Following a four-game non-conference winning streak, the Arizona State Sun Devils (8-2) were poised to face one of their toughest opponents to come to Tempe this year: the Georgia Bulldogs.
ASU responded with vigor and tenacity on both sides of the ball and won its fifth straight game on Saturday night in Tempe, 79-59 over the Bulldogs
Four Sun Devils racked up double digit scoring performances, led by junior guard Remy Martin’s 23 points and six assists. However, Martin went 9-22 from the field and 3-10 from three.
The player who picked up the slack was junior forward Romello White. The Atlanta, Georgia native showed out against his hometown team by racking up his fourth double-double in as many games, with 18 points and 17 rebounds, six of those being offensive boards.
“(White) has been amazing, I don’t know where we’d be without him,” Martin said of his teammate. “When a guy like that, plays like that, we’re hard to stop.”
Junior guard Alonzo Verge Jr. dropped 15 points, and junior forward Kimani Lawrence recorded a season-high 11 points. In what has been a disappointing season for the former high school standout, Lawrence may be starting to turn a corner, according to his head coach Bobby Hurley.
“He wants to play better, and he’s worked extremely hard and it just hasn’t come together,” Hurley said. “Happy to see the ball go through the basket some for him, and hopefully he can build off that.”
Overall, the best results for the Sun Devils came on defense. The team put together its best showing to date, holding the Bulldogs to their worst offensive performance all season.
“Overall, I think our game plan defensively, our energy defensively, has been pretty much a constant all year and it was no different tonight,” Hurley said. “Holding a team that I think was third in the nation in scoring coming into this game to 59 points just says a lot about what we’re doing.”
The Bulldogs shot just 35% (23-66) on the night from the field. However, the number that really hurt ASU’s opponent was their accuracy from range. Only two of the 24 attempts Georgia took from three-point range found their target, equating to just 8%. The Bulldogs also turned the ball over 19 times throughout the contest.
Georgia’s star player and potential No. 1 NBA Draft pick, Anthony Edwards, was completely stifled by ASU’s defensive efforts, with the Devils holding the standout freshman to 13 points, 12 of which came in the first half.
“It was a team effort. We knew we’d have multiple guys on him,” Hurley said. “We wanted to try and trap him in any ball screens and try and get the ball out of his hands…..A player of that caliber and as gifted as he is, you have to give him that type of attention and hope that you force other guys to beat you.”
11 minutes into the first half, Georgia led by a narrow two-point margin. But through the solid defense of Arizona State, which translated to offense down the stretch, this would be the last time the Bulldogs held the lead. ASU ended the first half on a 5-0 run which would prove to be crucial in providing the momentum and setting the tone for the next half of play.
“I was excited to see the way we performed, especially late in the half and made some nice things happen to give us that cushion, Hurley said.” I love to see my teams play the last three minutes like we did. Just wining that last 40 seconds 5-0 was crucial to go into the locker room the right way.”
The Sun Devils stretched their lead in the later portions of the second half, eventually to a 10-point lead and then a 20-point lead, until the final buzzer sounded.
Arizona State will stay in the valley until early January, first taking on the St. Mary’s Gaels at Talking Stick Resort Arena on Wednesday, before returning to Desert Financial Arena in Tempe to face Creighton and Texas Southern to round out non-conference play.
