by Tony Thai, Sun Devil Student Communications Assistant
Forcing the highest number of turnovers in Bobby Hurley's tenure (29), the most steals since 2009 (16) and getting 20 points from both Remy Martin and Jaelen House helped the Arizona State men's basketball squad (2-1) overcome a slow start to defeat Rider 92-55 Sunday afternoon at Desert Financial Arena.
Rider's 29 turnovers were the most by an ASU opponent since McNeese State had 31 on Dec. 22, 2003.
"I think outside of the start there is a lot to be happy about with how we played," said head coach Bobby Hurley, as his Sun Devils are now 14-1 in November the past three seasons. "I'm really happy with our bench and how they performed especially when we were behind 12-2. I thought we competed well on the backboards against a team that was outrebounding their opponent by almost 20 a game. I think they're a good team, they're an older team...they got good size so they were a legitimate opponent. I think they're going to have a pretty good season this year in their conference. It was good especially since I still haven't felt like we're in a flow or in a really good place offensively yet but our defense and our pressure and what we've been able to do on that end of the floor has been outstanding."
MOST TURNOVERS BY ASU OPPONENT SINCE 1996-97 SEASON
34 by Morgan State/Dec. 4, 1999
31 by McNeese State/Dec. 22, 2003
31 by Prairie View A&M/Dec. 1, 2001
31 at Washington/Jan. 30, 1997
30 by Jacksonville/Nov. 22, 1996
29 by Rider/Nov. 17, 2019
29 by Sam Houston State/Dec. 2, 1996
20 by Jackson State/Dec. 20, 1996
Another big factor was ASU's bench, led by House, the Sun Devil bench scored 43 points compared to Rider's seven.
Aside from the 20 points from Martin and House, they both hit 3-for-6 from three and Martin stole the ball four times.
MOST SUN DEVIL STEALS SINCE 1996-97
20 vs. Morgan State/Dec. 4, 1999
19 vs. Sam Houston State/Dec. 2, 1996
19 vs. Jacksonville/Nov. 22, 1996
18 vs. Mercer/Dec. 20, 2000
18 at Washington/Jan. 30, 1997
17 vs. Texas State/Nov. 16, 2009
17 vs. Houston Baptist/Dec. 10, 1996
16 vs. Rider/Nov. 17, 2019
16 vs. Jackson State/Dec. 20, 1996
16 vs. Kansas (NIT at NYC)/Nov. 26, 1997
Alonzo Verge Jr. and Romello White both added 11 points and had the team's highest and second-highest rebound totals (White 7, Verge Jr. 6). Arizona State took a while to get going in the game, going down 10-2 in the first five minutes of the game.
Trying to turn things around, the Sun Devils pumped up the defensive intensity, forcing numerous turnovers that led to easy buckets as the team went on a 17-2 run in the next five minutes to put them out solidly in front. Arizona State held a nice lead until Martin hit back-to-back threes with two minutes left to put the Sun Devils up by 17.
The Sun Devils return to action Saturday (Nov. 23) with a tilt against St. John's in the Air Force Reserve Tip-Off Tournament at 2:30 p.m. ET in Uncasville, CT, at the Mohegan Sun Arena. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
NOVEMBER: Not many have been better early than the Sun Devils in the past three seasons, as they are 22-6 in November under Coach Hurley in his four years including 14-1 the past three seasons. Also worth a darn: the win list includes five teams that would eventually make NCAA Tournament that same season.
ASU 14-1 NOVEMBER RECORD PAST THREE SEASONS
ASU 92, Rider 55 (Nov. 17, 2019)
ASU 90, Central Connecticut State 49 (Nov. 14, 2019)
Colorado 81, ASU 71 at Shanghai (Nov. 9, 2019)
ASU 89, Omaha 71 (Nov. 28, 2018)
ASU 87, Utah State 82 at Las Vegas (Nov. 21, 2018)/2019 MWC Champ and NCAA Team
ASU 72, #16 Mississippi State 67 at Las Vegas (Nov. 19, 2018)/2019 NCAA Team
ASU 90, Long Beach State 58 (Nov. 12, 2018)
ASU 80, McNeeseState 52 (Nov. 9, 2018)
ASU 102, Cal State Fullerton 94, 2 OT (Nov. 6, 2018)
ASU 102, #15 Xavier 86 at Las Vegas (Nov. 24, 2017)/eventual No. 1 seed in 2018
ASU 92, Kansas State 90 at Las Vegas (Nov. 23, 2017)/Elite Eight in 2018
ASU 99, UC Irvine 78 (Nov. 19, 2017)
ASU 97, NAU 62 (Nov. 17, 2017)
ASU 90, San Diego State 68 (Nov. 14, 2017)/2018 NCAA team and MWC Tourney champ
ASU 94, Idaho State 74 (Nov. 10, 2017)
COACH BOBBY HURLEY QUOTES
ON HOW THE DEFENSE CAN FEED THE OFFENSE
"It enables you the ability to really rattle your opponent, make it difficult for them to run offense even when they don't turn it over or have a live-ball turnover. It takes away eight to ten seconds of the shot clock which forces them to get into offense on the shorter clock and I think it energizes us because we were able to score in bunches when we got those live-ball turnovers."
