Sun Devil MBB Stays on Road to Face No. 6 Gonzaga

TEMPE, Ariz. - Sun Devil Men's Basketball gets ready for their toughest test so far in the 2024-25 season when they take on Gonzaga on Sunday at 3 PM MST.

Arizona State (2-0) will play in the renowned McCartney Athletic Center, more commonly known as "The Kennel", which is one of the toughest atmospheres in college basketball. Head Coach Bobby Hurley's team takes on a Bulldogs' squad that is ranked No. 6 in the AP Preseason Top-25 and is coming off a victory over No. 8 Baylor to open the season. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN, with the Sun Devil Men's Basketball program being featured in front of a national audience on Sunday at 3 PM MST.

The Matchup
Sun Devil Men's Basketball agreed to a home-and-home series with Gonzaga, set to begin on Sunday in Spokane. Gonzaga will make the return trip to Tempe in 2025.

"We are thrilled to secure a home-and-home series with Gonzaga," Coach Hurley remarked.  "McCarthey Athletic Center and 'The Kennel' provide one of the premier atmospheres in college basketball. It will present a fantastic road environment for our team early in the season. It was also important for us to secure a home game with a marquee opponent in 2025 for our amazing fan base."

The matchup in Spokane in 2024 will be the first meeting between the two schools. Gonzaga has emerged as one of the nation's most consistent programs, reaching the Sweet 16 in each of the last nine seasons. 

AP Preseason Top-10 (ASU game)
1. Kansas (Jan. 8 road game)
2. Alabama
3. Connecticut
4. Houston (Feb. 18 home game)
5. Iowa State (Jan. 25 home game)
6. Gonzaga (Nov. 10 road game)
7. Duke (Oct. 27 road game; Exhibition)
8. Baylor (Jan. 11 home game)
9. North Carolina
10. Arizona (Feb. 2 home game; March 4 road game)
Arizona State plays seven AP Top-10 teams a total of eight times.

How to Follow
Sun Devil Men's Basketball will make their debut on the main national ESPN network when they take on No. 6 Gonzaga at McCartney Athletic Center, scheduled for a 3 PM MST tip-off with Roxy Bernstein and Sean Farnham on the call. Make sure to listen to Jeff Munn and Kyle Dodd on 92.3 KTAR News.

Quotable
"There are a number of guys who can be playmakers and we trust to make the right play," Coach Hurley mentioned after the game. "If we share the ball the right way, good things will happen. Joson got off to a fast start, JQ came through his rebounding, and Amier made some big shots down the stretch. The freshman stepped up for us."

Last Time Out
Sun Devils Men's Basketball defeated Santa Clara in a neutral site matchup at Lee's Family Forum on Friday. Arizona State (2-0) took down the Broncos (1-1), 81-74, in a back-and-forth contest. Senior guards BJ Freeman and Adam Miller led the way offensively, combining to score 33 points and making five three pointers. The freshman trio of guard/forward Amier Ali (13 points), guard Joson Sanon (11 points), and forward Jayden Quaintance (13 rebounds) each had a major impact on the game. Head Coach Bobby Hurley wins his 199 game, putting him one step closer to the 200-career win mark. The 15 three-pointers made by the Maroon and Gold sparked an excellent offensive effort.

Dialed in from Deep
ASU made 15 three-point field goals last night, tied for the third-most three pointers made in a single-game in the Bobby Hurley era. The last time they made 15 three-pointers was at the Pac-12 Tournament against Stanford back on March 9, 2022).

Most Three Point Field Goals Made in Bobby Hurley era (since 2015-16)
18 - vs. UNLV, 12/3/16
18 - vs. Central Arkansas, 12/22/16
15 - Santa Clara (Las Vegas), 11/8/24
15 - vs. The Citadel, 11/23/16
15 - Stanford (Las Vegas), 3/9/22
15 - Syracuse (Atlantis), 11/25/21
14 - at Kansas, 12/10/17
14 - vs. UCLA. 2/23/17
14 - vs. San Diego, 12/18/22
14 - USC (Las Vegas), 3/9/23
14 - vs. UCLA, 2/6/20

Getting defensive
Arizona State currently leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage defense, allowing teams to shoot 33.1% overall against them . In the win over Santa Clara, the Sun Devils held the Broncos to just 40.9% from the field. In the first half of games, ASU's opponents are shooting a putrid 31.3%.

