Sun Devil MBB Drops High Scoring Affair

TEMPE – Sun Devil Men's Basketball hosted UCF for their first-time matchup ever at Desert Financial Arena.
 
Arizona State (10-6, 1-4) fell short to the Knight's (12-4, 3-2) for their first-time matchup ever and lost 95-89. The Sun Devils once again continued to fight and never backed down from the fight and ended the night shooting 12-of-24 from beyond the arc. 
 
Four Sun Devils finished in double digits in tonight's late matchup, with BJ Freeman letting it loose all over the court. He finished with a season-high 26 points, connecting on 5-of-6 from deep and 8-of-14 from the field. Jayden Quaintance was dominant all over the paint, finishing with a season-high 20 points. On top of that, he cleaned seven boards off the glass and kept the rim safe with five blocks. Alston Mason continued to take control of the offense, finishing with 15 points and dishing out five assists. Finally, Adam Miller finished with 10 points, connecting on 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.
 
One of One
Freshman forward Jayden Quaintance has proven to be one of the nation's most unique and versatile athletes. He is currently the ONLY PLAYER IN THE NATION averaging at least 9.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 3.1 blocks. He produces at that high of a level while playing only 31.2 minutes per game. 
 
Buying Stocks
Quaintance has combined for 69 'stocks' (49 blocks + 20 steals) so far this season. He is the only player in the nation to have 40+ steals and 20+ blocks.

Block Party
Freshman Jayden Quaintance has recorded 49 blocks thus far in the 2024-2025 season. He has already surpassed Pac-12 career blocks leader Jordan Bachynski on the ASU freshman single-season blocks list. Quaintance is only six blocks shy of the season-season record by a freshman in program history and has done it in only 16 games. He has two or more blocks in 14 of 16 games this year, including seven 4+ block performances. 
 
Sun Devil Freshman Blocks Record (1978-79-present)
55, Mario Bennett, 1991-92
49, Jayden Quaintance, 2024-25
33, Jamal Faulkner, 1990-91
31, Ike Diogu, 2002-03
 
If he were to maintain his current pace of blocks over a 31-game season, Quaintance would finish with the second-most blocks ever by a Big 12 freshman behind only Texas' Mohamed Bamba.
 
Blocked Shots by Big 12 Freshman
111 Mohamed Bamba-UT, 2017-18 (3.7)
˜ 95 Jayden Quaintance-ASU, 2024-25 (3.1)*
90 Chris Mihm-UT, 1997-98 (2.9)
89 Myles Turner-UT, 2014-15 (2.6)
86 Tristan Thompson-UT, 2010-11 (2.4)
85 Yor Anei-OSU, 2018-19 (2.7)
77 Kevin Samuel-TCU, 2018-19 (2.1)
72 Joel Embiid-KU, 2013-14 (2.6)
71 Jaxson Hayes-UT, 2018-19 (2.2)
67 Kevin Durant-UT, 2006-07 (1.9)
65 Arthur Johnson-MU, 2000-01 (2.0)
*Projected total in a 31-game season at current pace
 
We Will Block You
Arizona State is third in the Big 12 and 23rd nationally averaging 5.1 blocks per game. Freshman Jayden Quaintance is a big reason why, contributing a league-best 3.1. Basheer Jihad, Shawn Phillips Jr., Alston Mason, and BJ Freeman each have five or more blocks this season.
 
Sun Devil Freshman Rebounds per Game Record (1978-79-present)
8.3 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
 
Free'd Up
An underrated part of Arizona State's success has been the steady play of senior guard/forward BJ Freeman. He once again scored in double figures against UCF, leading the team with 26. Freeman has finished with 10+ points in 13 games this season, the most of any Sun Devil. It was his second 20-point game as a Sun Devil and 32nd in his career, previously doing it 30 times at UW Milwaukee over two seasons.
 
80-Point Mark
The Sun Devils have scored 80 points or more nine times through 16 games this season after doing it only six times in 32 games last year. ASU is 7-2 when reaching the 80-point mark, suffering only their second loss of the season tonight when accomplishing the feat.
 
Other Notables

• Besides Knights forward Keyshawn Hall, the rest of the team shot 7-of-22 from the field in the first half
• Jayden Quaintance season high in points (20)
• BJ Freeman season high in points (26)

First Half:
Jayden Quaintance got the jumper to fall outside the paint to give the Sun Devils their first points of the night. BJ Freeman blew by his man and kissed it off the glass for an easy two, bringing Arizona State's deficit within 3. The Sun Devils trailed 12-9 heading into the first media timeout of the half with 15:40 remaining. 
 
Coming out of the media timeout, BJ Freeman found Alston Mason for a catch-and-shoot treyball to tie the ballgame up at 12-12. Alston Mason got around his man and created enough space for a deep-two jay, knocking Arizona State's deficit to one with 11:53 remaining in the half. 
 
BJ Freeman was able to knock down another three from deep to tie the ballgame up at 23-23 with 11:27 left on the clock. The Sun Devils headed into the third media timeout trailing 34-26, planning to regroup to grasp onto some momentum heading forward. 
 
