Arizona State basketball beat Cal Poly 93-89 on Wednesday night at Desert Financial Arena.
It was another trap game for the Sun Devils (5-1), who came out with wavering energy throughout the 40 minutes. While the Mustangs (3-3) never led, they came close to stealing the advantage a few times.
The Maroon and Gold only broke away with six seconds remaining, as senior guard BJ Freeman knocked down two free throws to make it a four-point game. Cal Poly tried to respond with a triple, but came up short.
All five starters, plus freshman guard Joson Sanon got into double figures in the seven-man rotation, as the Maroon and Gold posted a season-high in points. Nonetheless, it was not a good showing on the defensive end.
“Our defense took a step back,” Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley said. “We didn’t really guard them individually off the dribble. We didn’t really guard the line. One on one, they made some difficult shots. Overall, that end of the floor hurt us.”
Here are three takeaways from the win.
Takeaway #1: Three-point shooting helps visitors more than hosts
For the first minutes of the game, you could have played the “Corner Three” graphic from Tecmo NBA Basketball, as the Sun Devils hit on their first four three-point attempts. In fact, the first 18 points on the night came from triples.
While Arizona State was forced to drive to the basket, Cal Poly still resorted to the wings and corners to nip into the deficit. While only shooting 35.1% from beyond-the-arc, the Mustangs hit 13 triples. On the other side, the Maroon and Gold, who shot 41.7%, had 10 go through the net. Overall, there were 61 total three-point attempts in the game.
“I know they have shooters, but we have to be in a good position and we had too many breakdowns in that regard,” Hurley said. “We also were messing with those little ghost screens that they had, where it’s not really a screen, and then they’re slipping and then there are two guys guarding one guy. So, we got to get back to just our principles and being disciplined about it.”
Graduate point guard Jarred Hyder led the visitors with a season-high 27 points, draining seven three-pointers. He was the source for multiple attempts late. This included a shot down 74-73 that would have given the Mustangs their first lead of the night. Instead, he air balled it. He also leaned into contact on a three-point shot with his team down 91-87. He made two of his three free throws on that trip.
Takeaway #2: Sun Devils lean on scrappiness
Through the first half, it seemed like the Mustangs had cracked Basheer Jihad. The senior forward, who has combined for 57 points in the last three games, only posted five through the opening 20 minutes, and turned the ball over three times.
Luckily, his fellow forward, Jayden Quaintance, helped him out on both ends. His nine points, six rebounds (four on the offensive end), and four blocks in the first half electrified the Sun Devil faithful who were growing restless as Cal Poly hung around. It was a good start for him en route to his second consecutive double-double in Maroon and Gold.
Nonetheless, both teams went after each other, with 46 fouls handed out–29 for Cal Poly, and 17 for Arizona State. The hosts entered the bonus with roughly 12 minutes remaining in the game. Graduate guard Mac Riniker and freshman guard Peter Bandelj fouled out for the Mustangs.
So, the game came down to the stripe, with drives from Jihad drawing the fouls. He went 6-for-9 on his free throws, which included two to give the Sun Devils a four-point lead with less than two minutes remaining before he fouled out.
But overall, the Maroon and Gold struggled on their free throws, only going 27-for-41 from the line. This included going 6-for-11 in the first half, keeping the Mustangs in the game once they hit a surge in the second.
“If all of (our key players) are doing what they’re supposed to do and shooting 90%, then free throws shouldn’t be a problem,” Hurley said. “(Jihad) has proven in some big games that he’s able to make clutch free throws. We got to just work a little bit with JQ (Jayden Quaintance). I thought he was rushing his free throws a little bit. I think that’s manageable with him.”
The Sun Devils also out rebounded the Mustangs 44-24, marking the second consecutive game where they won that battle by more than 10.
Takeaway #3: Sanon, Miller come up clutch in the end
Speaking of triples and free-throws, a couple of Sun Devils, new and old, helped them achieve the close victory.
Freshman guard Joson Sanon led the team with 22 points off the bench. He scored 15 in the first half, and was held quiet in the second until the waning moments. Like Jihad, he went 6-for-9 on his free throws, including 5-for-6 in the final four minutes. His play down the wire compensated for defenses stopping his production during the run of play.
“Good teams will adjust, and we tried to make a concerted effort to get him the ball,” Hurley said. “He had the ball in space. He drove it more. I think they were crowding him, knowing what he’s done the last couple games. He was able to get by his man and get to the free-throw line.”
Redshirt senior guard Adam Miller tied his season-high 16 points on Wednesday night. While he has been seen as more of a facilitator this year, the two-time transfer made some decisive shots, with 13 points in the second half. This included back-to-back triples to fend off the Mustangs when both teams were in the 70s.
“I’ve been talking to coach about my game,” Miller said. “I know that I can play make, still finding my shots when I can. Trying to find that fine line as a combo guard and just trying to find my role out there and just continuing to be me.”
“I thought in a game that we were in a little bit of trouble, he came in and made some big shots,” Hurley said about Miller. “He’s not 100% right now, so this time (before the next game) will be good for him.”
Next game for Arizona State (5-1): vs. New Mexico (3-1) – Nov. 28 at 11:30 p.m. EST
Next game for Cal Poly (3-3): at St. Mary’s (5-0) – Nov. 23 at 8 p.m. EST