TEMPE – Sun Devil Men's Basketball returned to winning form in their home opener, defeating Texas Southern 63-52 Saturday afternoon at Desert Financial Arena.
Behind a smother defensive effort, Arizona State (1-1) led for nearly 36 minutes of the contest. Coach Hurley's team emphasized aggressiveness in an attempt to bounce back. The style of play was evident as they went to force 19 turnovers, record 11 steals and hold the Tigers to shoot 5-for-29 from beyond the arc.
The Sun Devils were guided by three double-digit scorers and featured a balanced offensive effort. Frankie Collins led the way with 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Kamari Lands reached double-figures for the second straight game with 12 points on 2-of-4 shooting from three. Jamiya Neal had 10 points and seven rebounds, as the team shot 45% (5-for-11) from beyond the arc in the second half to create separation.
A WINDMILL POSTER ??
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) November 11, 2023
Jamiya Neal took off ??@TheSunDevils /// @jamiyaneal_ pic.twitter.com/E0GnTuCAYJ
KEY MOMENTS:
- After allowing the opening basket, The Sun Devils outscored the Tigers 11-4 in 2:48 early in the first half to hold an 11-6 lead.
- Held Texas Southern 1-for-11 from the field in a 5:55 span in the first half.
- Ahead by six, Zane Meek's back-to-back triples kick-started the Sun Devils to extend their lead back to ten in the second half.
- Following a Texas Southern timeout, Frankie Collins drained back-to-back three's giving ASU a 12 point lead with five minutes remaining in the game.
NOTABLES:
- The Sun Devils have won ten of their last 11 home openers, and have won their last eight home openers under Bobby Hurley.
- ASU swiped nine steals in the first half alone as part of an aggressive defensive effort.
- Last season Arizona State reached the nine-steal mark in only nine games.
- The maroon & gold would finish with 11 steals which ties for the third most steals since the start of the 2022 season.
- Arizona State forced Texas Southern to shoot 32.4% from the field, which is the third lowest percentage an opponent has shot against the Sun Devils since the start of the 2022 season.
- Frankie Collins 13 points, 6 assists and eight rebounds makes it the seventh time in his Sun Devil tenure that he's had 10+ points, 5+ assists and 5+ rebounds in a single game.
- Kamari Lands reached double digits for the second consecutive contest with 12 points, two rebounds and two steals.
- Alonzo Gaffney achieved a career high of 4 steals, his previous best was two steals against USC on March 9, 2023.
He also swatted three blocks, the most since Feb. 4, 2023 against Oregon.
- Alonzo Gaffney achieved a career high of 4 steals, his previous best was two steals against USC on March 9, 2023.
FIRST HALF:
The Sun Devil defense forced four Texas Southern turnovers in the opening three minutes of the game, where Alonzo Gaffney gave ASU a 4-2 lead with 17:13 remaining in the half.
In the ensuing 3:46 span, four different Sun Devils scored, featuring a Lands triple to give ASU an 11-6 lead. The Tigers would cut the lead to three heading into the media timeout with 13:26 remaining.
The Tigers managed to cut the lead to six, but Jamiya Neal awoke the Sun Devil faithful with an emphatic two-handed slam, extending the lead to eight, 20-12 with 8:42 remaining.
The score remained stagnant as Arizona State managed to hold Texas Southern scoreless in a 3:39 span after the break, but Gaffney's third steal of the half led to a violent Jamiya Neal windmill, waking up the crowd. He would later convert the 3-point play giving ASU a 28-18 lead with 2:31 remaining in the half.
A late bucket by the Tigers gave the Sun Devils a 28-20 lead going into halftime, as Neal led scoring with eight points with four rebounds on the day.
SECOND HALF:
Returning from halftime, Kamari Lands cashed in a jumper to extend the lead to ten, after trading baskets, the Tigers outscored the Sun Devils 6-2, prompting an ASU timeout with 17:56 remaining cutting the lead to four, 32-28.
Following the timeout, Lands buried a triple extending the lead back to seven, 35-28. After a media stoppage, ASU went 3-for-4 from the line to bring their lead back to ten with 15:03 remaining.
Texas Southern went on a 10-2 span in 2:18, making it 40-38 with 12:56 remaining. Then on a fast break Lands slammed home a dunk rejuvenating the Sun Devil faithful, 42-38. Two free throws by Neal extended the lead back to six entering the halfway point of the half.
Zane Meeks cashed from beyond the arc twice to electrify Desert Financial Arena, bringing the Sun Devil lead to double-digits, 50-40 forcing the Tigers to call a timeout with 6:51.
After the break, Collins got the hot-hand, making back-to-back from beyond the arc pushing the lead to 12, 56-44.
