Men's Basketball Rides Hot Shooting in First Big 12 Win

BEST SHOOTING PERCENTAGES UNDER HURLEY

SEASON STATS (PDF) /// GAME BOOK (PDF)

TEMPE – Sun Devil Men's Basketball hosted their first home Big 12 conference game against familiar foe Colorado in their return to Desert Financial Arena.
 
Arizona State (10-3, 1-1) controlled the action from the opening whistle against the Buffaloes (9-4, 0-2), claiming their first conference victory of the season. They led for 39 minutes in the dominant 81-61 victory. A 13-0 scoring run put together by Arizona State in the first half followed by a 10-2 run in the second created the separation necessary to put Colorado away. Head Coach Bobby Hurley's team shot 52% overall and made 13 three point field goals in the victory.
 
Four Sun Devils managed to reach double-digit figures tonight, with senior guard/forward BJ Freeman pacing the offensive attack. He finished with 19 points - connecting on 8-of-12 from the field - while also dishing out four assists. Senior forward Basheer Jihad found his rhythm from beyond the arc today, finishing with 17 points thanks in large part to a 4-of-6 mark from deep. Freshman forward Jayden Quaintance put together another double-double, finishing with 11 points and 10 boards while shooting 5-of-9 from the field. Freshman Amier Ali came off the bench and was able to cash in at the free throw line, knocking down 7-of-7 attempts from the stripe in a 10-point effort.

Hot Start
The Sun Devils got off to a terrific start, holding a 13-point lead at halftime. The last time ASU led by such a margin at the break in conference play was Feb. 19, 2023 vs Oregon State (42-29).

Dominant Devils
Arizona State won by 20 points, the largest margin of victory in conference play since a 71-44 home victory over California on March 3, 2022. The Maroon and Gold have outscored opponents 161-114 in their past two home games, good for an average margin of victory of 23.5 points per win.

Holding Hammond Down
A big key to ASU's success was limiting Colorado guard Julian Hammond II. He leads the team in points, averaging 13.8 on the season. Arizona State completely shut him down, as he finished with 0 points on 0-of-7 shooting from the field. 

Successful Strategy
One of the game plans for Arizona State was to take away Colorado's perimeter scoring. Buffaloes frontline of forward Trevor Baskin and center Elijah Malone combined for 31 points, shooting 13-22 (59%) from the field. The other eight players combined for 30 points, shooting 10-44 (23%) from the field and 3-23 (13%) from beyond the arc. 

Difference Maker
Entering the contest, Arizona State and Colorado were both tied in the Top-60 nationally shooting 36.7% from three-point range. In today's matchup, Arizona State shot 13-of-28 (46%) while Colorado shot 3-of-24 (13%) from deep. It is the fifth time this season ASU has made double digit three-point shots and they are 5-0 in those contests. This was the Buffaloes' lowest three field-goal percentage in a game since they shot 1-9 (11%) against Brown on November 22, 2021.

80-Point Mark
The Sun Devils scored 80 points or more for the eighth time through 13 games this season after doing it only six times in 32 games last year. ASU is 7-1 when reaching the 80-point mark, with their only loss coming at No. 19 Gonzaga.

On Target
Arizona State finished 28-of-54 from the field, which is 51.9%. That is the 54th time that ASU has shot 50% or higher under Coach Hurley. ASU is now 50-4 (.926) when it shoots 50 percent from the field in that span.
2024-25: 3-0
2023-24: 4-1
2022-23: 6-0
2021-22: 2-1
2020-21: 5-1
2019-20: 4-0
2018-19: 9-0
2017-18: 10-0
2016-17: 4-0
2015-16: 3-0

Running Away
- Arizona State put together a 9-0 run after trailing 6-5 to take an early lead
- They then went on a 13-0 run over a 2:26 stretch in the first half to push their lead to 23 points
- A 10-2 run at the beginning of the second half erased any hope of a Colorado comeback

Block Party
Freshman Jayden Quaintance has recorded 41 blocks thus far in the 2024-2025 season, which is the third-most of any player in the nation. He has already surpassed Pac-12 career blocks leader Jordan Bachynski on the ASU freshman single-season blocks list. Quaintance has the second-most blocks in a single season by a freshman in program history and has done it in only 13 games. He has two or more blocks in 12 of 13 games this year, including six 4+ block performances. 
 
