(Photo: Maya Diaz/WCSN)
After opening the season with two consecutive victories, Arizona State men’s basketball team faces its first daunting test of the season with No. 19 Gonzaga paying a visit to Tempe Friday night.
This will be the second game of a home-and-home series with Gonzaga, a matchup in which ASU lost 88-80 to the then-eighth-ranked Gonzaga team last season.
“It was a very well-played game,” head coach Bobby Hurley said. “It was at a time when we weren’t sure what we were all about.”
However, since that game, only two players who played in that game are still with their respective teams — Gonzaga’s senior forward Graham Ike and junior forward Braden Huff.
That doesn’t mean there won’t be familiar faces in this matchup, though. Senior forward Adam Miller spent the last two seasons in Tempe before transferring to Gonzaga ahead of this season. Miller averaged 10.7 points per game in 53 games in maroon and gold, scoring eight in last year’s matchup in Spokane.
“He gave the program everything he had,” Hurley said. “Never cheated us of anything, always rooting for him.”
Senior guard Moe Odum is also familiar with this Gonzaga squad, after spending three seasons in the West Coast Conference — two with Pacific and one with Pepperdine.
“I’ve been talking to them about the Gonzaga game since day one,” Odum said. “That’s our first big test. You’ve got to be on your point, got to be on your P’s and Q’s, and go out there play with high effort.”
In five games against Gonzaga across three seasons, Odum averaged 9.8 points per game and 5.6 assists.
His best performance against Gonzaga came on Dec. 30, 2024, when Odum scored 24 points and tallied eight assists in a 89-82 loss, catching the eyes of Hurley and his staff.
“We wanted to look at some of his best games, against a team like Gonzaga,” Hurley said. “That’s the kind of team you’re going to see in the Big 12.”
Gonzaga’s stature as a national powerhouse has been no secret over the years. In the last ten years, Gonzaga has advanced to five Elite Eights, finishing as national runner-up twice under head coach Mark Few.
“They’re one of the top programs in the West Coast for the last decade, two decades,” Hurley said. “Well-coached team. Their frontcourt is outstanding.”
The frontcourt, led by Ike and Huff, has already wreaked havoc this season.
Against No. 23 Creighton, Ike led the game in scoring and rebounding, with 20 points and 10 rebounds en route to a dominant 90-63 victory.
A part of that dominance was Gonzaga’s presence on the glass, as they out-rebounded Creighton 41-33.
“They rebound both backboards. That’s why they have a chance night in and night out,” Hurley said. “They’re getting high-quality shots around the basket, and they go after the ball.”
Gonzaga also has quality on the perimeter, with the aforementioned Miller and former GCU standout Tyon Grant-Foster.
“They’re in gaps a lot, their wings are big, ” Odum said. “Their guards are pushing the guard out to drive to force them in the gaps.”
Grant-Foster is third on his team’s scoring with 11.7 points per game, while shooting 48% from the field. With GCU, Grant-Foster scored 19 points in a 87-76 loss against ASU.
All in all, Gonzaga has quality all across the board, and with the leadership of Few, this will provide the strongest test yet for the Sun Devils.
“It’s unrealistic to think that you’re going to come out and put Gonzaga away,” Hurley said. “We’re going to have to fight through some very tough moments and show character in this game.”
In ASU’s last game against Utah Tech, the Sun Devils went through their own tough moments to prevail. After taking a 70-48 lead at the 6:19 mark of the second half, ASU’s lead dwindled to just 10 by the 2:39 mark.
“It would be unacceptable to play the way we played for that three-minute stretch at the end of the game,” Hurley said. “If we do that for 90 seconds vs. Gonzaga, we’re going to have a very little chance to win.”
The Sun Devils will look to leave last week’s bump in the road in the rear-view mirror, as they look to upset Gonzaga at 9:00 p.m. MST Friday.
“That’s a goal of ours — to shock the world,” Odum said. “We didn’t transfer here to lay down. We came here to prove something. Friday, we got a chance to do that.”
