Neal scores career-high 21 as Sun Devils defeat Beavers

(Photo: Nick Karmia/WCSN)

A defining theme of Arizona State men’s basketball’s 2023-24 season has been head coach Bobby Hurley’s propensity to change the lineup. For the bulk of the year, Hurley was riding with a four-guard lineup that featured senior forward Alonzo Gaffney at the five spot. But recently, likely due to ASU getting punished on the boards, Hurley has shifted one of his four guards to the bench to make room in the starting lineup for sophomore forward Shawn Phillips Jr.

The change initially ruffled some feathers, but since Hurley made the change against Colorado, ASU has averaged 78 points a game, up from the team’s season average of 69.6 points per game.

“If we’re able to score as many points as we did tonight, I think that puts us in a comfortable range to have a really good chance to win,” Hurley noted. “If we can score like we did at Utah and tonight then I think the way we’re able to get stops and the effort we get on the defensive end that we that we would have a chance to win.”

Hurley has been rotating the guards that sit at the start of each game. Graduate guard Jose Perez sat against Colorado, junior guard Adam Miller sat against Utah, and in ASU’s (13-12, 7-7 Pac-12) 79-61 win over Oregon State (11-14, 3-11 Pac-12), junior guard Jamiya Neal got his turn. However, the Ohio native is used to coming off the bench in the Maroon and Gold.

While Oregon State was the first time that Neal has sat this season, in 2022-23, Neal became one of Hurley’s strongest weapons off the bench down the stretch of the season, and Neal got right back into the rhythm against the Beavers.

Checking in at the three-minute mark after a stale offensive start for the Sun Devils, Neal immediately made a difference, blocking a shot and getting his own rebound before turning that into a fast-break three — his first points of the game on his first attempt.

“As you all know, I came off the bench for about 60 games, so it was kind of natural for me,” Neal said. “As far as just transitioning to come off the bench this game, I trust Coach Hurley, and I know he has my best interests at heart. So whatever he tells me to do, I’m gonna go do it.”

During those games last season in the Pac-12 Tournament, Neal flashed talent that showed that he could potentially lead the Sun Devils offensively. So far this season, while Neal has been effective, he hasn’t been that complete offensive engine that Hurley and Co. wanted him to be. Against the Beavers, Neal began flashing some of that potential again.

The guard was effective inside and out, splitting defenders down low for an easy layup or stepping back from deep to nail a three. However, the one area Neal feels like he has improved the most is his midrange game.

“I like to be more than just a catch and shoot guy or get to the basket guy, but I’m just trying to be a three of the four levels scorer,” Neal said. “Be able to catch a shoot, mid-range, post-game, and getting to the basket, obviously.”

By the end of the game, Neal had a career night, scoring a career-high 21 points while hitting nine of his 14 shots.

“I felt like tonight, a couple of shots was falling,” Neal noted. “I felt like in a couple of games I was close to breaking that 20-point barrier, but I just kept getting 17, 18, 19. Even tonight, I missed some free throws I shouldn’t have missed. I think just trying to be consistent and do what works every game collectively for the team.”

“I think I was able to communicate to (Neal) that ‘once you go in the game, you’re most likely never coming out again,’” Hurley said. “So to play maybe with that type of freedom to know that he could go out there and play basketball and not have to look over his shoulder about whether he was coming back out of the game or not.”

While the four guards might not be starting in the lineup together anymore, the quartet is still comprised of ASU’s most effective scorers, and it showed against Oregon State. Neal, Perez, Miller and junior guard Frankie Collins combined for 79 points, while the remaining Sun Devils combined for just 12.

Perez and Miller each scored 16 points and combined to shoot 55.5% from the field. Collins came into the game just four steals shy of tying the single-season record with 77 but came up with just one against the Beavers. However, the California native still contributed 14 points on an efficient 60% from the field.

The Sun Devils have often displayed crucial offensive struggles throughout this season, but when all four guys are scoring and scoring efficiently, it begins to become a scary sight when combined with ASU’s already strong defense.

“We are an athletic team,” Neal said. “We all can get downhill, we all can score, we all can get down there and kick, so when we’re knocking down shots, it makes it easier for everybody to drive and kick or drive and score.”

While Wednesday’s performance was impressive from the Sun Devils — ASU shot a season-high 57.7% from the field — their biggest test still lies ahead, beginning with a trip down to Tucson to take on hated rival No. 5 Arizona, who is a projected No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

“You got to feel good about how you’re playing right now, but this is an enormous challenge in front of us on Saturday against a team that rarely loses on their home floor and is a number one seed right now in the NCAA Tournament,” Hurley commented about Arizona. “So we have our work cut out for us on Saturday, that’s for sure.”