Sun Devils shoot well and play physical in 87-76 win over GCU

(Photo: Marina Williams/WCSN)

Amongst a sea of clashing maroon and purple that represented two different factions of the same city, only one could come out claiming ownership of Phoenix. It was nothing short of a spectacle within the Phoenix Suns’ Footprint Center Thursday as Phoenix’s top two universities Arizona State Basektball and GCU battled for claim to the desert in the Jerry Colangelo Hall of Fame Classic.

As expected it was a raucous crowd within the NBA arena as the Lopes (2-1) – just a month removed from a 30-win season and a march madness run to the round of 32 – brought in the Havocs as they look to continue as they left off previously. ASU (3-1) had other ideas.

Just three weeks removed from a harrowing 56-point loss in an exhibition game against Duke, and a disappointing seven-point win against mid-major Idaho State, the arrow was trending down for ASU. GCU represented one of the premier mid-major programs from 2023-24 and offered a springboard for ASU to assert the notion that this is a different team than that from the beginning of the season.

“I can’t believe how much better we’ve gotten in like less than three weeks,” ASU head coach Bobby Hurley said. “You just don’t know when things will click all the time, and until you get tested, you don’t clean up a lot of little things that you need to clean up in order to get out of your own way to become a better basketball team.”

The Sun Devils 87-76 win was nothing short of a statement. This is a team on the rise. Much of that recent rise can be attributed to their improved shooting as they’ve progressed through the early stages of the season. ASU dropped a relatively deficient seven threes at a 29 percent clip, in the first game of the year against Idaho State. Since that game, it’s been a different story as the ASU snipers have zeroed in on improving that number.

After a hot shooting night a week prior in Vegas against Santa Clara, ASU let it fly again against the Lopes to the tune of a barrage of 11 threes on 44% accuracy. ASU buried an impressive mix of well-worked open shots as well as contested daggers. Each one increased the decibels of a growing symphony of avid Sun Devil support in the building.

“[ASU] shot really well,” GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. “Against Santa Clara, they made 15 threes and we knew they were capable of making shots. Sometimes it was on lack of getting to shooters. Other times they made tough shots with hands in their face. [I] credit some of the guys for raising up to make some tough shots.”

Because of the rampant outpouring from deep against the Broncos in Sin City, the continuation of the efficient shooting wasn’t a surprise for ASU. Instead, it’s a new standard set for how well the offense should function in terms of creating quality looks from downtown.

“We were pretty good at Santa Clara,” Hurley said. “I’m not surprised to see our percentages were better, but to get 11, I think that is kind of normal for us. Somewhere in that range, is where we would be game in and game out if we play the right way.”

Five of those threes came from the near incandescent hand of freshman guard Joson Sanon. The former five-star recruit poured in a loud 21 points which was a storm of tough shots. The most fervent flurry from the freshman came in the last minute and a half of the first half. On two straight possessions, Sanon came off screens pulling contested threes with no hesitation finding the bottom of the net in rhythm igniting the Sun Devil contingent of the crowd.

His hand only grew hotter in the second half as he let the last of his five triples fly off a step back over the outstretched hand of GCU senior guard Rayshon Harrison. Despite barely being able to see the rim through the hounding defensive coverage Sanon was already wheeling back with the ball still in mid-air. The crowd had also already risen to its feet. After four tough long-range shots already hit, the freshman had earned the right to be confident this one would go too.

Making it was just icing on the cake.

“[Sanon] was just, you know, just playing with the ultimate confidence,” Hurley said. “When he gets in his own like that, he’s virtually unstoppable. He could get to the basket. He can shoot right in the face, he can go up to the mid-range. As soon as he was in the game, we had ultimate confidence he was going to make the play.”

Despite Sanon coming off the bench, his coaches showed early faith in his ability to break the game open by immediately scheming Sanon open to be the shotmaker he had recruited. It didn’t take much for him to activate.

“I just came in the game, [Hurley] ran a play for me and I started off hot,” Sanon said.

Sanon wasn’t the only former five-star spearheading the Sun Devil’s win against their cross-town rivals. On the defensive end, former consensus top-ten recruit in the class of 2024 center Jayden Quaintance continued to be a formidable presence in the paint. The phenom has held the fort inside for ASU to the tune of four blocks a contest entering the game at Footprint. He continued to ravage opposing offenses forays into the paint collecting two more blocks.

The most impressive of the bunch was late in the game as GCU’s star graduate guard Tyon Grant-Foster – who averaged 20 points a game in 2023-24 – spun past Quantaince before souring toward what appeared to be an open rim for an easy floater. Instead, the rim was replaced with the long recovery reach of the 17-year-old 6-foot 9-inch defender he thought he had just beaten and his shot was sent flying in the opposite direction.

Physicality was a key component in ASU’s victory both legally and illegally. ASU bullied its way to 21 personal fouls including a flagrant 1 from Junior guard Austin Nunez. The Lopes committed 20 fouls themselves putting ASU on the line where the Sun Devils converted an efficient 91.7 percent from the line. For a team that only shot 65 percent on its free throws just a year prior, the squad welcomes a collective of three larger players that can reassert dominance down low.

Quaintance, Six-foot 9-inch senior Basheer Jihad and 7-foot senior center Shawn Phillips Jr have established a formidable rotation of strength and size inside that helped control and dictate play against GCU.

“We have good size,” Jihad said. “Especially with me and Jayden starting, (both) six-nine plus. If we need to go to that, (we can), or we can go to finesse as well.”

The win was the 200th of Hurley’s coaching career. Not only was it a landmark for him, but it was a celebration of the Phoenix Basketball landscape within the region’s only NBA arena. The Hall of Fame Classic served as a house for rival schools’ support of their teams and disdain for the either to fester into an energetic environment. For Hurley, it shouldn’t be the last time this spectacle comes to the Valley of the Sun. Although ASU asserted itself as the King of the city, It won’t be the last time the college basketball world hears from the Sun Devils adversaries from South Phoenix.

“It’s a positive thing,” Hurley said. “[GCU] arrived as a legitimate threat in college basketball and to go to the postseason. They’re built with their guard play to go on beyond this game and have had a good year.”