UP NEXT:
Sun Devil Men's Basketball remains at Desert Financial Arena on Thursday, Nov. 16 against UMass Lowell. Tip off is slated for 7 p.m. and coverage can be seen on Pac-12 Network and can be heard on the radio waves on Arizona Sports 98.7FM with Tim Healey and Kyle Dodd on the call. Tickets for Sun Devil Men's Basketball 2023-24 non-conference games are on sale now. Visit the following link for more information. Conference games will become available on Friday, Nov. 24. Ticket packages start at just $90 and the home schedule features match-ups against top ranked USC, UCLA and Arizona. Season Tickets and Mini Plans are now available.
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Arizona State Head Coach Bobby Hurley:
Opening Statement:
"Hey guys, I wouldn't say it was a real celebratory locker room. I liked our energy early in the game…it was something, it was a point of emphasis after Wednesday night's game versus Mississippi State. I thought we were really, we allowed them to pass the ball and dribble the ball and get to whatever spots they wanted and, you know, we didn't impose our will at all defensively in that game. I think we had 15 deflections at halftime and turned them over 16 times, you know, so that was a real positive. Unfortunately, it just didn't…translate into points, I think due to, you know, how we shot the ball at the free throw line. That was kind of fairly consistent throughout the whole game. So it's…it's just a little puzzling because we were not really doing that in Europe or, you know, in our scrimmages. So it's just that this kind of surfaced out of nowhere. So, I can attribute it to…new players, new environment, and hopefully that's not something that is gonna be an issue for us. Besides I think we're, you know, a better free throw shooting team than what we showed tonight. But I think that played a major role is putting a lot of pressure on our offense, in that game."
On getting the offense into a flow when stagnant
"I mean, I think it's as simple as the first half is, if we shoot 75% from the free throw line and make a couple of layups that we miss, we have 40 points and then, we're going into halftime, maybe feeling better about ourselves and at that end of the floor. And, it was a snowball effect of missing free throws that kind of carried over into other parts of our offense. And then, it just, and we didn't guard anybody to start the second half if you noticed that…at the 12 minute mark, they already had 18 points and they had 20 in the first half total. So we didn't guard right out of the chute to start the second half. So, it's early in the season, I'm glad that we were able to win this game and now, you know, we have some time to practice to get guys more acclimated and…figure out a way to get better."
On beating Texas Southern who is a decent non-conference team
"Yeah, Texas Southern is the team that is gonna scrap and fight and they have good athletes and they…usually win one or two games a year like this. And unfortunately it was us last year and that was probably part of the reason we had to go to Dayton. But, you know, it was good to obviously just put this game behind us, you know usually after a win, we're happier you know, I don't, I didn't feel like the locker room overall was…was very pleased with what we just did even though we won. And that's what I hope to see because, I don't want that to be the standard because we, it's unacceptable for us to, you know, do some of the things we did statistically in this game and have any expectation of beating, you know, an elite opponent that's in our future."
Arizona State Guard/Forward Kamari Lands:
On post-game feeling:
"I feel like it was a good one just to get one on the board. Like we were saying in the locker room, we definitely just got a lot to improve on, we know where we can be and we know where we need to be. We're just building to that. The loss we had before we couldn't dwell on that. We also can't just celebrate and stick to this, we gotta improve. I think that's the message, it was kind of pull apart, but at the end of the day, a win is a win. We need to be positive with each other, like we did pull out a win."
On what the team needs to work on by next game:
"We need to start closing out our games when we get leads. I feel that's the main thing. Our offensive execution is number two, we were up 10 in the second half and we let them go on an 8-0 run, if that ain't right. We got to start having our energy reciprocated in both halves. In the first half, we had great energy, getting steals, getting out and passing lanes. In the second half, we kind of slowed that down and kinda started getting threes. So just stuff like that."
Arizona State Guard Frankie Collins:
On being a leader:
"I just gotta be that guy who steps up and as the point guard, I gotta be the leader. If I'm a leader, that means I gotta do everything across the board and lead by example. If I go in there and rebound hopefully that means some of my other guards are going in there and helping out rebound."
On the team's development:
"I think it's gonna develop how we wanted to. We got to take our time, it takes time. We just added a new player about a month ago. We just gotta figure out our offense, and try to play hard all the time. That's one thing we're lacking right now, is not consistently playing hard. I think if we just be consistent and just go out there and play hard, play for each other, I think we'll be good along the days."
Shawn Phillips Jr. and free-throws by Collins pulled the Sun Devils ahead by 12. The team forced the Tigers to miss five of their last six shots to achieve their first victory of the year 63-52.