The Sun Devils held Idaho State to 48 points in tonight's home-opener, tied for third-lowest points scored by an opponent since 2000. Arizona State also held Idaho State to a 25.4 FG%, marking the lowest FG% by ISU since Montana held them to 24.6 FG% on Feb. 6, 2012. The Bengals finished with the lowest FG% by an ASU opponent since Oregon State (24.6%) on Feb. 11, 2010. It is the lowest an opponent has shot against a Bobby Hurley-coached ASU team. The 14.3% shooting from beyond the arc by the Bengals was the lowest percentage by a Sun Devil opponent since Grambling shot 7.7% from deep on Nov. 22, 2022

Fewest Points Allowed by ASU in Home Opener (Since 2000)
35 – Western Illinois (Nov. 13, 2009)
41 – Cal Poly (Nov. 26, 2007)
48 – Idaho State (Nov. 5, 2024)
48 – Jackson State (Nov. 21, 2004)
49 – Central Connecticut State (Nov. 14, 2019)
50 – Chicago State (Nov. 14, 2014)

ASU Best Defensive FG% under Hurley (2015-PRESENT)
.254/17-67 by Idaho State (Nov. 5, 2024)
.266/17-64 by Grambling (Nov. 22, 2022)
.271/19-70 by Alcorn State (Nov. 27, 2022)
.274/17-62 by Long Beach State (Nov. 12, 2018)
.286/18-63 by San Francisco (Dec. 2, 2017)
.298/17-57 by Central Connecticut State (Nov. 14, 2019)

Block Party
Jayden Quaintance leads the Big 12 in total blocks (10) and blocks per game (5.0). He had four in the win over Santa Clara last night and is a big reason why ASU ranks second in the league in block shots.

credited with six blocks in his collegiate debut, the most in a single game by a Sun Devil since De'Quon Lake had seven against Pacific on December 22, 2017. ASU finished with nine blocks, more than they had in any game last year and the most since recording nine blocks in a road win over Oregon State back on Jan. 14, 2022.

2-0 Start
Arizona State moved to 2-0 to start a season for the fourth time under Coach Hurley. The last time they did so was to begin the 2022-23 season, a team that ended up winning a game in the NCAA Tournament.

Player of the Year Watch Lists
Freshman Jayden Quaintance is one of 20 initial candidates for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, given out annually the nation's best center. Senior BJ Freeman is one of 20 players selected to the Julius Erving Award preseason watch list, which recognizes the top small forward in the country. The duo represent the first Sun Devils to land on a national award preseason watch list since 2021.

Phenomenal Freshman
Head Coach Bobby Hurley put together a Top-10 recruiting class, the highest in program history. It was ranked No. 9 by 247 Sports and No. 8 by Rivals and features a five-star recruit alongside two high four-star prospects.

F Jayden Quaintance

• The highest-rated recruit to ever sign with Arizona State.
• Ranked as the No. 9 overall prospect in the entire class of 2024 and the No. 2 center prospect by 247 Sports
• Rivals tabbed him as the No. 8 overall prospect and No. 1 center in the 2024 class
• Consensus five-star recruit and No. 1 prospect out of the state of North Carolina among all the major recruiting services
• 2024 McDonald's All-American

G Joson Sanon

• Third-highest ranked recruit to ever sign with Arizona State according to 247 Sports, trailing only Jayden Quaintance and Josh Christopher
• Ranked as the No. 24 overall prospect in the entire class of 2024 and the No. 5 shooting guard prospect by 247 Sports
• Identified as the No. 26 overall player and No. 8 shooting guard in the nation by Rivals
• ESPN lists him as the No. 23 overall prospect in their Top-100 and the No. 6 shooting guard in the class of 2024

G/F Amier Ali

• 11th-highest ranked recruit to ever sign with Arizona State according to 247 Sports
• ESPN lists him at No. 54 in their Top-100 prospect rankings
  • No. 15 small forward prospect in the nation
  • No. 3 prospect in the state of Arizona
• No. 98 overall prospect in the nation according to 247 Sports
  • No. 21 small forward prospect in the country
  • No. 5 prospect in the state of Arizona
• Tabbed by Rivals as the No. 104 overall prospect and No. 27 small forward in the class of 2024

Impact Transfers
A five-man transfer class immediately bolstered the Sun Devil Men's Basketball roster. It is one of the premier transfer classes in program history. BJ Freeman, Alston Mason, and Basheer Jihad join the fold after leading their teams in scoring a season ago. Brandon Gardner and Austin Nunez return to Arizona State after making strong connections with the connections in their previous recruitment process.

F Brandon Gardner, USC
G/F BJ Freeman, UW Milwaukee
G Alston Mason, Missouri State
F Basheer Jihad, Ball State
G Austin Nunez, Ole Miss

Youth movement
Arizona State freshman forward Jayden Quaintance enters the 2024-25 season as the youngest player in college basketball. He is over six months younger than the second-youngest on the list, which is Duke's Cooper Flagg. Sunday's matchup features three of the five youngest players in college basketball.

