Romello White and De'Quon Lake were both in the starting lineup. They rang the victory bell then sat side-by-side for the post-game press conference.
It resembled how the Sun Devils played on Saturday: Together.
"This is the first game I feel like we put 40 minutes together, played together as a team and collectively engaged in the game and everyone played their part," said White.
The Devils (10-4, 1-1) defeated the Colorado Buffaloes 83-61 behind unwavering hustle and an offense that scored every second-half basket on an assist. With unanswered questions lingering from the loss against Utah, the Sun Devils seemed to silence them with a season-high 24 assists on 57.1 percent shooting from the field.
"We had a chip on our shoulder to come back out here and show people we are a great team and can play together," said White.
White showed that early, engaging with the fans as he ripped off six of his season-high 19 in the opening frame. As the first media timeout was called, Wells Fargo Arena's 10,003 fans were still on their feet as Colorado (9-5,0-2) was yet to score a bucket.
White added eight rebounds to his point total, complemented by Lake who had 12 points and 7 rebounds while sharing the floor together.
"Yeah, I really needed this game," said Lake. "I feel like it got me back in rhythm, beginning of the season, I was getting shots open, rebounds but I was in a little bit of a slump, but being in the starting lineup today gave me a bounceback."
ASU allowed just eight baskets on 27 shots in the first half and limited Colorado to 32.8 percent shooting for the game. That combined with season-highs in shooting percentage, assists, points in the paint and fast break points were enough for Bobby Hurley's squad.
"We just have to find more of a level of consistency and this was probably as close as we've played to putting together two very good halves," said Hurley.
The box score shows five Sun Devils in double figures and points distributed amongst seven players. What it doesn't show is the hustle and game-changing plays Taeshon Cherry made.
Cherry was on the ground multiple possessions diving for balls, jumping over seats in the first row and making the extra effort plays. Both of his two steals resulted in coast to coast dunks on the other end for Luguentz Dort.
On one, The Bank got as loud as it did all day long as Luguentz Dort posterized McKinley Wright behind a burst of speed and an aggressive finish.
Getting back on track with a win was the main focus for ASU, no matter how it got done. Needing a leader, Remy Martin answered the call.
He shot the ball only two times but dished a season-high eight assists. He opened the floor, giving easy buckets to his teammates while showing his maturity after scoring a career-high 22 points against Utah.
Rob Edwards and Kimani Lawrence hit the long ball on Saturday for ASU, extending the lead from the three-point arc while ASU wanted to run away with it. They hit the shots in the right moments, something ASU couldn't do just a few days ago.
The Sun Devils now head for their first road trip on the young conference season, looking for some momentum with games ahead of them for a chance to continue playing in March.
"A lot of positives from this," said Hurley.
The Sun Devils are back on the court on Wednesday, Jan. 9 at California at 6 p.m. PT/7 p.m. MT. The game from Berkeley, Calif.. can be viewed on Pac-12 Networks and heard on ESPN Radio 620 AM.
COLORADO HEAD COACH TAD BOYLE "We obviously played against a desperate Arizona State team. I thought they played with kind of an edge to them and a desperation to them that we didn't play with. I don't think our guys didn't compete, they tried. They came down and got the ball into the interior of the zone. Right now we aren't playing well. This is the first time that we have gotten our tails kicked. This is a whipping. We deserved it. We got what we deserved and Arizona State deserves credit."
"We got some guys that are a little fragile. Lacking some confidence offensively. We got some good shooters on our team. Maybe a handful, 3 or 4 of them. The difference is against Arizona we guarded a little bit in the second half. Tonight, we didn't guard in the first or second half and that is a recipe to get blown out, and that is what happened. When you miss open shots and you're struggling offensively, you can't let it affect you on the other end of the floor."
"What I need from our players is for them to take care of the ball better than they are taking care of it. Eleven or fewer turnovers a game. We have played 14 games, we've had 11 or fewer turnovers one time. I'm putting that on them. The bad shots and the shot selection, I'm going to take ownership of that. My job is to hold our guys more accountable for taking bad shots. Our team right now is in a slump offensively and we've got to figure out how to get out of it."
GAME NOTES...
--Saturday was ASU's best defensive field goal effort (19-of-58/.326) in a Pac-12 game since holding Utah to 17-of-56 (.304) vs. Utah on Feb. 9, 2012.
--The 22 point-win is the second-largest victory margin in Pac-12 game under Coach Bobby Hurley. Only 31 (84-53) vs. California (Mar. 1, 2018) is bigger.
--ASU's 24 assists matches the most in a Pac-12 game in the past 13 seasons (2006-07 to present). ASU also had 24 vs. Oregon State twice (Jan. 28, 2016, and March 5, 2011).
--De'Quon Lake is 123-of-169 (.728) from the field with 50 dunks in his 46-game career. He has 87 offensive rebounds. ASU is 11-2 when he scores in double digits and 9-2 when he gets at least seven boards.
It resembled how the Sun Devils played on Saturday: Together.
"This is the first game I feel like we put 40 minutes together, played together as a team and collectively engaged in the game and everyone played their part," said White.
The Devils (10-4, 1-1) defeated the Colorado Buffaloes 83-61 behind unwavering hustle and an offense that scored every second-half basket on an assist. With unanswered questions lingering from the loss against Utah, the Sun Devils seemed to silence them with a season-high 24 assists on 57.1 percent shooting from the field.
"We had a chip on our shoulder to come back out here and show people we are a great team and can play together," said White.
