Bench, fast break propel Men's Basketball to win in season opener

Series history
Arizona State and Southern Utah met for the sixth time since 1987, with the Sun Devils moving to a 6-0 against the Thunderbirds in the series. It was the first meeting between the two programs since 2005.

Home opener success
The Sun Devils have won their past 10 home openers under Bobby Hurley. They are averaging 79.5 points in home-opener games while giving up only 64.8. ASU is 12-1 in their last 13 home openers overall.

Season opener under Hurley
Arizona State is 9-2 in season openers against non-conference opponents in the Bobby Hurley era, having won nine of their last 10. Overall since 2000, the Maroon & Gold are 22-6 in season openers dating back to the 1998-99 season.

We will block you
Arizona State finished third in the Big 12 and Top-50 nationally averaging 4.5 blocks per game last year. The Sun Devils 139 total blocks were the 8th-most in program history. Two of the eight best shot-blocking seasons in program history have taken place in the Bobby Hurley era (170 in 2023). ASU is already off to a tremendous start in the category in 2025-26, blocking eight shots in the opening game.

Notables

• Southern Utah shot 4-25 from beyond the arc, marking their lowest 3FG percentage since Abilene Christian held them to 8.3 3FG% on February 20, 2025 last season. They shot 31% from three collectively last season. 
• Arizona State forced 16 turnovers and turned those into 15 points.
• Allen Mukeba made his presence known in the paint, racking up four blocks in his debut as a Sun Devil. That marks his 12th career game having three or more blocks. 
• Arizona State was efficient from the field in the first half, shooting 48.3% from the field and 33.3% beyond the arc. The Sun Devils finished the night shooting 49.2% from the field and 39.1% from deep.
• ASU held Southern Utah to only eight free throws attempted in the game. This marks the lowest free throws attempted by the Thunderbirds in a game since they had eight attempts against Grand Canyon on January 4th, 2025. 
• Freshman center Massamba Diop made his first collegiate start as a starter and didn’t fail to make his presence known. Diop finished the night with 14 points and five boards and three blocks, while shooting 6-of-8 from the field. 
• Last season, Arizona State had six double digit free throw game advantages. The Sun Devils already notch one game this year with a 10+ advantage from the stripe, finishing +12.
• The back-court duo of Moe Odum and Bryce Ford combined for 6-of-10 from deep.
• If you take out four of the five Thunderbird starters, including Jalen Lee, Jaiden Feroah, Isaiah Cottrell, and Elijah Duval, the rest of the Southern Utah team shot 7-of-33 (21.2%) from the field. 

Secured the dub😈😈 #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/2iNyG2H7uj

— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) November 5, 2025

First Half

After collapsing on the offense, the Sun Devils worked the ball around the perimeter and found junior forward, Andrija Grbović, for a mid-range pull up for the first score of the season. The continued effort on both ends saw ASU jump out to a 7-2 lead out the gate. The Sun Devils held onto a 9-6 lead heading into the first media timeout of the season, with 15:20 remaining to play in the half.

Coming out of the break, the Sun Devil defense held Southern Utah to six for just under three minutes with a major block from Anthony “Pig” Johnson. Pushing the ball ahead, senior guard, Moe Odum, swung the ball up the court and got the ball to senior guard, Anthony “Pig” Johnson, for a baseline runner that stretched the Sun Devil lead to 13-6. Arizona State didn’t take the foot off the pedal, as they continued to control the momentum on the fast break, taking a comfortable 10-point lead with 10:37 remaining.

Southern Utah landed back-to-back threes bringing ASU’s lead to within six, before senior guard Moe Odum, responded with one of his own. The Sun Devils used that momentum to push the lead to 11, leaving 7:52 on the clock till halftime. 

The Sun Devils guarded a 27-16 lead following the third media timeout, but the persistent defensive effort by Southern Utah resulted in a 6-0 run. A pair of free throws and a driving layup by Andrija Grbović were the only Sun Devil points in the four-minute stretch. 

Junior guard, Bryce Ford, fired his second three from just beyond the arc that jump started the offense for ASU with 2:54 to go in the half. The Sun Devils continued to find one another on the offensive end and headed into halftime with a 40-28 lead over the Thunderbirds.