Family Ties
The Sun Devil Men's Basketball roster features several connections through bloodline. Head Coach Bobby Hurley's son, Bobby Hurley, is a senior guard on the team. Senior guard Alston Mason's father, Alton Mason, played at Arizona State from 1998-2001. Senior guard Jordan Williams cousin is legendary Sun Devil guard James Harden.

Career Games Played (total | @ ASU)
Sun Devils have a combined 631 games of experience at the Division I Level (Includes previous school). ASU has eight players with over 45 games of experience at the Division I level.

Basheer Jihad - 93 | 2
Brycen Long - 90 | 6
Adam Miller - 89 | 25
Alston Mason - 81 | 2
Connor Braun - 75 | 0
BJ Freeman  - 61 | 2
Austin Nunez  - 60 | 30
Shawn Phillips Jr. - 46 | 26
Bobby Hurley - 21 | 21
Jordan Williams 8 | 8
Jayden Quaintance - 2 | 2
Joson Sanon - 2 | 2
Amier Ali - 2 | 2
Brandon Gardner - 1 | 0
Chianti Clay - 0 | 0
Quentin McCoy - 0 | 0

Don't Count us Out
Arizona State has come back to win a game when trailing at halftime 44 times during the Bobby Hurley era and five times last season, three of which came on the road. Since 2015-16, the Sun Devils are Top-25 in the nation with their 44 halftime comeback victories.

The Hurley Era
Bobby Hurley has won 157 games at ASU and is only the third coach in program history to reach the mark. He trails Herb Sendek by only two wins for the second-most in program history.

Career Wins at ASU
406, Ned Wulk (1957-82)
159, Herb Sendek (2006-15)
157, Bobby Hurley (2015-present)

About those Sun Devil Wins
Coach Hurley has notched 157 wins at Arizona State and has done it while scheduling aggressively and not being afraid to play on the road. He has won 99 games in Arizona, but also has won at least five games in California (14), Nevada (13), Oregon (six) and Washington (five). Four wins have taken place in Utah, three in New York, and two in Colorado, Nebraska, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Single wins have taken place in Florida, Georgia, Kansas, New Jersey and Texas.

Milestone Watch
Hurley has 199 wins in his career between Arizona State and Buffalo and sits just one win shy of 200 in his 12th season at the Division I level.

Roster Snapshot (numerical)
#0 Brandon Gardner (Redshirt Freshman/Forward/USC/Waynesboro, GA)
#1 Alston Mason (Senior/Guard/Missouri State/Phoenix, AZ)
#2 Austin Nunez (Junior/Guard/Ole Miss/Garden Ridge, TX)
#3 Joson Sanon (Freshman/Guard/Saxton Rivers, VT)
#5 Amier Ali (Freshman/Guard/Forward/Little Elm, TX)
#6 Connor Braun (Graduate/Forward/Northeastern/Tempe, AZ)
#8 Basheer Jihad (Senior/Forward/Ball State/Detroit, MI)
#9 Shawn Phillips Jr. (Junior/Center/Dayton, OH)
#10 BJ Freeman (Senior/Guard & Forward/UW Milwaukee/Selma, NC)
#11 Bobby Hurley (Senior/Guard/Scottsdale, AZ)
#14 Chianti Clay (Senior/Guard/University of Fort Lauderdale/Milwaukee, WI)
#21 Jayden Quaintance (Freshman/Forward/Raleigh, NC)
#22 Quentin McCoy (Freshman/Guard/Chicago, IL)
#25 Jordan Williams (Senior/Guard/Los Angeles, CA)
#33 Brycen Long (Graduate/Guard/Gilbert, AZ)
#44 Adam Miller (Redshirt Senior/Guard/Peoria, IL)
5 returners; 7 transfers; 4 incoming freshman

Constant Competition
Head Coach Bobby Hurley and his staff have once again constructed an extremely challenging slate that sees Arizona State hosting winning programs and taking on strong competition away from home. The 11-game schedule features seven contests away from home and four at Desert Financial Arena in addition to a highly-anticipated Exhibition matchup with Duke prior to the season on Oct. 27. ASU will take on 2024 NCAA Tournament participants Gonzaga, Grand Canyon, New Mexico, and Florida with a showdown against St. Mary's possible as well.