Sun Devil Freshman Blocks Record (1978-79-present)
55, Mario Bennett, 1991-92
41, Jayden Quaintance, 2024-25
33, Jamal Faulkner, 1990-91
31, Ike Diogu, 2002-03

Hitting the Glass
Not only has Quaintance solidified his status as a premier shot blocker nationally, he has also been outstanding on the glass. That continued on Saturday, as he grabbed 10 rebounds. He is on pace to become the program's all-time leader in rebounds per game by a freshman, a record previously held by Ike Diogu back in 2002-03. Quaintance came into the game fifth in the Big 12 in rebounding.

Sun Devil Freshman Rebounds per Game Record (1978-79-present)
8.2 Jayden Quaintance, 2024-25
7.8, Ike Diogu, 2002-03
7.1, Romello White, 2017-18
6.8, Mario Bennett, 1991-92
6.2, Marcus Bagley, 2020-21
6.2, Jamal Faulkner, 1990-91
6.1, Jeff Pendergraph, 2005-06
5.8, Johnny Nash, 1976-77
5.4, Kyle Cain, 2010-11
5.3, James Harden, 2007-08

Double Doubles
Jayden Quaintance put together another double-double performance, finishing with 11 points and 10 rebounds. It was his fourth double-double of the season. Quaintance is one of only five Big 12 players with four or more double doubles this year. Quaintance is now averaging 11.1 points and 9.7 rebounds in the past nine games.

Ba-Sheer Force
In his first two games, Basheer Jihad combined for five points on 1-of-10 shooting. Over his past 11 games, Jihad has accumulated 171 points (15.5 ppg) on 51-of-95 (53.7%) shooting. That includes a 17-point effort on 6-of-9 shooting in the win against Colorado. He is also 56-for-75 (74.7%) from the free throw line during that span. 

Milestone Watch
Guard Alston Mason scored seven points to reach the 1,000-point mark in his career. He also dished out four assists. On top of that, BJ Freeman also set his own milestone by reaching the 1,300-point mark. 

Charity Stripe
Coming into the game, Amier Ali was 9-17 (53%) from the line. Ali was clutch from the strip today, connecting on all seven of his attempts from the line to bring his total to 16-24 (66%) this season.

First Half
Adam Miller opens the night with a contested jay beyond the arc to give the Sun Devils their first points of the night, leading 3-2 over the Buffaloes. BJ Freeman found Jayden Quaintance in the paint for an easy layup to increase Arizona State's lead to 10-6 with 17:29 remaining. The Sun Devils held onto a 13-6 lead over Colorado heading into the first media timeout of the half. 
 
Alston Mason found BJ Freeman for a catch-and-shoot beyond the arc, giving Arizona State a 17-8 lead with 13:00 remaining. Shawn Phillips Jr. got physical in the paint and managed to put the ball in the basket, giving the Sun Devils a 19-8 lead over the Buffaloes heading into the second media timeout.
 
Alston Mason managed to blow by his defender for a floater inside the paint to boost Arizona State's lead to 24-11 with 9:32 left in the first half. In the span of 2:26, the Sun Devils put together a 13-0 scoring run, giving the Sun Devils a comfortable 32-11 lead with 7:49 remaining.
 
Shawn Phillips outspan his defender for a grown-man slam, increasing Arizona State's lead margin to 21. The Sun Devils held onto a 38-17 lead with 3:15 remaining in the first half. 
 
