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ASU Basketball: Spacing the floor key against Miami

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 is set to face the No. 4 seeded Miami Hurricanes on Sunday which means they will have to game plan to battle against two towers inside.

After their first-round victory over Central Florida on Friday night, the No. 5 seed Arizona State Sun Devils will now play the host Hurricanes in a highly anticipated 4-5 matchup.

The Hurricanes rely heavily on their two bigs, Emese Hof and Beatrice Mompremier. Hof is a 6-3 senior from Utrecht, Netherlands, and Mompremier is a 6-4 redshirt junior who transfer to Miami after her sophomore season at Baylor.

The dynamic duo are the two leading scorers for this talented Hurricanes team with Hof averaging 14.5 points a game and Mompremier with a team-high 17.0 points per game.

The two have combined for 35 double-doubles this season, coming across 26 out of 33 Miami games this season. That is second in the nation for double-doubles between two players.

For the Arizona State Sun Devils a big part of their success last game, and for the entire season, comes from inside the paint.

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The leading scorer for the Sun Devils this season is senior Kianna Ibis. The 6-1 forward averages 14.2 points per game and is one of only two Sun Devils averaging double-digits.

Ibis can score from a variety of ways, and she is going to need to utilize all of them going up against this Miami team that averages 3.9 blocks per game.

For Arizona State, they are going to need to try to space the floor to try to draw those big out of the lane.

If they can make Hof and Mompremier guard on the perimeter it will open up scoring opportunities for ASU’s wing players to attack and get buckets in the paint.

The Sun Devils have the right personnel to be able to draw Miami’s defense out because they have inside players that can shoot the ball from outside.

Arizona State head coach Charli Turner Thorne talked about how important it will be for Ibis, Jamie Ruden and all of their bigs to be able to knock down their shots.

“I think they are going to be pretty open on the perimeter,” Turner Thorne said. “You’ve got Jamie Ruden who is shooting the ball well, and inside it’s a hook shot kind of day because not only are they big, but they will double in the post and stuff.”

On the season Ruden, the 6-2 junior, is shooting 42.1 percent from the field and 34.1 from three, so she is a very capable shooter from both midrange and three.

Ibis is shooting 45.9 percent from the field which includes one of her signature moves which is her mid-range shot. Ibis is also shooting 32.9 percent from three, so she is more than capable to knock down the three ball as well.

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“But when Jamie Ruden and Kianna Ibis are in together, that’s going to be an interesting match-up,” Turner Thorne said, “I think.”

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