Arizona State (8-3) fell 96-56 to St. Mary's (11-2) in the 2019 Basketball Hall of Fame games at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix Wednesday night. Alonzo Verge Jr. exploded offensively collecting 43 points in 36 minutes to land fourth in ASU's all-time single-game points history. Verge, the sole bench scorer, was 18-of-29 from the field.
"He was just one of the few guys who had a rhythm on offense," said head coach Bobby Hurley of Verge's performance. "Once he got going, we knew we had to keep riding him and give him the ball just about every time...That was frustrating that we had that little of guys playing well that we had to resort to that tactic. But the irony of it, he's been practicing well. He shows up in practice, doesn't miss practice, he's working at it and getting better."
MOST POINTS OFF THE BENCH SINCE 1996-97 52, Roderic Hall (UTSA), Dec. 6, 1997 vs. Maine
52, Mike James (Lamar), Jan. 4, 2011 vs. Louisiana College
46, Ray Lee (Eastern Michigan), Feb. 2, 2016 vs. Miami (Ohio)
43, Alonzo Verge Jr. (Arizona State), Dec. 18, 2019 vs. Saint Mary's
43, Mike Singletary (Texas Tech), Mar. 11, 2009 vs. Texas A&M
61, Eddie House at California (2 OT), Jan. 8, 2000 46, Eddie House vs. San Diego State, Dec. 18, 1999 45, Paul Williams at USC, Mar. 10, 1983 43, Alonzo Verge Jr. vs. Saint Mary's, Dec. 18, 2019 42, Eddie House vs. Penn State, Dec. 29, 1999 40, Tra Holder vs. #15 Xavier, Nov. 24, 2017 40, Jahii Carson at UNLV, Nov. 19, 2013 40, James Harden vs. UTEP, Nov. 30, 2008 40, Eddie House vs. UCLA, Feb. 17, 2000
Romello White posted 12 boards, but ASU shot just .222 in the first half (8-of-36) and finished at 23-of-64 (.359). ASU was just 3-of-22 (.136) from the three-point stripe.
Next up, the Sun Devils continue a month of local games as the squad takes on Creighton at Desert Financial Arena on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 6:30 p.m. MT.
COACH BOBBY HURLEY OPENING STATEMENT "That was a hell of an effort by Saint Mary's certainly. They were prepared to play and prepared to make a statement about their team, and I have a ton of respect for them coming into the game, just watching film to get ready for the game and they were more impressive in person, and their point guard was phenomenal, everyone saw it. Everywhere guys were draining shots, and they played off him really well. They were outstanding, and we weren't."
ON ASU's DEFENSE "I knew that they were going to put pressure on us, and we hope that with our on-the-ball defense that we would have done a little bit of a better job with Ford a little earlier in the game. Once he got going the way, he was going early, and everything else started opening up. They have other guys that if you don't get to them, they can shoot, they can drive it. Fitz was a handful. They are a very good offensive team.
"He was just one of the few guys who had a rhythm on offense," said head coach Bobby Hurley of Verge's performance. "Once he got going, we knew we had to keep riding him and give him the ball just about every time...That was frustrating that we had that little of guys playing well that we had to resort to that tactic. But the irony of it, he's been practicing well. He shows up in practice, doesn't miss practice, he's working at it and getting better."
MOST POINTS OFF THE BENCH SINCE 1996-97 52, Roderic Hall (UTSA), Dec. 6, 1997 vs. Maine
52, Mike James (Lamar), Jan. 4, 2011 vs. Louisiana College
46, Ray Lee (Eastern Michigan), Feb. 2, 2016 vs. Miami (Ohio)
43, Alonzo Verge Jr. (Arizona State), Dec. 18, 2019 vs. Saint Mary's
43, Mike Singletary (Texas Tech), Mar. 11, 2009 vs. Texas A&M
SUN DEVIL MOST POINTS.@Zo_Verge4 with a season high 4??3?? points. 4th all-time in ASU Single Game history. pic.twitter.com/t5nd1EXSwd
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) December 19, 2019
61, Eddie House at California (2 OT), Jan. 8, 2000 46, Eddie House vs. San Diego State, Dec. 18, 1999 45, Paul Williams at USC, Mar. 10, 1983 43, Alonzo Verge Jr. vs. Saint Mary's, Dec. 18, 2019 42, Eddie House vs. Penn State, Dec. 29, 1999 40, Tra Holder vs. #15 Xavier, Nov. 24, 2017 40, Jahii Carson at UNLV, Nov. 19, 2013 40, James Harden vs. UTEP, Nov. 30, 2008 40, Eddie House vs. UCLA, Feb. 17, 2000
Romello White posted 12 boards, but ASU shot just .222 in the first half (8-of-36) and finished at 23-of-64 (.359). ASU was just 3-of-22 (.136) from the three-point stripe.
Next up, the Sun Devils continue a month of local games as the squad takes on Creighton at Desert Financial Arena on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 6:30 p.m. MT.
COACH BOBBY HURLEY OPENING STATEMENT "That was a hell of an effort by Saint Mary's certainly. They were prepared to play and prepared to make a statement about their team, and I have a ton of respect for them coming into the game, just watching film to get ready for the game and they were more impressive in person, and their point guard was phenomenal, everyone saw it. Everywhere guys were draining shots, and they played off him really well. They were outstanding, and we weren't."
ON ASU's DEFENSE "I knew that they were going to put pressure on us, and we hope that with our on-the-ball defense that we would have done a little bit of a better job with Ford a little earlier in the game. Once he got going the way, he was going early, and everything else started opening up. They have other guys that if you don't get to them, they can shoot, they can drive it. Fitz was a handful. They are a very good offensive team.