The Buffaloes managed to put together a 10-0 scoring run, forcing the Sun Devils to take a timeout to regroup while still holding onto a 40-27 lead with 44 seconds left. Arizona State closed out the first half holding onto a promising 40-27 lead over Colorado.
 
Second Half
BJ Freeman opened up the second half knocking down a jumper outside the key and a jay beyond the arc, giving the Sun Devils a 45-27 lead. Jayden Quaintance cleaned up the offensive board and finished at the rim contested, increasing Arizona State's lead to 52-32 heading into a media timeout with 15:24 remaining in regulation. 
 
BJ Freeman continued to roll and got to work in the paint, finishing a fade-away jumper, bringing Arizona State's lead to 55-34. The Sun Devils held onto a 55-37 lead over the Buffaloes with 11:53 left in regulation.
 
Alston Mason found Basheer Jihad for another treyball to give ASU their biggest lead of the night at 61-39. Adam Miller was able to create enough space for a knock-down treyball, giving the Sun Devils a 68-44 lead with 7:56 left in regulation. 
 
Arizona State used the clock to their advantage until the last media timeout of regulation, holding onto a 73-54 lead over Colorado with 3:33 remaining. 
 
Coming out of the media timeout, Basheer Jihad knocked down his fourth three of the game, increasing the Sun Devils lead to 76-55. Jayden Quaintance found Amier Ali in the corner for a catch-and-shoot three, bringing Arizona State's lead to 81-59. The Sun Devils ran out the remainder of the clock and came out with a 81-61 win over the Buffaloes. 
 
Arizona State Head Coach Bobby Hurley
Opening Statement:
"Happy with the effort. 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. I thought the guys really rallied and played well. The only thing we kind of flipped the script on, not finishing the first half well and not finishing the game well and we were kind of the opposite at BYU. So hopefully we get closer to kind of putting it all together, but I thought the guys shared the ball very well in the first half. I thought for the most part on offense we were good. Defensively, we did the job we needed to do, we were very active. And holding (Julian) Hammond scoreless was a big part of it, their leading scorer. And I thought across the board it was a really good effort defensively."
 
On what contributed to the flow of the offense today:
I thought there was a better commitment to get stops on defense and we didn't have to call a ton of set plays early in the game. And we were able to get the ball down the floor and set an early drag ball screen and move the ball, hit the paint, kick the ball out and we got some quality shots. Second half I thought we executed well in half court when we had to. Most of our turnovers were when they pressed us and I thought we did some pretty good things at the offensive end."
 
On what has allowed Jayden Quaintance to excel thus far in the season:
"He's just been super efficient. He's taken what the defense gives him. He's shooting with confidence. He's attacking the basket. He's in the right position to succeed and he looks more comfortable out there and I think his teammates are looking for him and they trust him as well."
 
Senior guard/forward BJ Freeman
On why the defense performed so well tonight:
"I think it was by being our brother's keeper. 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."
 
On going to No. 7 Kansas:
"We're very confident. As long as we come in and play our basketball, I feel like we've got a chance with anybody in the country... so just stick to the script and what coach has planned for us. I feel like how we play, how fast we play and how physical we are on defense like we played tonight, we've got a very great chance to win."
 
Senior Forward Basheer Jihad
On returning home after the December road trip:
"Obviously playing at home is a better feeling. We were on the road for much of December, but just coming back here to a comfortable environment, it made a big difference."
 
On how much of a relief was it to get a win like this after the BYU game:
"It was big because that was hard. It was a wide awakening being in our first Big 12 games, so to come back and perform how we did felt really good."
 
Through 13 Games
Arizona State has won 10 of their first 13 games for the fourth time in the Bobby Hurley era (2022-23, 2017-18, 2015-16).

Up Next
Arizona State Men's Basketball will be heading to Lawrence, Kansas where they will take on No. 7 Kansas on January 8th at 7:00 p.m. MST. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN2.
 
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