THROW IT DOWN BIG FELLA 😈@h23_jr with 11 points! pic.twitter.com/he90w3Gh6J

— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) November 5, 2025

Second Half

Allen Mukeba made his impact felt to open up the half. Rejecting a turnaround jumper for his fourth block of the game, he then gave the Sun Devils their first score of the second half with a catch-and-shoot attempt from outside the arc. Arizona State held firm in their lead with a 45-34 score at the first media timeout.

The Sun Devils came out of the break on a run with a three-point jumper from sophomore guard Trevor Best, followed by a dunk from freshman center Massamba Diop to bring the lead to 51-36. The Sun Devils capitalized on some missed shot attempts by SUU and launched a 7-2 scoring run by the 13:33 mark. It was an 8-6 point differential going into the third media break.

Arizona State continued to work at both ends turning defense into offense. Behind threes from Johnson and Odum and a combined trio of blocks from Diop and (sophomore Santiago Trouet) Trouet, the Sun Devils erupted on a 12-5 run to go up 65-45.

As the game began to slip away, the Thunderbirds jumped out from the timeout break by going on a 7-2 run of their own. They were able to cut the lead down to 12 just before the two minute mark, before ASU answered back with seven of their own.

The Sun Devils were able to run away with the lead, ultimately winning 81-64 over the Thunderbirds at the sound of the horn.

 

 

 

 

 

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Quotables

Arizona State Head Coach Bobby Hurley

Opening Statement
“It’s nice to win. It’s nice to obviously get a win under our belt to start. We struggled at the end of last year. I told the team we hadn’t won a game in a long time. We had two close exhibitions that didn’t go our way. We had a lot of stuff going on in those games so the program needed to win today and just get off to the right start, mission accomplished there. It was hard for me to be overly enthusiastic though about just how we got there. There’s a lot of work to still be done, especially today defensively. We lost containment of the ball way too much. I thought we were too spread out on defense, not helping. When a guy did drive the ball they got to the paint way too much. They scored 40 points in the paint, we can’t really afford to do that as the water gets deeper over the next couple weeks. We need this practice time and good thing we have a few days until our next game.”

On the affect having international players has on the game
“I feel like this team fits well. I think we have some guys that can make shots. (senior guard Moe Odum) Moe is a guy that I could give the ball to and trust. He ended up with eight assists tonight. He didn’t shoot it great, but he made some shots early. I think he’ll continue to flourish with the way we play — looking for (freshman center Massamba Diop) Massamba and (junior forward Andrija Grbović) Andrija — and I think eventually they’ll really start connecting and working things out.”

On the culture of the new roster
“Everrything about this team, how they conduct themselves on campus, little things that people who work with them on a day in and day out basis are very complimentary of them and who they are as people. Even today I thought our pregame warm up was way better. Our coaches came in saying these guys were talking and they were working hard and they were excited to play. So from that standpoint, I really don’t have issues. It’s about locking in to all these things that I talked about, these mistakes and things we didn’t do in tonight’s game will haunt us as the games get more difficult. We have to really embrace that and make sure we’re getting better in those areas.” 

Senior guard Pig Johnson

On freshman center Massamba Diop’s performance
“I thought he played very well. I love the guy to death and I can’t wait to see what he does this year. We’re going to keep picking him up everyday to help him get better as a player but I’m very excited to see what he will do.”

On what the defense needs to improve on
“I know Coach (Hurley) doesn’t like how we gave up 40 points in the paint. So we got to look back at the film and do what we can to get better as a team.”

Up Next
Sun Devil Men's Basketball will stay in Tempe to host Utah Tech on November 9th at 1 p.m. MST. Coverage can be seen on ESPN+ 

Sun Devils on social
For exclusive content, the latest updates, and more information on the Sun Devil Men's Basketball program and the Duke exhibition matchup, follow our X/Instagram accounts (@SunDevilHoops), like our Facebook page (facebook.com/SunDevilHoops/), and visit our website (thesundevils.com). Follow Coach Hurley on X (@BobbyHurley11).