(Photo: Brady Klain/WCSN)
Arizona State Men’s Basketball took the court on Tuesday night against Washington with its ninth different starting lineup of the 2020-2021 season.
Freshman guard Josh Christopher (back), freshman forward Marcus Bagley (ankle) and sophomore forward Jalen Graham (migraine) were all absent against the Huskies – leaving the Sun Devils without three of their usual starters.
Despite that, ASU might have played its most complete game of the season. The Sun Devils (8-11, 5-8) wiped Washington (5-18, 4-14) 97-64 at Desert Financial Arena.
“It was a good performance. Particularly being very concerned with having three starters out tonight,” head coach Bobby Hurley said.
ASU’s domination of the Huskies was pioneered by senior forward Kimani Lawrence, senior guard Remy Martin and junior guard Alonzo Verge Jr.
Martin led the way with 26 points, the senior guard’s sixth-consecutive game with 20 or more points. Lawrence led the way in the rebounding department with 12 rebounds and also tied his career-high with 22 points, and Verge Jr. poured in 16 points to go along with seven assists and six rebounds.
“The bottom line is, Remy Martin is playing at an elite level right now,” Hurley said. “Kimani Lawrence the last two games has been outstanding. He has taken his statistics to a different level to make up for what we don’t have right now, and Verge has put together two very good games offensively.”
All season long, ASU has struggled to do the little things consistently. But in the first half on Tuesday night, the Sun Devils finally put it all together.
ASU swarmed Washington early with its usual full-court press and frenetic pace on the offensive end. The Sun Devils forced 12 turnovers in the first half which led to easy looks in transition.
Along with creating easy opportunities on the fast break, the Sun Devils were relentless attacking the basket in the half-court. ASU got into the teeth of the Huskies’ defense and finished the first half with 18 points in the paint and shot 11-of-15 from the free-throw line.
“I liked our intensity and our energy on defense,” Hurley said. “[We] generated 12 steals [and] did a nice job of really making some things happen defensively and get stops.”
The end of the first frame turned ugly fast when Washington lost all of its touch from the field. ASU went into halftime up 49-29 after the Huskies failed to score a point in the final two minutes and three seconds of the period.
The only worry for ASU coming out of the locker room for the second half would be playing down to Washington’s level.
Hurley’s squad did the exact opposite.
The Sun Devils came out flaming to start the second half. ASU started the second frame with a 19-2 run fueled by more buckets from Lawrence, Martin and Verge Jr. After the run – which lasted all the way until the 13:10 mark of the second half – the Sun Devils never looked back and finished off the victory.
“We’re doing a lot of things well. I think the guys are playing well together,” Hurley said. “It was enjoyable to watch them have fun playing basketball. That hasn’t always been the case this year.”
Although ASU is basically eliminated from earning an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament, if the Sun Devils continue to play the type of basketball that they did on Tuesday night, they could be a very tough team to bounce in the Pac-12 Tournament.
ASU will look to repeat this result again against Washington on Thursday. Tip-off for game two between the Huskies and Sun Devils is set for Thursday at 5 p.m. MT from Desert Financial Arena.
