In a game where Arizona State Men’s Basketball was left without one of its most potent scorers – senior guard Alonzo Verge Jr. – the Sun Devils didn’t miss a beat offensively and hushed the Houston Baptist Huskies 100-77 Sunday night to improve to 2-1 on the year.
The competition may not have been to the level of their last opponent, but Sunday’s showing was still important for ASU, as it improved upon the problems that plagued them in their outing against No. 3 Villanova Thursday night.
“For 24 minutes we really had complete control over the game,” ASU head coach Bobby Hurley said. “The majority of the game we were dominant.”
The loss of Verge Jr, who Hurley called day-to-day with a non-injury or disciplinary issue, was offset by the return of senior forward Kimani Lawrence, who did not play in the Sun Devils first two games of the season due to a knee injury. The Rhode Island native finished with 13 points in 16 minutes on 6-9 shooting.
“I’m glad to see him out there,” Hurley said. “He is a big, physical guy. He has put on some weight and he rebounded the ball pretty well. I was pleased with what I saw from him considering all the time he missed.”
The leading scorer for ASU, however, was freshman forward Marcus Bagley, who once again showcased his NBA level three-point range. The wing went 4-6 from deep and scored 21 points in 21 minutes.
Verge Jr.’s absence also opened up minutes for sophomore guard Jaelen House, who took full advantage of an opportunity off the bench. House was active and assertive defensively while showing off a shooting stroke, evident in his 3-4 line behind the arc. He finished with 13 points and four steals.
“[This game] definitely helps but I got confidence from putting work in,” House said. “Not just one game is going to give me confidence.”
Hurley was impressed with the backup guard’s performance in his season-debut.
“[House] had a good attitude about not playing,” Hurley said. “Some guys will put their head down but he came in and had a good practice yesterday and it certainly carried over to the floor today. He made some good plays on defense and made some good decisions in the first half. He proved he can make plays in quality minutes, not just mop-up minutes.”
The Sun Devils dominated the first half against the Huskies. Offensively, ASU got out in transition with ease, running with tempo and creating easy buckets in the lane. The Sun Devils were lights out from downtown, hitting 63 percent of their three-pointers at the break. On the defensive end, the Sun Devils went to a full-court press to start the game – a strategy that would force Houston Baptist to turn the ball over 14 times in the first half.
In the second half the red hot Sun Devils – much like Arizona weather in the fall – began to cool. With Hurley turning to reserve players, the Huskies capitalized, scoring 46 points in the final half and ended the game on a 17-2 run. Fourteen different Sun Devils got minutes in the blowout win.
“The last 12 minutes we were awful,” Hurley said.
He added: “[We gave] some other guys a chance to play and I wasn’t pleased with how we finished the game”
Even with depth players seeing more minutes than usual, ASU’s stars still shined. Freshman guard Josh Christopher had another efficient performance with 17 points on 8-11 shooting. The highly-touted recruit flashed energy on defense by harassing opponents in the full court press.
Senior guard Remy Martin returned to normalcy against the Huskies after only scoring five points against Villanova Thursday. The senior guard made things look easy with 16 points in 20 minutes.
ASU will begin conference play Thursday against Cal. Tip-off time is still TBD.
