Arizona State meets Hofstra in Men's Basketball for first time

The Sun Devils host the Pride at Desert Financial Arena for a 7 PM MST contest on Tuesday night.

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Arizona State meets Hofstra in Men's Basketball for first time

Abbi McFaul

JRob Croy introduced prior to Friday's victory over Northern Colorado

by Connor SmithNovember 09, 2026

TEMPE — The 2026-27 Sun Devil Men’s Basketball team remains at home for a Tuesday night contest at 7 PM MST when Arizona State battles Hofstra at Desert Financial Arena.

Arizona State is off to a 2-0 start In the Randy Bennett era, picking up double-digit wins over Northern Colorado (90-63) and East Tennessee State (75-65). The Sun Devils will play for the first of two games this week, taking on Hofstra (1-1) for the first time in program history. This is the third part of a five-game homestand that starts the season, giving Sun Devil fans plenty of chances to see their team in person early on in the campaign.

Arizona State

Hofstra

The matchup
Arizona State faces Hofstra out of the Coastal Athletic Association. The two sides have never met before, one of three opponents the Sun Devils will face for the first time this season. This will be the second time Coach Bennett has played Hofstra in his career. The Gaels defeated the Pride, 76-48, on Nov. 19, 2022 in Moraga.

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How to follow
The broadcast of Sun Devil Men’s Basketball’s game on Friday will air on ESPN+ ($) when they take on Northern Colorado at Desert Financial Arena, scheduled for an 7 PM MST tip-off with Cronkite graduate and voice of Sun Devil Hockey Alex Coil and Sun Devil Athletics Hall of Famer Jeff Ayres (Pendergraph) on the call. Make sure to listen to Tim Healey and Kyle Dodd on ESPN 620 AM (KTAR). The action can also be tracked via live stats.

Murauskas' career-high 33 leads ASU past Northern Colorado

Full Recap

Last time out
Sun Devil Men's Basketball put together a dominant effort in their 90-63 victory over Northern Colorado on Friday night at Desert Financial Arena.

Arizona State (2-0) picks up their second win of the campaign in only the second meeting ever between the two programs. The Bears came into the game as one of the nation's top-scoring teams after a 117-point display in their season opener. Their offense was neutralized by a stingy Sun Devil defense effort, as Northern Colorado was held to only 63.

Offense would not be a problem for Arizona State either, especially senior forward Paulius Murauskas. Following his 21-point Sun Devil debut, he backed it up by setting a new career-high in scoring. Murauskas finished with 33 points on 13-of-18 (72.2%) shooting, completing the fourth 30-point performance of his career.

Senior guard Bryce Ford provided scoring support off the bench, making the most of his minutes as a reserve. In his 22 minutes of action, Ford scored 17 points on 6-of-11 (54.5%) shooting.

As a team, ASU shot 53.8% and scored 90 points for the first time since posting 100 on Washington State at the 2025 Maui Invitational.

A key to the game plan was limiting preseason Big Sky Player of the Year Langston Reynolds. Sophomore wing Dillan Shaw did exactly that, shutting down the potential NBA Draft pick. Reynolds managed to score only 7 points and was extremely inefficient, making only 3 of 11 shots (27.2%).

What the Sun Devils have done as a team defensively over two games hasn’t been seen in over a decade. This is the first time ASU has held its opponent to 65 points or less in each of its first two games of the season since the 2014-15 campaign.

"Bryce gave us a lift off the bench. He made some shots and also competed on the defensive end. His teammates got him some open looks and he took advantage of that. He probably thought he would play more last game, but it just didn't work out that way. I am happy he didn't dwell on that and he came out and performed when his number was called upon today."

Randy Bennetton Bryce Ford's performance

Sun Devil Men's Basketball Postgame Media Availability

vs. Northern Colorado | 11.6.26

Big 12 Starting Five of the Week: Paulius Murauskas
The Big 12 Starting Five of the Week for games running Nov. 2-8 included Sun Devil forward Paulius Murauskas. The preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and Karl Malone Award Watch List selection left quite the impression on Sun Devil fans in his debut week in Maroon and Gold.