White showed that early, engaging with the fans as he ripped off six of his season-high 19 in the opening frame. As the first media timeout was called, Wells Fargo Arena's 10,003 fans were still on their feet as Colorado (9-5,0-2) was yet to score a bucket.
White added eight rebounds to his point total, complemented by Lake who had 12 points and 7 rebounds while sharing the floor together.
"Yeah, I really needed this game," said Lake. "I feel like it got me back in rhythm, beginning of the season, I was getting shots open, rebounds but I was in a little bit of a slump, but being in the starting lineup today gave me a bounceback."
ASU allowed just eight baskets on 27 shots in the first half and limited Colorado to 32.8 percent shooting for the game. That combined with season-highs in shooting percentage, assists, points in the paint and fast break points were enough for Bobby Hurley's squad.
"We just have to find more of a level of consistency and this was probably as close as we've played to putting together two very good halves," said Hurley.
The box score shows five Sun Devils in double figures and points distributed amongst seven players. What it doesn't show is the hustle and game-changing plays Taeshon Cherry made.
Cherry was on the ground multiple possessions diving for balls, jumping over seats in the first row and making the extra effort plays. Both of his two steals resulted in coast to coast dunks on the other end for Luguentz Dort.
On one, The Bank got as loud as it did all day long as Luguentz Dort posterized McKinley Wright behind a burst of speed and an aggressive finish.
Getting back on track with a win was the main focus for ASU, no matter how it got done. Needing a leader, Remy Martin answered the call.
He shot the ball only two times but dished a season-high eight assists. He opened the floor, giving easy buckets to his teammates while showing his maturity after scoring a career-high 22 points against Utah.
Rob Edwards and Kimani Lawrence hit the long ball on Saturday for ASU, extending the lead from the three-point arc while ASU wanted to run away with it. They hit the shots in the right moments, something ASU couldn't do just a few days ago.
The Sun Devils now head for their first road trip on the young conference season, looking for some momentum with games ahead of them for a chance to continue playing in March.
"A lot of positives from this," said Hurley.
The Sun Devils are back on the court on Wednesday, Jan. 9 at California at 6 p.m. PT/7 p.m. MT. The game from Berkeley, Calif.. can be viewed on Pac-12 Networks and heard on ESPN Radio 620 AM.
COLORADO HEAD COACH TAD BOYLE "We obviously played against a desperate Arizona State team. I thought they played with kind of an edge to them and a desperation to them that we didn't play with. I don't think our guys didn't compete, they tried. They came down and got the ball into the interior of the zone. Right now we aren't playing well. This is the first time that we have gotten our tails kicked. This is a whipping. We deserved it. We got what we deserved and Arizona State deserves credit."
"We got some guys that are a little fragile. Lacking some confidence offensively. We got some good shooters on our team. Maybe a handful, 3 or 4 of them. The difference is against Arizona we guarded a little bit in the second half. Tonight, we didn't guard in the first or second half and that is a recipe to get blown out, and that is what happened. When you miss open shots and you're struggling offensively, you can't let it affect you on the other end of the floor."
"What I need from our players is for them to take care of the ball better than they are taking care of it. Eleven or fewer turnovers a game. We have played 14 games, we've had 11 or fewer turnovers one time. I'm putting that on them. The bad shots and the shot selection, I'm going to take ownership of that. My job is to hold our guys more accountable for taking bad shots. Our team right now is in a slump offensively and we've got to figure out how to get out of it."
GAME NOTES...
--Saturday was ASU's best defensive field goal effort (19-of-58/.326) in a Pac-12 game since holding Utah to 17-of-56 (.304) vs. Utah on Feb. 9, 2012.
--The 22 point-win is the second-largest victory margin in Pac-12 game under Coach Bobby Hurley. Only 31 (84-53) vs. California (Mar. 1, 2018) is bigger.
--ASU's 24 assists matches the most in a Pac-12 game in the past 13 seasons (2006-07 to present). ASU also had 24 vs. Oregon State twice (Jan. 28, 2016, and March 5, 2011).
--De'Quon Lake is 123-of-169 (.728) from the field with 50 dunks in his 46-game career. He has 87 offensive rebounds. ASU is 11-2 when he scores in double digits and 9-2 when he gets at least seven boards.
MOST SUN DEVIL ASSISTS UNDER BOBBY HURLEY
27 vs. Central Arkansas (Dec. 22, 2016)
24 vs. Oregon State (Jan. 28, 2016)
24 vs. Northern Arizona (Nov. 17, 2017)
24 vs. Colorado (Jan. 5, 2019)
ROMELLO WHITE TOP SCORING TILTS
25 vs. Northern Arizona (11/17/17)
22 vs. St. John's at STAPLES (12/8/17)
21 at Washington State (2/4/18)
19 vs. Colorado (1/5/19)
19 vs. Texas Southern (12/1/18)
19 at Stanford (1/17/18)
19 vs. Kansas State in LV (11/23/17)
ASU VS. CU IN TEMPE PAC-12 ERA (6-1)
ASU 83, CU 61/Jan. 5, 2019
ASU 80, CU 66/Jan. 27, 2018
ASU 78, CU 77/Jan. 5, 2017
ASU 78, CU 72/Jan. 17, 2015
ASU 72, CU 51/Jan. 25, 2014
ASU 65, CU 56/Jan. 6, 2013
CU 63, ASU 49/Feb. 11, 2012