2024-25 Arizona State Men's Basketball Non-Conference Schedule
Oct. 27 - at Duke (Brotherhood Run Exhibition; Cameron Indoor Stadium)*
Nov. 5 - vs. Idaho State (Home/Regular Season Opener; Desert Financial Arena)
Nov. 8 - Santa Clara (Lee's Family Forum; Las Vegas, NV)
Nov. 10 - at Gonzaga (McCarthey Athletic Center, Spokane, WA)
Nov. 14 - Grand Canyon (Hall of Fame Series; Footprint Center in Phoenix)
Nov. 17 - vs. St. Thomas (Desert Financial Arena)
Nov. 20 - vs. Cal Poly (Desert Financial Arena)
Nov. 28 - New Mexico (Acrisure Classic; Palm Springs, CA)
Nov. 29 - St. Mary's or USC (Acrisure Classic; Palm Springs, CA)
Dec. 3 - vs. San Diego (Desert Financial Arena)
Dec. 14 - Florida (Holiday Hoopsgiving; Atlanta, GA)
Dec. 21 - UMass (Basketball Hall of Fame Classic; Springfield, MA)
*Exhibition contest

Arizona State makes the transition to the Big 12 Conference and have six conference games scheduled against preseason Top-25 competition. Four of the preseason Top-10 teams (Iowa State, Houston, Baylor, Arizona) will all come to Desert Financial Arena. Of their 20 league games, 15 will come against opponents that made the 2024 NCAA Tournament. 

2024-25 Sun Devil Men's Basketball Big 12 Schedule
Dec. 31 (Tues.) - at BYU
Jan. 4 (Sat.) - vs. Colorado
Jan. 8 (Wed.) - at Kansas
Jan. 11 (Sat.) - vs. Baylor
Jan. 14 (Tues.) - vs. UCF
Jan. 18 (Sat.) - at Cincinnati
Jan. 21 (Tues.) - at West Virginia
Jan. 25 (Sat.) - vs. Iowa State
Jan. 28 (Tues.) - at Colorado
Feb. 1 (Sat.) - vs. Arizona
Feb. 4 (Tues.) - vs. Kansas State
Feb. 9 (Sun.) - at Oklahoma State
Feb. 12 (Wed.) - at Texas Tech
Feb. 15 (Sat.) - vs. TCU
Feb. 18 (Tues.) - vs. Houston
Feb. 23 (Sat.) - at Kansas State
Feb. 26 (Wed.) - vs. BYU
March 1 (Sat.) - at Utah
March 4 (Tues.) - at Arizona
March 8 (Sat.) - vs. Texas Tech

Big 12 teams in Preseason AP Top 25
1. Kansas (Jan. 8 road game)
4. Houston (Feb. 18 home game)
5. Iowa State (Jan. 25 home game)
8. Baylor (Jan. 11 home game)
10. Arizona (Feb. 2 home game; March 4 road game)
20. Cincinnati (Jan. 18 road game)

Big 12 Teams in Preseason USA Today Top 25
1. Kansas (Jan. 8 road game)
4. Houston (Feb. 18 home game)
6. Iowa State (Jan. 25 home game)
8. Baylor (Jan. 11 home game)
9. Arizona (Feb. 2 home game; March 4 road game)
20. Cincinnati (Jan. 18 road game)

Big 12 Matchups
Arizona (1 road; 1 home game)
Baylor (1 home game)
BYU (1 road; 1 home game)
Cincinnati (1 road game)
Colorado (1 road; 1 home game)
Houston (1 home game)
Iowa State (1 home game)
Kansas (1 road game)
Kansas State (1 road; 1 home game)
Oklahoma State (1 road game)
TCU (1 home game)
Texas Tech (1 road; 1 home game)
UCF (1 home game)
Utah (1 road game)
West Virginia (1 road game)

Season Tickets
Season tickets are available starting at just $180. Season tickets include all regular season home games in Desert Financial Arena.
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Mini Plans
6-game mini plans are available starting at just $150. Fans can choose any 6 home games to include in their plan.
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Single-game Tickets
Single-game tickets are on sale now. Visit Sun Devil Tickets for more information on how to purchase. If you are interested in learning more about any of our tickets and experience options, please call or text 480-727-0000 or email grouptickets@asu.edu to contact a Sun Devil ticket sales representative.

Here to Stay
The Arizona State Board of Regents announced in March of 2023 that Sun Devil Men's Basketball Head Coach Bobby Hurley has agreed to an extension that will keep him with the program through the 2026 season.

Sun Devils on Social
For exclusive content, the latest updates, and more information on the Sun Devil Men's Basketball program and the Duke exhibition matchup, follow our X/Instagram accounts (@SunDevilHoops), like our Facebook page (facebook.com/SunDevilHoops/), and visit our website (thesundevils.com). Follow Coach Hurley on X (@BobbyHurley11).