Arizona State Basketball Takes First Big 12 Home Game Over Colorado: 3 Takeaways

Arizona State basketball outplayed Colorado 81-61 at Desert Financial Arena on Saturday evening.

A sweet homecoming for the Sun Devils, who played their first home game since Dec. 3. They continue to be unbeaten in Tempe this season.

The Maroon and Gold had a dream start, leading 32-11 with 7:52 remaining in the first half. Although the Buffaloes went into halftime on a 10-0 run, the hosts held a double digit advantage for the rest of the game. Additionally, Alston Mason, reached the 1,000 point mark in his career, ending the evening with 7 points.

“Good bounce back, back against the wall type of game just with what our schedule looks like here in the near future and coming off the BYU game shorthanded without our leading scorer,” Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley said. “I thought the guys really rallied and played well.”

Here are three takeaways from the win.

Takeaway #1: Freeman leads despite shortened stint

Going into conference play, BJ Freeman was the team’s top scorer in the Nov. 8 game against Santa Clara. But that has changed recently, leading the way in the past two games. After an 11-point performance against BYU, Freeman posted a season-high 19 points, along with four rebounds and four assists. Not only did he build Arizona State basketball’s advantage with his shots, but also in guarding the Buffaloes.

“I think it was by being our brother’s keeper,” Freeman said about the defensive performance. “Playing help-side defense, doing the little things, making sure that we’re talking on our point-switching and just communicating and being loud because we know everywhere we play is going to be a loud gym. So, just being able to have each other’s backs and communicate.”

However, Freeman’s performance was shortened, as he was ejected with less than nine minutes to go in the game. Hurley said that Freeman was caught in a ball screen, getting his arm caught in a “bad area.” Nonetheless, it was an ejection that perplexed Hurley and the crowd.

“I didn’t see the play yet, so I don’t know for sure (what happened),” Hurley said. “Mike Reed said it. I’ve been around him for a while, so I imagine it was on point. But he played very well. We could have used him in the past eight minutes.”

Takeaway #2: Forwards step up in Sanon’s absence

Arizona State basketball fans were in for a surprise, as they saw Joson Sanon in street clothes during warm-ups. The freshman guard, albeit coming off the bench, led the team with 13.5 points per game ahead of Saturday evening’s contest. While Sanon has struggled over the past three games, the rest of the team needed to step up in his absence.

“He’s moving fairly good and he’s doing a little bit more each day,” Hurley said about Sanon. “It’s hard to put a timeline on it.”

Enter the forwards.

Whether they were starting or coming off the bench, they look unfazed against a top-heavy lineup in Colorado, pushing the team to victory.

“It was (a) big (win) because that was hard,” senior forward Basheer Jihad said about the victory. “It was a wide awakening being in our first Big 12 games, so to come back and perform how we did felt really good.”

The two starters–Jihad and freshman Jayden Quaintance–reached double figures after failing to reach it against BYU. Jihad led the way with 17 points while Quaintance put up 11 points and 10 rebounds to post his fourth double-double in the 2024-25 campaign.

But the biggest surprise came from Shawn Phillips Jr. He tied his season-high 8 points, posting multiple dunks during his 17-minute appearance. Hurley said that Phillips, who played on a sore foot, could have been ruled out along with Sanon.

“He was moving great, rebounding, getting second chances with offensive rebounds,” Hurley said about Phillips. “He was a real plus tonight.”

Takeaway #3: Baskin’s career day carries Colorado

Arizona State basketball put out a textbook plan to defeat the Buffaloes. It held Colorado’s leading scorer Julian Hammond III to zero points, and the rest of the lineup to single figures.

“It was like pulling a string, and everybody was connected,” Hurley said about the defense. “We have to commit to playing that type of defense. This league has some physical, tough, athletic teams.”

His team forgot about Trevor Baskin though.

The graduate forward is the leading rebounder for the Buffaloes, transferring to Boulder after four seasons at Division 2 Colorado Mesa. He posted his fourth double-figure showing of the season, surpassing his old season high of 13 points. Additionally, he also notched his second double-double for Colorado. Baskin did all of this in 29 minutes off the bench.

While Arizona State basketball allowed the Buffaloes space to thrive in the second half, Baskin put up nine points in the opening 20 minutes, sparking a run right before halftime. But he had 14 points in the second half, which is more than the starting five during that stretch.  Baskin’s 23 points overall was made up of nine made field goals and five free throws. He did not attempt a single three-pointer.

Up next for Arizona State (10-3, 1-1): at No. 7 Kansas (9-3, 0-1) – Jan. 8 at 9 p.m. EST

Up next for Colorado (9-4, 0-2): at UCF (10-2, 1-0) – Jan. 8 at 7 p.m. EST