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ASU Basketball: Sun Devils dominant in first game of ASU Classic

By James Malamas

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 09: Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky the Sun Devil performs during the team's quarterfinal game of the Pac-12 Basketball Tournament against the Oregon Ducks T-Mobile Arena on March 9, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Oregon won 80-57. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 09: Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky the Sun Devil performs during the team's quarterfinal game of the Pac-12 Basketball Tournament against the Oregon Ducks T-Mobile Arena on March 9, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Oregon won 80-57. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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ASU basketball was dominant on their home court in their victory over Louisiana Tech in the first game of the ASU Classic.

After returning home for the first time in nearly three weeks to host the ASU Classic, the Sun Devils played some of their best basketball of the season as they defeated Louisiana Tech 80-44 to improve to 4-2 on the year.

Arizona State’s defense was a problem for Louisiana Tech all game. ASU came out and picked up man to man full court and kept the pressure throughout.

ASU’s suffocating defense was able to make Louisiana Tech commit 17 turnovers in the game. The Sun Devils took advantage and racked up 16 points off turnovers.

Louisiana Tech’s star guard Kierra Anthony was held to just 11 points on 5-of-15 shooting in the game. Anthony scored 50 points earlier this year against the University of Houston.

Coming out of the gates ASU’s offense came out firing on all cylinders. The Sun Devils took an early 15-4 lead and never looked back. In the first quarter they were able to shoot 5-of-7 from the three-point line and finished the quarter leading 29-11.

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Heading into halftime ASU had a commanding lead 49-19, and their dominance on the offensive and defensive side of the glass was a big reasoning for that.

ASU out rebounded Louisiana Tech 51-33 at the end of the game and were able to pull in 17 total offensive rebounds. All of those rebounds led to 15 second chance points for ASU compared to two second chance points from Louisiana Tech.

In the second half the Sun Devils had already secured the victory and were able to rotate all their players in a get some much-needed experience.

Sun Devil coach Charli Turner Thorne knows that her team has a lot of players that can contribute and that makes this a dangerous team.

“We are 10 deep for sure this year,” Turner Thorne said. “We can come at you with waves and sustain our energy, something we couldn’t do last year, is helping us.”

With the defense creative havoc, it also allowed for the offense to get more opportunities with the ball. With how deep ASU went into their bench, a lot of Sun Devils were able to contribute on offense.

Thirteen out of 14 Sun Devils scored at least two points in this game. Freshman Taya Hanson was the only Sun Devil that did not score a bucket. She went 0-for-5 from the field in 19 minutes of play.

Three players for ASU were able to crack double digits for the afternoon. Kianna Ibis, Courtney Ekmark and Charnea Johnson-Chapman all had high scoring performances. They scored 13, 12 and 10 points respectively.

Ibis knows that with all the depth this team has it only benefits them and makes them even greater of a team.

“It keeps us fresh, we can be able to run teams and push the ball whenever we want and make plays,” Ibis said. “It helps out overall game and what we want to do.”

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With this victory, the Sun Devils advanced to the championship game of the ASU Classic and will play again tomorrow at 2 p.m. back in Wells Fargo Arena. They will square off against the winner of the Alabama and Tulsa game tonight.

All quotes in this article were obtained firsthand by Devils in Detail unless otherwise noted.