Basheer Jihad found Jayden Quaintance under the paint, which contributed to an and-1 play, decreasing the Sun Devils deficit within five. BJ Freeman found Jayden Quaintance on the pick-and-roll and Quaintance managed to get the ball in the hoop while being contested, tying it once again at 38-38 with 4:22 remaining.
 
UCF came out with an instant treyball, but BJ Freeman decided to match and pulled the trigger way beyond the arc to tie the ballgame back up at 41 a piece. Basheer Jihad found Jayden Quaintance on the back-door cut for a grown-man slam, increasing Arizona State's lead to 47-43 with 1:40 remaining before halftime. The Sun Devils headed into halftime trailing 49-47.
 
Second Half:
Shawn Phillips Jr. found BJ Freeman wide open beyond the arc for an easy knock-down three, giving the Sun Devils their first points to open up the second half. UCF followed that with a 6-0 scoring run, forcing Arizona State to call a timeout to regroup while being down 60-51 with 17:41 left in regulation. Alston Mason popped out at the top of the arc and was able to drop it in, still trailing 65-56 to the Knights with 16:05 remaining. 
 
Alston Mason took advantage of the fast break and took it from one court end to the other and managed to turn the play into an and-1 opportunity, failing to successfully make the free throw but decreasing the Sun Devils deficit within five. Arizona State heads into the second media timeout of the half only trailing 69-62 with 11:33 remaining. 
 
The Sun Devils came out of the break in a full-court press and forced back-to-back steals, leading to back-to-back threes to tie the game up at 69-69. BJ Freeman continued to roll and pulled it from beyond the arc, giving Arizona State a 76-72 lead with 7:52 left in regulation.
 
BJ Freeman got to the middle of the paint and got a fade-away jumper to drop in, giving the Sun Devils the lead once again at 80-79. Arizona State trailed the Knights 82-80 heading into the last media timeout of regulation with 3:56 remaining.
 
Jayden Quaintance sized up in the post and managed to get the ball in the basket while being heavily contested, tying it up once again at 82-82. Arizona State continued to fight with the Knights and eventually took a timeout to discuss a game plan, trailing 89-86 with 1:19 left in regulation. The Sun Devils fell short in the end, losing 95-89.
 
Up Next:
Sun Devil Men's Basketball will be traveling to Cincinnati, Ohio to face the Cincinnati Bearcats on January 18th at 12 p.m. MST. Coverage can be seen on CBS Sports Network. 
 
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Arizona State Head Coach Bobby Hurley
Opening statement:
"I think I felt worse on Saturday to be honest. I thought we played pretty well. That kid (Hall) put on a performance. I've been doing this here for a while. I'm not sure that I've seen a kid play that well against me in one half of the game. So hats off to Hall, he was unbelievable. It was hard to really game plan against what he does. The only thing we could have done better with him is to get back on defense. I think Basheer missed a free throw and we did not run back, then he's now loose in the open court with Adam Miller who fouls him. With a guy that's got a game going like that, you just can't afford to have breakdowns in transition defense and give the guy more points. But credit to him, he's a 28% three-point field shooter on the year and he's four for five in the first half. So, great performance, individual performance. And I knew they were talented. I knew that they could score. I knew they scored 80 versus Arizona and they've had other games like this. They could really put points on the board if they get going. So it was a tough night. It was tough. It was a hard loss."
 
On BJ Freeman and Jayden Quaintance's play in recent games:
"I liked what he's doing. Scoring, he's doing great. He's really coming into his own that way. He's put more time in. I've noticed him working since before in Colorado, just getting extra reps working on a shot, doing different things. I liked his passing tonight. He might have missed a couple of guys, but he had a nice lob to JQ (Jayden Quaintance) and he's gonna draw a lot of attention. And I think that's an underrated skill that he has. He keeps going and his ability to find his teammates, and he did that nicely with a lob to JQ at one point. JQ was fantastic too tonight, just as what he did offensively, the efficiency. He's using his physicality in certain matchups to score around the basket and just guarding multiple guys. He had to guard multiple positions like usual. 5 blocks and everything was fantastic for him tonight."
 
On playing well but coming up short:
"It's just frustrating because we've been a top 30 defense most of the year and I feel like a dam that has holes in it. One day the offense isn't showing up for a period of the game or in this case we couldn't stop them from scoring. We've been doing that pretty well for most of the season and we had a good night on offense for the most part. Maybe a couple of bad turnovers, but that's why I feel pretty good about how we played. We just didn't win."
 
Freshman Forward Jayden Quaintance
On the offense struggling in the last few minutes:
"I feel like everybody kind of tried to do it himself. Time was ticking down. It was a little more panicky. It wasn't as trusting, it wasn't as free flowing as it was for the rest of the game because again a lot of things were open, for the majority of the game. I feel like we executed for the majority of the game and it was just continuing to trust each other. Sometimes that's a little rougher when it's such a close game and it's critical time. So I feel like that might have had a factor in it and just missing shots also."
 
On what needs to change defensively for the team:
"I feel like our rotations could be a little bit better at times and just staying solid, keeping people out to the paint. I feel like we let a lot of paint touches happen. If we could cut that down a little better and slide our feet a little better and keep them out of the paint so that they can't make easy kickouts and get us in rotation so easily, then that would help us a lot."