(Photo: Marlee Smith/WCSN)
Arizona State Men’s Basketball senior guard Remy Martin, a player who had been dismissed as being too passive all season, let out a scream as he fiercely dunked the ball off a steal early in the second half on Saturday night against Stanford. It was as if he let out all the frustration the Sun Devils have endured throughout this unprecedented 2020-21 season.
“He was locked in,” head coach Bobby Hurley said. “He had that steal and the dunk and then the drives, he was hitting the paint and making the right reads. He looked like the same guy that I’ve had. It was tremendous.”
Saturday night’s 79-75 win over the Cardinal in Tempe proved that the Sun Devils and Martin had finally found a way to maximize all of the potential on their roster and put themselves back on the map. ASU had good ball movement, got good looks and took smart shots. The offensive firepower was a team effort as five of ASU’s players ended the night with double-digit points.
A flashy Martin led the team with 23 points and six assists. Freshman guard Josh Christopher followed with 15 points and three assists. Freshman forward Marcus Bagley and sophomore forward Jalen Graham both contributed 12 points and a combined nine rebounds.
Hurley kept the same lineup on Saturday that he used against Cal earlier in the week, replacing senior guard Alonzo Verge Jr. with senior forward Kimani Lawrence. Verge Jr. embraced his role coming off the bench and contributed 12 points, two rebounds and four assists in 25 minutes.
“I was really pleased with Alonzo Verge and how he handled coming off the bench,” Hurley said. “I thought he provided an enormous spark to what we were doing tonight.”
Although Lawrence didn’t reach double-digits, he scored three of his five points at the free-throw line in the last two minutes of the game.
“Kimani Lawrence made the clutch free throws,” Hurley said. “He’s tweaked his shot a little bit and it’s paying dividends for him.”
The new lineup may be a key to Arizona State’s newfound success. Hurley was also impressed with the team’s accuracy at the free-throw line. The Sun Devils finished the night shooting 88% from the stripe. Meanwhile, the Cardinal made 31 of 34 free-throw attempts, which was double that of ASU’s 17 attempts.
The Sun Devils began the first half in a slump. ASU had a four-minute scoring drought early in the frame and struggled to generate an offense.
Once the Sun Devils were able to sharpen their defense and make Stanford work for every shot attempt, a scrappy offense followed. Christopher began the offensive surge for ASU with a slam dunk off a steal, reducing Stanford’s lead to five points.
After Christopher’s slam dunk, a myriad of Sun Devils made offensive contributions. Martin got a steal and drew a foul. Martin proceeded to drain both free throws to make the score 16-15. Off yet another steal, Verge Jr. made a layup in transition which allowed the Sun Devils to take the lead.
After a phenomenal defensive performance against Cal, sophomore guard Jaelen House continued to show his defensive prowess as he pestered Stanford freshman forward Max Murrell near the half-court and forced a 10-second violation.
“He brings energy everyday,” Verge Jr. said of House. “As he gets older, he’s going to get better and better. I really respect him because of the things that he does and the way that he carries himself. He’s somebody you want to have on your team.”
The stretch was one of few moments in the season where ASU appeared to be a cohesive unit – so cohesive that Verge Jr. and Graham were able to connect for an alley-oop with 1:14 left in the frame. Stanford was out-hustled as the first half ended 42-36.
“I loved our resiliency tonight,” Hurley said. “We made some really nice plays down the stretch.”
Martin knows all too well about highs and lows this season, but his and the team’s collective attitude remains optimistic.
“Things happen in life and you just gotta figure out how to maneuver around them,” Martin said.