Murauskas helped the Sun Devils pick up a pair of double-digit victories to open the Randy Bennett era. He was absolutely dominant this week, showing why many project him as an All-American candidate and potential NBA Draft pick. Murauskas averaged 27.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 36.5 minutes per game while shooting 58.1% (18/31) from the field and 84.2% (16/19) from the free-throw line. Murauskas is one of only six Big 12 players to have a 30-point game so far this season. His 27.0 points per game ranks seventh nationally and second in the Big 12.

The Kaunas, Lithuania native becomes the fifth Sun Devil to claim a weekly conference award in the Big 12 and 37th overall. A Sun Devil has received a weekly conference award on 57 occasions.

Big 12 Starting Five - 11/9
Ivan Kharchenkov, Arizona
Paulius Murauskas, Arizona State
Robert Wright III, BYU (Player of the Week)
Dior Johnson, UCF
Miles Sadler, West Virginia (Freshman of the Week)

Like Ike
Murauskas has 54 points through the first two games of the season (21 points vs. ETSU, 33 points vs. Northern Colorado). That is the most points by a Sun Devil through two games since Ike Diogu had 56 through the first two contests of the 2004 campaign.

Ike Diogu

56 points

Paulius Murauskas

54 points

Better call Paul-ius
Murauskas entered the game with over 1,100 career points, the most of any Sun Devil. He added to that total tonight with his 4th career 30-point performance and 23rd career 20-point performance. Murauskas is one of only six Big 12 players to have a 30-point game so far this season. He set a new career-high in scoring, breaking the previous mark of 32 he set with Saint Mary’s at Pacific on February 14, 2026. He was 13-of-18 (72.2%) from the field, also setting a new career-high with 13 made field goals. That is tied for the most made by a Big 12 player in a single game this season (Dior Johnson, UCF).

Reynolds wrapped
Northern Colorado features the Big Sky Preseason Player of the Year and 2024-25 First Team All-Big Sky selection Langston Reynolds. Last season at Minnesota, playing in the Big Ten, he averaged 11.6 points per game and shot 53.8% from the field in 33 games. In 2024-25, before transferring, he averaged 16 points on 58.3% shooting in 34 games. In his career, he shoots 56.0% from the field.

The Sun Devil defense, led by Dillan Shaw, held him to just seven points on 3-of-11 (27.2%). They also forced Reynolds to commit three turnovers, and he was a -14 in 33 minutes.

E-Man down, Bryce Ford up
Bryce Ford stepped up in the absence of starting wing senior Emmanuel Innocenti, who missed the game due to injury. Ford came off the bench and scored 17 points in 22 minutes. He was efficient in getting those points, shooting 6-of-11 from the field and 2-of-5 from behind the arc. It is his seventh double-digit scoring performance of his ASU career (6 in 27 games last year).

Ford also grabbed a pair of rebounds and made all three of his free throws, ending the night a +19 in his 29th career game as a Sun Devil. Ford also eclipsed the 500-point mark tonight (currently at 505 career points).

Getting defensive
Arizona State has been extremely effective defensively through two games. They have yet to allow over 65 points after limiting the Bears to only 63 tonight. This is the first time since the 2014-15 campaign that they have started a year by allowing 65 points or less in each of the first two games. Opponents averaged 78.3 points per game last year, but are only mustering 64.0 points per game through two contests this year.

Coming into the matchup, Northern Colorado was one of the top-scoring teams after a 117-point outburst in their season opener. ASU caused the Bears’ offense fits, holding them to their lowest point total since scoring 49 at Cleveland State on March 24, 2024. UNC shot 56.3% in the first game and was limited to only 42.9% against the Sun Devils.

