ASU Men’s Basketball: Sun Devils open conference play against Cal

(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)

With seemingly all the pieces to be one of the top contenders in the Pac-12, Arizona State Men’s Basketball heads into its conference opener against California with an urgency to win.

The No.25 ranked Sun Devils will begin conference play on the road at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley Thursday at 8 p.m MST.

Head coach Bobby Hurley shared that he didn’t sense any atypical pressure in the locker room about this season’s conference standings. That doesn’t mean ASU isn’t hungry for wins, though.

“We have guys like Remy Martin that are vocally talking about that in our practices,” Hurley said.

Instincts, judgment and rotating with purpose are three traits Hurley says will be crucial for the squad’s front-court success, which includes sophomore forward Jalen Graham and junior forward Chris Osten. While Graham has taken steps forward since his season debut against Rhode Island and Osten has been praised for his dirty work, the duo ranks fourth (Osten) and sixth (Graham) on ASU’s roster in rebounds per game heading into the matchup against the Golden Bears.

Additionally, the return of senior forward Kimani Lawrence – who missed the first two games of the season due to a knee injury – also delivers supplementary support in the Sun Devils’ front court.

“Kimani coming back will be a boost to the core of the front court rotation, [and will] provide more depth and provide more rebounding,” Hurley said.

With the unknown status of senior guard Alonzo Verge Jr., Hurley may choose to start a bigger lineup versus Cal, reminiscent of what the Sun Devils ran out against Houston Baptist last Sunday.

“I can’t really go into a lot of detail about Zo’s situation right now,” Hurley said. “It is completely 110 percent nothing relating to team discipline, violating team rules or doing anything inappropriate at all. And also, he’s completely healthy. [I] can’t really discuss it any further.”

The Golden Bears are led by junior guard Matt Bradley, who is the team’s leading scorer. Bradley is coming off a 26-point performance against Nicholls State.

“He’s one of the best players in our conference,” Hurley said.

Cal has also gained three new transfers: senior guards Ryan Betley and Makale Foreman as well as junior forward Andre Kelly.

Despite Bradley’s high-scoring performance against the Colonels, Cal secured the victory over Nicholls State with its defensive pressure. Through their first three games, the Bears have held their opponents to just 60.3 points per game.

“They’re defending well,” Hurley said. [They’re] a very fundamentally sound defensive group.”

The Sun Devils will likely have to bring offensive firepower in order to defeat the Bears on the road.

“Overall, I feel like this group is really embracing playing unselfish and looking for each other,” Hurley said. “I’m just not noticing an ounce of selfishness on offense right now.”