Sun Devils’ defensive effort leads to 65-57 upset win over No. 23 West Virginia

(Photo: Spencer Barnes/WCSN)

It’s been a dark and twisty road for Arizona State men’s basketball in the Big 12. Entering Tuesday night, the team had suffered four consecutive losses, and the transition into the new conference hasn’t treated ASU head coach Bobby Hurley’s squad pleasantly in 2025.

The team needed a win more than ever before it traveled back to Tempe to take on the No. 3 team in the country, the Iowa State Cyclones later this week.

Despite senior guard BJ Freeman being questionable heading into the game, and freshman guard Joson Sanon being ruled out, the Sun Devils (11-7, 2-5 Big 12) defeated No. 23 West Virginia (13-5, 4-3 Big 12) 65-57 With its defense leading the way, ASU forced the Mountaineers to shoot only 31% from the field, and despite the Sun Devils only scoring 24 points, they secured a crucial road victory.

Here are three takeaways.

Defensive Effort

ASU walked into Morgantown ranked as the No. 216 defense in the country in points allowed, giving up 72.4 per game. However, outside of Small, who averaged 19.8 points per game, their next closest scorer, sophomore forward Amani Hansberry, only averaged 10.2, and senior guard Tucker DeVries has been out since Dec. 6th with an injury and is second on the team with 14.9.

It was essential to limit Small, and that’s precisely what ASU did.

He didn’t hit his first field goal until 8:57 in the second half. It was a team effort overall, with multiple defenders on him. Still, primarily, it was senior guard Adam Miller on Small. Miller did an excellent job limiting Small every time he touched ball, chasing him around every screen and set that West Virginia ran.

Small shot 2-for-11 from the field, resulting in a 18.2% field goal percentage, his worst of the year. However, he finished the night with 14 points, going to the line 11 times and making 10 of those opportunities. Miller finished the game with four fouls and was switched off of Small late. Senior guard Alston Mason and Freeman also guarded him throughout the night.

Freshman forward Jayden Quaintance was also a significant factor, but when he was not on the defensive end. It’s already been touched on multiple times here in the valley. Still, the freshman’s defensive effort was another spectacle Tuesday night.

With three blocks on Tuesday, Quaintance broke the single-season blocks record for a freshman in program history. He currently has the record with 56 blocks on the season, with 13 games still left to play. It wasn’t just his towering presence in the paint that limited the Mountaineers to 26 points in the paint. He was active out on the top of the key, hedging screens that affected Small in ways to limit his production on offense.

Rebounding

There are many ways to win a game in the Big 12, and defensive effort is one of them. To almost guarantee a win, winning the rebound battle is helpful, and ASU did both on Tuesday night. The Sun Devils haven’t been getting dominated on the boards, surrendering about as many rebonds as they grab. Entering the game on Tuesday, ASU averaged 36.4 to its opponents 36.3.

ASU widened that season margin in a dominant display. The Sun Devils outrebounded the Mountaineers 46-28, and the hustle was there all night. Every player in maroon and gold was crashing the glass, which was on full display late in the game.

Freeman was at the line late in the game and missed a free throw, but sprinted to the baseline as the ball was loose to grab his miss. He would later get tangled up, but that hustle was there all night, an

Quaintance led the team in rebounding with 12 as the youngest player in college basketball tallied his sixth double-double of the season. Freeman and Jihad were second on the team, with eight each.

14 of the 46 were on the offensive glass, earning ASU 16 second chance points. It won the game by seven, another reason why every play matters in this conference.

Turnovers are still an issue

Thanks to the Sun Devils’ effort on the defensive end, the Mountaineers couldn’t get much going on the half-court offensive. They instead found it in other ways. ASU entered the contest on Tuesday night, having 10+ turnovers in every game this season. That trend continued as ASU committed 15 turnovers. West Virginia scored 28 points off turnovers, which is almost 50% of their total scoring on the night.

Late in the game the Mountaineers shifted to a full-court press, forcing the Sun Devils into multiple mistakes. The ASU lead was cut down to seven late because of West Virginia’s defensive effort. ASU looked lost when the Mountaineers entered this defense.

Quaintance has been a bright spot all season, and he has undoubtedly given more pros than cons to the Sun Devils this season. One of those few cons has been turning the ball over. The freshman has had 11 turnovers in the past two games and made more poor decisions in Morgantown.

As the Mountaineers triggers the full-court press onto Quaintance,

he inbounded the ball to Mason, who got trapped in the left corner of the court. That is where you cannot inbound the ball while the other team is in a press. Small things like that will help the freshman grow and improve as the season progresses.