Arizona State vs. No. 25 BYU: How to watch Sun Devils reunite with former WAC foe

There was something different about Arizona State last weekend, and it wasn't just the absence of the team's leading scorer.

The shorthanded Sun Devils, playing with a seven-man rotation, actually resembled a menacing defensive team Sunday afternoon at Kansas State, limiting the Wildcats to season-lows of 33.3% shooting and 54 points.

Head coach Bobby Hurley called the 66-54 victory one of his team's best defensive performances and said it reminded him of the way ASU started the season.

"I think we kind of got back to the basics of what we were doing early in the season defensively," Hurley told Arizona Sports' Dan Bickley and Vince Marotta on Tuesday. "We did a great job defensively, holding them to 33% on the game shooting and held them in the 50s (in points). ... We have a chance to win the rest of the games on our schedule if we defend like that."

Arizona State (13-14 overall, 4-12 Big 12) will need a similarly stellar showing Wednesday night when No. 25 BYU (19-8, 9-5) visits Desert Financial Arena. The Cougars entered the Associated Press Top 25 poll for the first time this season following their 96-95 victory at Arizona on Saturday night.

The matchup of former Western Athletic Conference rivals will be the teams' first meeting in Tempe, Arizona, since 2002. ASU holds a 16-5 all-time advantage vs. BYU in Tempe.

The first meeting with BYU as a member of the Big 12 didn't go so well for Arizona State. Richie Saunders scored a career-high 30 points, and the Cougars shot 60.7% from the floor in a 76-56 victory over the Sun Devils on New Year's Eve in Provo, Utah.

BYU also visits Temple while playing perhaps its best basketball of the season. The Cougars have won four of their past five road games and are outshooting opponents 51.1% to 48.4% overall and 41% to 38.6% from 3-point range during that stretch.

"They really present a lot of problems with their ability to score," Hurley said. "They've got great size [and] they really shoot the basketball well. ... They're playing well, and they're squarely in the [NCAA] tournament.

"I think we have to do a good job of keeping them out of the paint and not allowing them to spray the ball out to shooters. They got guys that can really make shots," he said.

The Sun Devils may be shorthanded again Wednesday night, as freshman phenom Jayden Quaintance left with a knee injury late in the second half of Sunday's victory over Kansas State in Manhattan, Kansas. The injury is unrelated to the ankle issue that sidelined him for three games earlier this month.

Quaintance had 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting and seven rebounds in the game to lead ASU, while fellow freshman Amier Ali added 11 points, and junior Shawn Phillips Jr. chipped in with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Hurley also spoke briefly about the decision to dismiss leading scorer BJ Freeman from the team, calling it "agonizing."

"My mission or part of my responsibility is to do the best job I can for the kids that I coach," he said. "And there were just several issues in multiple games regarding BJ, which I felt gave me no choice but to make the decision that I ultimately made. .... I have to do what's in the best interest of the program. But I hold no ill will towards BJ and I wish him nothing but the best with everything else that he does in basketball."

How to watch Arizona State vs. No. 25 BYU

The Sun Devils and Cougars tip off at 7:30 p.m. MST on ESPN+ with Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play) and Scott Williams (analyst) calling the action.

Fubo TV subscribers can watch ASU and other college basketball games here.

Betting information

Arizona State enters the game at Desert Financial Arena as a 4.5-point underdog, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

The Sun Devils are +146 on the moneyline, while the Cougars are -178.

The over/under for the game is 148.5.