(Photo: Spencer Barnes/WCSN)
TEMPE – Following a statement win against GCU and a hard-fought battle against No. 6 Gonzaga, Arizona State men’s basketball has more than demonstrated that they have the raw skill to compete with any team in the country. The athleticism and their ability to take over aspects of the game will win them games even when they don’t look their best, and that was the case Monday.
Head coach Bobby Hurley stated, on Monday, that no team in the country has faced a more difficult schedule through four games than them. Coming into this game, ASU appeared to have a break from that grueling streak of opponents, as they faced non-conference opponent the St. Thomas Tommies.
The Tommies don’t play opponents like ASU very often, and when they do, almost everything has to go right for a program that doesn’t exactly line up with the Sun Devils’ high-speed, lengthy, multi-faceted intangibles. That difference was evident down the stretch, as St. Thomas (3-2) was handled 81-66 after the Sun Devils’ suffocating defense during a 20-3 run that helped ASU break ahead in the second half.
“I knew it was gonna be a tough game. Hurley said. “Their style is different. They’re a very unique team. They move very fast. They cut back, shoot it, a lot of threes, a lot of long rebounds, a lot of long possessions of defense…There are easier teams that you most likely could find to buy than this one, particularly with how we started the season”
The simple plan of action for St. Thomas was to “live by the three, die by the three.” Tommies head coach Johnny Tauer made it clear early on that he didn’t want ASU’s length advantage with players like 5-Star recruit and freshmen center Jayden Quaintance to take over defensively, and that the Sun Devils’ perimeter defense would be the deciding factor in this game, as St Thomas’ first ten shots were all three-pointers.
Six-foot-nine sophomore forward/center Carter Bjerke is the tallest player for St. Thomas. Similarly, Six-foot-nine Quaintance was the tallest player in the Sun Devil starting lineup at center for opening tipoff. However, despite their similar heights, it felt like a matchup nightmare for Bjerke all night.
One of the most notable takeaways from tonight’s game was Quaitance’s and other Sun Devils’ ability to run the floor in transition, jump through the roof for rebounds and blocks, against the much slower St. Thomas big men, demonstrated by Quaintance, who grabbed 14 rebounds, a career high.
”Rebounding was a big part of that.” Quaintance said. “So that was my mindset going into this game, especially being a lot bigger than this team. That was my goal for this game, for sure. I feel like it helped a lot just build momentum, get us going in transition, you know, making them have to run back in transition. I feel like it helped us a lot.”
It was night and day between the two teams inside the arc, and the Tommies knew it would be that way from the start. The Tommies’ two tallest players, Bjerke and graduate student forward Rich Byre, combined for 13 3-point shots, accounting for 86% of their shot attempts. When you combine that with the long-range giants’ combined rebounds of two, You can tell the Tommies didn’t think they could compete with ASU’s inside game.
The paint dominance did not come only from Quaintance, senior forward Basheer Jihad continued to demonstrate what a key transfer addition he has been, leading the way in scoring as he has in the last few games for ASU, with 18+ points in three straight games, including an even 20 tonight.
“This matchup, they weren’t very big overall.” Jihad said. “The tallest player was six, eight or something like that. That’s what we (are) supposed to do with teams like that…If they’re small like that, we need to dominate the paint. I feel like we did that.”
Eight of his points came from within the paint, seven from the free throw line. His 10 attempts led the team and doubled the total amount collected by the whole St. Thomas team. ASU made 26 trips to the line compared to the Tommies’ five, which is what happens when you shoot the ball 37 times from beyond the arc, but ASU continued to hammer the ball inside and collect fouls knowing St. Thomas couldn’t stop it.
Nine first-half offensive rebounds and five second-half blocks were just two of the reasons St. Thomas was unable to take control of the game, but it became clear as the game progressed that St. Thomas would have to shoot over the Sun Devils’ inside forces, and they were simply unable to do so, amassing only two more three-pointers despite 15 additional attempts.
The Sun Devils were able to adapt. The Tommies did not. As a result, ASU will take its win.
“We tried to make a concerted effort to go inside and attack the paint.” Hurley said. “That was one of our points of emphasis. Guards. Let’s hit the paint off the dribble. Let’s look to kick out, you know. And let’s get our guys touches, (Jayden Quaintance) and Basheer here, and, Shawn, this wasn’t the greatest game for him. I mentioned that after just with their size and having to chase shooters around, but there’ll be a lot of good nights where he’ll help us too.”
