ASU Men’s Basketball: Sun Devils survive scare in season opener against CSF

(Photo: Tyler Rittenhouse/WCSN)

It wasn’t pretty, but Arizona State started their season off with a 102-94 double overtime win over Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday.

Freshman guard Luguentz Dort led the way for ASU with 28 points, the most points by a freshman in a season opener in program history. Perhaps even more impressive, the 6-3 guard tallied nine rebounds on the night.

“You see his physical talent and his shiftiness, he’s just so poised and mature for a freshman,” coach Bobby Hurley said. “He put out a strong first impression.”

“I just went out there and played my game,” Dort said. “I’m proud of myself.”

Dort was a star for ASU in their season opener, but the win was anything but glamorous. Despite that, Hurley was happy with his team’s win.

“I’m excited we got the win,” he said after the game. “Obviously, I was a hard fought game and a real battle out there.”

The bulk of the battle came from CSF’s duo of Kyle Allman and Khalil Ahmad, who combined for a whopping 64 points on the night.

“You see some of the stuff that they did out there, it was just un-guardable,” Hurley said. “The degree of difficulty on some of those shots… They are both high-end players that could really play anywhere.”

Sophomore guard Remy Martin was limited in his action. He didn’t get the start and only finished with eight points, but still found a way to make some key plays down the stretch. With ASU up six points near the end of the second overtime, Martin made a layup and grabbed a defensive rebound before making yet another layup to ice the game for ASU.

Hurley said after the game that Martin was at about 60 percent of his physical ability and that he believes the sophomore guard will improve. The duo of Martin and Dort as a starting back court should excite ASU fans. Martin’s defensive ability was seen last season and Dort came out showing fire on the defensive end in his debut. Put those pieces together, the duo could compete for best defensive backcourt in the Pac-12.

Zylan Cheatham looked impressive in his first action as an ASU player despite fouling out. He racked up 12 points, eight in the first half and nine rebounds.

The Sun Devils escaped Wells Fargo Arena Tuesday night after outlasting the Titans and hope to get Martin back to full health as the season progresses and make some noise in the college basketball scene.

Next up on ASU’s slate is McNeese State on Friday, Nov. 9 as Wells Fargo Arena.