Sun Devil basketball plays to Bennett’s style, beats Northern Colorado

(Photo: Madison Sorenson/WCSN)

TEMPE — After Arizona State men’s basketball’s 75-65 home opener win against East Tennessee State on Monday, fans were left underwhelmed. The 5,300 scattered through Desert Financial Arena for Randy Bennett’s Sun Devil coaching debut felt that the coach’s identity wasn’t on full display.

His players echoed the sentiment.

“We did an okay job at representing what Randy’s all about,” second-year guard Joel Foxwell said postgame.

Four days later, the Sun Devils made strides in the right direction, playing more toward their coach’s modus operandi, but fans were still scattered thin throughout the arena.

“I just want more people to come,” fourth-year forward Paulius Murauskas said. “Just more fans. We’re going to flip this thing and make this place great again.”

Murauskas’ promise came after a career-high 33-point performance in the Sun Devils’ 90-63 win over Northern Colorado. A monumental game only witnessed by less than 5,300 fans.

The largest points of emphasis heading into the night for Bennett and Co. were a more consistent defensive presence and rebounding.

Staring at a box score might suggest ASU accomplished both of those goals. But the eye test tells a different story.

ASU only allowed 63 points out of a Northern Colorado team that scored 117 the game prior.

But the two were throwing punches, in the way of baskets, back and forth through the first eight minutes of gameplay.

The Bears hit two early 3-pointers to knot the game at 10. Northern Colorado’s pick-and-pop plays had ASU’s towering centers lunging towards the perimeter all night. The Bears finished with a 44-percent clip from beyond the arc.

ASU’s answer to the Bears’ barrage of 3s came in third-year guard Bryce Ford. The Scottsdale native played just nine minutes in the Sun Devils’ season opener, but found himself with the hot hand on Friday.

Upon missing his first shot, Ford nailed four of his next five en route to a career third-best performance of 17 points in 22 minutes off the bench.

His minutes may vary, but Ford’s confidence in his impact for the team doesn’t.

“I’m going to be the guy where whenever he needs me I’m there,” Ford said.

By halftime, Ford and Murauskas combined for 30 points.

Normally met with double teams, Murauskas had the pleasure of only being guarded by one against Northern Colorado.

He took full advantage.

Standing at a stout 6-foot-8, 240 pounds, the Lithuanian forward was able to simply back down his defender into buckets.

He didn’t attempt a 3-pointer until the second half. It wasn’t that he wasn’t getting good looks; he just didn’t need to. On 15 shots inside the key, Murauskas netted 11 of them.

His 33 points marked the fourth 30-plus point game of his career and his first in Tempe.

Though, after grabbing nine rebounds against East Tennessee State, Murauskas only notched five on Friday. The bulk of the rebounds went to his fellow Saint Mary’s transfer.

Second-year wing Dillan Shaw finished with 12 rebounds, the fifth game of double-digit rebounds in his young collegiate career.

First-year center Filip Malesevic joined him in the double-digit rebound club. Standing at 7-foot-3, he floats above the rest of the rebounding scrum, batting the ball around, waiting for an opportune moment to snatch it. He finished with 11 boards, five offensive and six defensive.

“He just makes us different (in) rebounding,” Bennett said of his Serbian giant. “He gets all those little balls up for grabs. He just ends up holding them about a foot above everybody else.”

Malesevic came off the bench in relief of a struggling Ben Defty. The third-year center started both games so far for the Sun Devils, but has only grabbed a total of three rebounds.

Defty surrendered one of the few moments Northern Colorado will look back upon fondly from the game.

6-foot-2 Bear’s guard Vince Delano met the German big man at the rim for a screensaver-worthy slam.

Although the dunk only cut the Sun Devil lead to 22, the daggers Delano stared into Defty afterward left the entire arena silent.

“I think he’s just trying to learn,” Bennett said. “He needs more games, more reps, play through stuff. Focus on what he needs to do to help this team.”

As the Sun Devils face more power conference teams, the less they will have to worry about opposing centers who can stretch the floor. The Big 12 especially is filled with traditional, post-roaming centers, something ASU is more built to handle.

ASU faces Hofstra next for a Tuesday night showdown at DFA.

Heading forward, Bennett won’t be looking to maximize the positives, but rather minimize the negatives, something he said his team did effectively against Northern Colorado.

“We’re playing pretty right offensively,” Bennett said. “I’m not going to say we’re playing great, but we’re playing well. We had five turnovers. You have five turnovers, it’s a pretty good game offensively.”