ON JAELEN HOUSE
"His impact was pretty clear, I know not only as a coach but as a former player and point guard that it's not that fun when someone is that quick with their footwork that can turn you that frequently and make it very difficult to get the ball across half court. As a guard, you would love for no one to make you feel uncomfortable and to get your team into offense so he's a problem."
ON GETTING THE RESERVES EXTRA MINUTES
"These guys work extremely hard especially our walk-ons at the end of the game. They don't have a scholarship but they show up every day great attitude and do anything they can to help the program so to get those guys out on the floor is always good."
ON THE COMBINATION OF REMY MARTIN AND JAELEN HOUSE
"It's kind of like two years ago with the guards we had, they are both playmakers. Remy was super-efficient tonight and really just made plays and was playing at a good speed and tempo and Jaelen was electric. Both those guys are a pretty strong combination."
SUN DEVIL 30+ POINT WINS UNDER BOBBY HURLEY
41, 90-49 vs. Central Connecticut State (Nov. 14, 2019)
39, 104-65 vs. Pacific (Dec. 22, 2017)
38, 91-53 vs. Kennesaw State (Nov. 18, 2015)
37, 92-55 vs. Rider (Nov. 17, 2019)
36, 98-62 vs. Central Arkansas (Dec. 22, 2016)
35, 97-62 vs. Northern Arizona (Nov. 17, 2017)
34, 95-61 vs. Longwood (Dec. 19, 2017)
32, 90-58 vs. Long Beach State (Nov. 12, 2018)
31, 84-53 vs. California (Mar. 1, 2018)
Forcing the highest number of turnovers in Bobby Hurley's tenure (29), the most steals since 2009 (16) and getting 20 points from both Remy Martin and Jaelen House helped the Arizona State men's basketball squad (2-1) overcome a slow start to defeat Rider 92-55 Sunday afternoon at Desert Financial Arena.
Rider's 29 turnovers were the most by an ASU opponent since McNeese State had 31 on Dec. 22, 2003.
"I think outside of the start there is a lot to be happy about with how we played," said head coach Bobby Hurley, as his Sun Devils are now 14-1 in November the past three seasons. "I'm really happy with our bench and how they performed especially when we were behind 12-2. I thought we competed well on the backboards against a team that was outrebounding their opponent by almost 20 a game. I think they're a good team, they're an older team...they got good size so they were a legitimate opponent. I think they're going to have a pretty good season this year in their conference. It was good especially since I still haven't felt like we're in a flow or in a really good place offensively yet but our defense and our pressure and what we've been able to do on that end of the floor has been outstanding."
MOST TURNOVERS BY ASU OPPONENT SINCE 1996-97 SEASON
34 by Morgan State/Dec. 4, 1999
31 by McNeese State/Dec. 22, 2003
31 by Prairie View A&M/Dec. 1, 2001
31 at Washington/Jan. 30, 1997
30 by Jacksonville/Nov. 22, 1996
29 by Rider/Nov. 17, 2019
29 by Sam Houston State/Dec. 2, 1996
20 by Jackson State/Dec. 20, 1996
Another big factor was ASU's bench, led by House, the Sun Devil bench scored 43 points compared to Rider's seven.
Aside from the 20 points from Martin and House, they both hit 3-for-6 from three and Martin stole the ball four times.
MOST SUN DEVIL STEALS SINCE 1996-97
20 vs. Morgan State/Dec. 4, 1999
19 vs. Sam Houston State/Dec. 2, 1996
19 vs. Jacksonville/Nov. 22, 1996
18 vs. Mercer/Dec. 20, 2000
18 at Washington/Jan. 30, 1997
17 vs. Texas State/Nov. 16, 2009
17 vs. Houston Baptist/Dec. 10, 1996
16 vs. Rider/Nov. 17, 2019
16 vs. Jackson State/Dec. 20, 1996
16 vs. Kansas (NIT at NYC)/Nov. 26, 1997
Alonzo Verge Jr. and Romello White both added 11 points and had the team's highest and second-highest rebound totals (White 7, Verge Jr. 6). Arizona State took a while to get going in the game, going down 10-2 in the first five minutes of the game.
