(Photo: Brendan O’Keeffe/WCSN)
Arizona State Men’s Basketball arguably had its best win of the season on Thursday night when the Sun Devils pummeled Oregon 81-57 at Desert Financial Arena.
“It was a great offensive performance for the guys and it was fun to watch,” ASU Head Coach Bobby Hurley said. “It’s great to see so many guys contributing and playing well, and having fun playing.”
Hurley added that the fact that the team had gone through a COVID-19 outbreak and had lost some heartbreaking games along the way made the win that much more special.
“We’ve been through a lot this year,” Hurley said. “It’s been a lot, a lot of tough times, so to see the guys enjoy that second half was pretty special.”
The turning point in the game was early on in the second half. A personal 4-0 run from sophomore guard DJ Horne and a mid-range jumper from sophomore forward Jalen Graham gave the Sun Devils a 42-30 lead two minutes into the second half, causing Oregon to take its third timeout of the contest.
“I was just glad to see him [Horne] come out in the second half, get a couple right away and just build this confidence off of that,” Hurley said.
The Sun Devils made it clear they were on pace for one of their most efficient shooting nights of the year just 25 minutes into the contest. They had made 59.4% of their shots from the field and 41.7% from three-point land, both well above their season averages.
“I feel like we were just very efficient from the field in general and that’s going to help us win a lot of games,” senior guard Marreon Jackson said. “Our decisive action was definitely way better than it’s been in most recent games.”
Perhaps the biggest asset to that point was fastbreak points. ASU led that category 12-0 thanks in large part to forcing eight Oregon turnovers two-thirds in.
Horne kept the momentum going, nailing two more three-pointers and seven minutes into the second half, the Sun Devils had built their biggest lead of the game at 56-37.
However, an 8-0 run from Oregon cut the deficit to 11 at 56-45 with 11 minutes remaining after back-to-back threes off steals from senior guard Will Richardson and redshirt senior forward Eric Williams Jr.
The Sun Devils then responded with an 8-0 run of their own, getting contributions from Horne, sophomore forward Alonzo Gaffney and Graham to bring the lead back to 19 at 64-45.
“Anytime you see Jalen Graham dropping behind the back passes for layups, you know that you’re moving the ball well,” Hurley said. “He was terrific again, and with our interior passing and finding our shooters, I thought the guys did a really good job of moving the ball with 19 assists.”
However, early on, it was the Richardson versus Jackson show.
Jackson made his presence felt off the bench as he scored the game’s first points, hitting a three-pointer just 10 seconds after entering the game. He nailed his first five shots, four of which were from beyond the arc. Great ASU ball movement and player movement off the ball paved the way for the hot start.
“We wanted to get him [Jackson] in the game early for matchup reasons and he was a big part of it offensively with his threes when we were stuck on nine points for a little bit there,” Hurley said. “He really got us going.”
But in between all that, Richardson was penetrating the lane, getting easy looks at the rim and hitting a few mid-range jumpers.
By the time the two had taken seats on the bench midway through the first half, Jackson had 14 points to Richardson’s seven.
“I was happy for him,” Graham said of Jackson. “Happy for the team and it builds confidence for the team when someone comes out and scores the ball like that out of the gate.”
When Jackson was out of the game, ASU kept their offensive production, turning its hot outside shooting into dominating inside the paint. Graham and senior forward Kimani Lawrence began getting easy looks at the rim, hitting three straight baskets between the two to build ASU’s lead to 30-22 with 5:30 to play in the first half.
Jackson re-entered the contest about a minute later and continued his hot shooting, hitting his first shot out of his break. That would conclude a 16-point first half for Jackson. For someone who was held scoreless in the previous meeting in Eugene, it was a complete turnaround for him.
“He’s just been a different player,” Hurley said of Jackson. “I think, getting comfortable with the new system, new teammates and has battled through injuries and he’s finding his stride. So I’m glad he’s playing at this level at this time of year.”
After Oregon cut it to four, Horne went on his own 4-0 run, knocking down a jumper and a pair of free throws to bring the Sun Devil lead back up to eight. ASU would go into the half leading 36-30.
ASU added insult to injury later in the second half and, once again, transition points would lead the way. After a dunk from Graham, the Sun Devils forced the ninth Oregon turnover of the night. A lob from Horne to Lawrence sent the arena into a frenzy as ASU built a 20-point lead with just over seven minutes to play.
“It was just fun,” Graham said. “I’m just playing my game and it was all smiles.”
The Sun Devils felt so good offensively that Graham hit his first three-pointer of the season to conclude a 7-0 run to push the ASU lead to 77-51 with 3:40 to play.
“That felt good because I missed the first one bad,” Graham said. “We were up and [I] hit a little step back.”
ASU’s final four points were scored in transition – a trend that was almost comical at that point. A Lawrence layup and a dunk by sophomore guard Jay Heath made it 81-54 Sun Devils. The fast break points final tally ended up 18-4 in favor of ASU.
The Sun Devils will host Oregon State on Saturday at 6 p.m. MST at Desert Financial Arena.
“I’ve always been told that you don’t ever want to reach a peak at the beginning of the season,” Jackson said. “Right around this time or a little bit sooner, toward tournament time, is when you want to be at your best and you know what? We’re striving towards that.”
