Arizona State basketball starts the 2024-25 season on Tuesday night against Idaho State.
A busy Tuesday across the nation, including Desert Financial Arena, where Arizona State basketball will face Idaho State on Nov. 5 at 9 p.m. EST/7 p.m. MST. This will be the sixth all-time meeting between the Sun Devils and the Bengals, with the Maroon and Gold taking the last four.
General Information
Teams: Arizona State (0-0) and Idaho State (0-0)
Tip Time: 7 p.m. MST (9 p.m. EST)
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: Arizona Sports 98.7 FM (KMVP)
What to know about Idaho State
The Bengals are coming off a 14-20 season overall, going 7-11 in the Big Sky. Despite being the eighth-ranked team in the conference, they made a run in last season’s Big Sky tournament. This included wins over seventh-seeded Northern Arizona and second-seeded Northern Colorado. The Bengals’ luck ran out in the semifinals with a 72-58 loss to third-seeded Montana.
After losing his top four scorers from last season, head coach Ryan Looney has refueled through the transfer portal. This includes redshirt sophomore guard Dylan Darling, who was a medical redshirt at Washington State last season and graduate forward Connor Hollenbeck from Minot State. Hollenbeck led the Beavers with seven rebounds per game, and averaged 11.8 points per game.
Looney also brought in graduate guard Jake O’Neil, who helped the College of Idaho to an NJCAA National Championship win in 2023. Junior guard Joey Madimba joins the team from Howard College (not to be mistaken with Howard University), where he averaged 23 points, six rebounds, and 1.3 assists.
The Bengals are starting off the season against teams formerly in the Pac-12. After their matchup against Arizona State, they will face USC in Los Angeles on Nov. 7.
Latest on Arizona State
Despite the season being young, the Sun Devils have already seen some concerns. They lost 103-47 to No. 7 Duke in the Brotherhood Charity Run Exhibition at Cameron Indoor Stadium. It was a homecoming for head coach Bobby Hurley, who played for the Blue Devils from 1989 to 1993.
Two forwards, senior Basheer Jihad and freshman Jayden Quaintance led the Maroon and Gold with 11 points. However, the Blue Devils outmatched the Sun Devils, with six players reaching double-digit point totals. They also went 17-for-34 from three-point range, going 15-for-23 in the second half.
“Hats off to where they are now and oh s– to where we are right now,” Hurley told reporters after the loss.
A couple of Sun Devils have been received some preseason accolades ahead of Tuesday’s season opener. Quaintance is one of the 20 candidates for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award given to the best center in the nation. Senior BJ Freeman is one of the 20 players on the Julius Erving Award watchlist, which is given to the best small forward in the country.