Trying to turn things around, the Sun Devils pumped up the defensive intensity, forcing numerous turnovers that led to easy buckets as the team went on a 17-2 run in the next five minutes to put them out solidly in front. Arizona State held a nice lead until Martin hit back-to-back threes with two minutes left to put the Sun Devils up by 17.
REMY MARTIN 20+ SCORING TILTS
31 vs. Arizona (1/31/19)
27 at Arizona (3/9/19)
24 at California (1/9/19)
23 vs. Colorado/China (11/9/19)
22 vs. Utah (1/3/19)
21 at Georgia (12/15/18)
21 at #2 Kansas (12/10/17)
20 vs. Rider (11/17/19)
20 vs. Colorado/Las Vegas (3/7/18)
The Sun Devils return to action Saturday (Nov. 23) with a tilt against St. John's in the Air Force Reserve Tip-Off Tournament at 2:30 p.m. ET in Uncasville, CT, at the Mohegan Sun Arena. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
NOVEMBER: Not many have been better early than the Sun Devils in the past three seasons, as they are 22-6 in November under Coach Hurley in his four years including 14-1 the past three seasons. Also worth a darn: the win list includes five teams that would eventually make NCAA Tournament that same season.
ASU 14-1 NOVEMBER RECORD PAST THREE SEASONS
ASU 92, Rider 55 (Nov. 17, 2019)
ASU 90, Central Connecticut State 49 (Nov. 14, 2019)
Colorado 81, ASU 71 at Shanghai (Nov. 9, 2019)
ASU 89, Omaha 71 (Nov. 28, 2018)
ASU 87, Utah State 82 at Las Vegas (Nov. 21, 2018)/2019 MWC Champ and NCAA Team
ASU 72, #16 Mississippi State 67 at Las Vegas (Nov. 19, 2018)/2019 NCAA Team
ASU 90, Long Beach State 58 (Nov. 12, 2018)
ASU 80, McNeeseState 52 (Nov. 9, 2018)
ASU 102, Cal State Fullerton 94, 2 OT (Nov. 6, 2018)
ASU 102, #15 Xavier 86 at Las Vegas (Nov. 24, 2017)/eventual No. 1 seed in 2018
ASU 92, Kansas State 90 at Las Vegas (Nov. 23, 2017)/Elite Eight in 2018
ASU 99, UC Irvine 78 (Nov. 19, 2017)
ASU 97, NAU 62 (Nov. 17, 2017)
ASU 90, San Diego State 68 (Nov. 14, 2017)/2018 NCAA team and MWC Tourney champ
ASU 94, Idaho State 74 (Nov. 10, 2017)
COACH BOBBY HURLEY QUOTES
ON HOW THE DEFENSE CAN FEED THE OFFENSE
"It enables you the ability to really rattle your opponent, make it difficult for them to run offense even when they don't turn it over or have a live-ball turnover. It takes away eight to ten seconds of the shot clock which forces them to get into offense on the shorter clock and I think it energizes us because we were able to score in bunches when we got those live-ball turnovers."
ON JAELEN HOUSE
"His impact was pretty clear, I know not only as a coach but as a former player and point guard that it's not that fun when someone is that quick with their footwork that can turn you that frequently and make it very difficult to get the ball across half court. As a guard, you would love for no one to make you feel uncomfortable and to get your team into offense so he's a problem."
ON GETTING THE RESERVES EXTRA MINUTES
"These guys work extremely hard especially our walk-ons at the end of the game. They don't have a scholarship but they show up every day great attitude and do anything they can to help the program so to get those guys out on the floor is always good."
ON THE COMBINATION OF REMY MARTIN AND JAELEN HOUSE
"It's kind of like two years ago with the guards we had, they are both playmakers. Remy was super-efficient tonight and really just made plays and was playing at a good speed and tempo and Jaelen was electric. Both those guys are a pretty strong combination."
SUN DEVIL 30+ POINT WINS UNDER BOBBY HURLEY
41, 90-49 vs. Central Connecticut State (Nov. 14, 2019)
39, 104-65 vs. Pacific (Dec. 22, 2017)
38, 91-53 vs. Kennesaw State (Nov. 18, 2015)
37, 92-55 vs. Rider (Nov. 17, 2019)
36, 98-62 vs. Central Arkansas (Dec. 22, 2016)
35, 97-62 vs. Northern Arizona (Nov. 17, 2017)
34, 95-61 vs. Longwood (Dec. 19, 2017)
32, 90-58 vs. Long Beach State (Nov. 12, 2018)
31, 84-53 vs. California (Mar. 1, 2018)