(Photo: Sammi Maxwell/WCSN)
With 12:36 remaining in the first half and Gonzaga on an 11-4 run, the game was beginning to slip for Arizona State men’s basketball. An offensive rebound from senior Ben Gregg that would later find his hands again as he spotted up for a three-point attempt to continue the bleeding for the Sun Devils.
One Sun Devil flew through the air to make sure that the bleeding came to a halt.
That Sun Devil was freshman center Jayden Quaintance.
Quaintance would use his sheer length and contest Gregg’s shot from a couple of feet away and completely swat his shot attempt into the stands. It was that type of fight that the Sun Devils showed all afternoon against the No. 6 team in the country.
Unfortunately, the fight wasn’t enough for the Sun Devils to leave “The Kennel,” with a victory as ASU (2-1) fell to No. 6 Gonzaga (2-0) 88-80.
“We fought really hard, ASU head coach Bobby Hurley said. “They showed a lot of heart, a lot of guts and a tough environment. I think we probably lost four or five possessions on offense just because we could not hear anything and couldn’t get everyone on the same page.”
Just two weeks ago, the Sun Devils traveled to Durham for an exhibition game against No. 7 Duke and got dismantled in Hurley’s return to Cameron Indoor Stadium. The offense looked stagnant, the defense was getting shredded all night by the Blue Devils clearly superior talent and the shooting didn’t look to improve from a season ago.
Fast-forward two weeks, and even with another loss to a ranked opponent, the vibes after are completely different from the wreck in Durham.
The offense looked a lot more fluid and complete in the Sun Devils’ past two matchups. Going into the season, ASU gained a lot of offensive talent, whether that be the freshman class or with transfers. A shaky start to the season against Idaho State, those questions remained.
Two straight 80+ point performances later and that question may have been answered. The Sun Devils hit 9 of their 29 attempts from deep, and 30 of their 63 attempts from the field against Gonzaga.
Senior guards Alston Mason and BJ Freeman would have 19 and 12 in the game, with each draining two shots from behind the arc as well. Even with coming up short in the final five minutes of the game, the offense competed and progressed in the first 35.
“I thought they all at different points took advantage of things particularly on the offensive end,” Hurley said. “Alston was really good, very efficient getting to the basket, scoring, making guys better. Same thing with Basheer. I think we’re getting multiple contributions from different players. JQ was really good in the first half. So we have a lot of weapons on offense and guys that we can go to.”
The sets have looked much cleaner, the actions have been achieving more movement around the court, and most importantly, the ball is touching the paint more. There was a seven-minute stretch in the first half when the Sun Devils seemed to fall into their old ways by taking contested jumpers early in the shot clock.
They immediately left that funk and got back into the game to close out the first half efficiently to go into the locker rooms tied up at 38 a piece.
The biggest factor as to why the Sun Devils couldn’t stay away from the paint, as 52% of their points came from that area, was senior forward Basheer Jihad. The transfer from Ball State dropped 22 points and 10 rebounds against the Bulldogs.
“I was very happy with his play,” Hurley said. “He had been struggling in our first couple just trying to find the rhythm in the offense. He really battled on the backboard, did a lot of dirty work and came up with some really tough baskets and got to the free throw line.”
The first half featured a lot of action from the exciting trio of freshmen that Hurley recruited in the offseason. A lot of talk has surrounded the group and they accounted for 17 of the 38 points that the Sun Devils put up in the first half.
A big stepping stone in the development of the highly anticipated Quaintance was showcased in this matchup simultaneously. In the first two games for the Sun Devils, Quaintance would only notch five points throughout two games. In those two games, he showcased his skills and length on the defensive end, notching 10 blocks in two games and altering a ton of angles offensive players were taking to the basket.
While that same defensive dominance was on display in Spokane, the offensive component of his game started to shine. Quaintance was able to use that length to post up early in the game and find two early field goals in the paint and later used that same aggressiveness to get to the line four times.
He’d finish with nine points and would ultimately go scoreless in the second half, but the growth throughout these past two weeks for the youngest player in college basketball is an exciting thing to witness for ASU fans.
“He’s still learning,” Hurley said. “He’s 17 but he’s got natural instincts and athleticism that nobody can teach. His shot blocking ability is special. His ability to move and guard multiple positions, he’s got such a huge future.”
Returning to the desert, the Sun Devils can hold their heads up high. Many experts think the Bulldogs will feature San Antonio for this year’s Final Four, and having that caliber of a team on their heels at home is something this unit can build off of with a tough non-conference and conference schedule ahead.
“I think this is an opportunity to grow from it,” Hurley said. “I think our players recognize that if we can compete and play against a team like that at this level that there is certainly a lot of hope that we can become a really good basketball team.”
