ASU Men’s Basketball: Starters dominate Idaho State in season opener
ASU men’s basketball begin the season 1-0 defeating Idaho State 94-74 behind forward De’Quon Lake’s strong debut and 25 points from guard Shannon Evans II.
A singular ding of that ceremonial bell marked ASU men’s basketball’s first win of the new season as the Sun Devils defeated the Idaho State Bengals in their season opener 94-74.
The Sun Devils had stellar debuts from guard Remy Martin (12 points/4 rebounds/5 assists) and forward De’Quon Lake (24 pts./8 reb.) that were key to victory. Excellent play from Shannon Evans, (25 pts./4 reb./3 ast.) and a near triple-double from Tra Holder (18 pts./9 reb./8 ast.) proved to be more than enough as ASU won rather easily.
The game was tight until ASU went on a massive 16-2 run during the last 3:43 of the first half, blowing the game wide open. The run was sparked by solid defensive play, and forced turnovers that ended in easy baskets in transition.
Head coach Bobby Hurley was impressed with the way his team finished the first half.
“Its something we’ve talked a lot about in practice, about how you finish a half,” Hurley said. “In that last under four (minute) huddle it was about winning the last four minutes.”
The run was capped off with an impressive poster jam from Lake that had the Sun Devil crowd roaring. Hurley also said the run was huge in breaking the game open, adding that the team lost its focus in the second half and played to the scoreboard too much.
Despite the Sun Devils loss of focus, ASU had an extremely efficient game shooting 52 percent from the floor and making 32 percent of their three pointers as a team.
“I feel like I missed a lot of easy ones. Our guys picked up the slack.” Shannon Evans said after the Sun Devil victory.
Evans continued, “Guys like De’Quon Lake had a great game, Tra [Holder] had an overall great game, passing, rebounding, and scoring. So guys just picked it up.”
Evans added that he started hitting shots as the game went on, and that his teammates’ great play opened up the game for him.
Idaho State had only three double-digit scorers, and had little-to-no success slowing down ASU. The Bengals had trouble doing much of anything against ASU’s ball hawking defense. Idaho State had 11 turnovers in the first half alone, and finished with 14 on the game.
For the Sun Devils, a win is a win. However well they played, ASU simply outclassed Idaho State at almost every position. and that can be seen as a positive for Bobby Hurley’s squad. Starting the season off with a win is always a plus, and their talent level has risen.
If their debut against Idaho State has any merit to it, the Sun Devils look as if they can compete at a higher level than in previous seasons. The Sun Devils new found talent will be tested next Tuesday against the San Diego State Aztecs. This game should be seen as a test to find out if they can compete at the highest level.