (Bethune-Cookman) were zoning and then they were running the shot clock down, so it just a different game. This game, the big emphasis was running the lanes on rebounds. I think we pushed the ball. The point guards did a great job looking up and we got some easy baskets that way.”
TALKING ABOUT THE BUILDING BLOCKS FOR THIS TEAM...
“Just having defense be our identity and help rebound for the bigs like the guards coming back and gang rebounding. And also just limiting our turnovers. I still think that’s an area we need to work on and if that happens then I think we can be really good. Our turnovers led to their runs. Like I said, when you turn the ball over and they go on runs, it’s hard for any team. If we just limit our turnover and just play solid, I think it’ll help us out.”
QUOTING LMU COACH MIKE DUNLAP
"It is really hard on your defense when you can't hit shots. We had a stretch of about six to seven minutes where hanging in there and cut into the lead, but our lack of offense bled into our defense down the stretch. We held the line, but you just can¹t hold it that long if your offense can't take off some of the pressure. Credit Arizona State, they did a good job."