Ball security
A strength of the Sun Devils through two games has been their ability to not turn the ball over. It was a beautiful display of discipline and execution tonight, as ASU committed only five turnovers. That matches their season-low from last year, which they set in a win over Utah on Feb. 28, 2026. It is only the fourth game in the past six seasons that the Maroon and Gold has turned the ball over five times or less. Through two games, Arizona State has combined for 15 turnovers. That is the fewest at this point to start a season since at least 2003. The 7.5 turnovers per game currently rank ninth nationally and second in the Big 12.

Chasing 600
After winning 589 games at Saint Mary's, Randy Bennett now has two wins as the head coach at Arizona State. He is now only nine wins shy of 600 career wins at the Division I level. Bennett is looking to become just the 46th head coach in NCAA DI history to earn 600 wins in their career. With 591 wins, Bennett currently ranks 51st on the all-time coaching wins list, just two shy of passing Guy Lewis (592) to enter the Top-50.

What does the Fox say?
Joel Foxwell did not need to score to impact tonight's game. In fact, he had six assists before his first bucket came with 13:50 in the second half. He still managed to finish with 7 points and added eight assists, while adding three rebounds, two steals and a block. He now has five or more assists in 28 of his 36 career games. Foxwell was a +15 and did not commit a turnover despite a high workload. Through two games, Foxwell has 13 assists and only 1 turnover. His 13:1 assist to turnover ratio ranks sixth nationally and first in the Big 12.

Handcuffing Hammond
Northern Colorado freshman guard Jeremiah Hammond came into the game as the Bears leading scorer after a 17-point season opener. He struggled against the Sun Devils' defense, finishing with only two points and he was a -15 in 14 minutes of action.

Sun Devil Men's Basketball Transfer Class

Impact transfers
An eight-man transfer class immediately bolstered the Sun Devil Men’s Basketball roster. It is the highest-ranked transfer class in program history, tabbed by 247 Sports as the No. 15 best class in the nation.

Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year Paulius Murauskas highlights the group. Fellow Saint Mary's standout under Bennett Dillan Shaw was also a major get. Bennett managed to add two more WCC starters to his group in Portland's Joel Foxwell and Gonzaga's Emmanuel Innocenti.

Associate Head Coach Rick Croy brought a pair of big men, Nate Garcia and Jonathan Griman, from Cal Baptist with him. Associate Head Coach David Patrick did the same with forward Marcus Vaughns. Center Ben Defty from Boston University completed arguably the No. 1 transfer class in the Big 12 Conference, according to 247 Sports.

Sun Devils by country
United States (5)
Australia (3)
Lithuania (2)
Germany (1)
Ivory Coast (1)
Venezuela (1)
Serbia (1)

Most International players by school
UT Martin (14)
St. John's (12)
Portland (11)
Arizona State (9)
Albany (9)

The global game
Sun Devil Men’s Basketball has a roster with players from all over the World. Seven countries are represented by the nine International Sun Devils on the 2026-27 roster. The nine International players are tied for the fourth-most in the country.

Filip Malesevic7'3"

Ben Defty7'1"

Nate Garcia7'0"

Jonathan Griman6'11"

Ajak Nyuon6'10"

Paulius Murauskas6'8"

Marcus Vaughns6'8"

New heights
This is officially the tallest team in the history of the Sun Devil Men's Basketball program. The combined height of the squad is an insane 93'3". For the first time in program history, the roster features three seven-footers. Seven Sun Devils are listed at 6'8" or taller, while 13 of the 14 are at least 6'4". Arizona State is one of only seven teams with three or more seven-footers on their roster. To take it a step further, they are one of only five with multiple players listed at 7'1" or taller.

Marcus Vaughns

6-8

Vijay Wallace

6-6

Joel Foxwell

6-1

Bryce Ford

6-3190

Emmanuel Innocenti

G/F

6-5

JRob Croy

6-6

Jokubas Rudaitis

6-5

Jonathan Griman

6-11

Ajak Nyuon

6-10

#11

Dillan Shaw

G/F

6-7

#14

Ben Defty

7-1

#23

Paulius Murauskas

6-8

#25

Filip Malesevic

7-3

#35