Senior forward Basheer Jihad scored 20 points and snagged six rebounds to lead the Arizona State men’s basketball team past visiting St. Thomas (Minn.) 81-66 Sunday night in nonconference play at Desert Financial Arena.
It was a game in which the Sun Devils (4-1) did not get some separation until late. They led by 10 at the half, 39-29, but the Tommies (3-2) were still within striking distance, only down by five with seven minutes left. ASU’s biggest lead was 20 points at 78-58 with 1:53 left.
“I knew it was going to be a tough game. Their style is different,” ASU coach Bobby Hurley said. “They’re a unique team. They move very fast. They cut, back cut, shoot it, lot of three’s, lot of long rebounds, a lot of long possessions of defense. There are easier teams that you most likely could find to buy than this one, particularly with how we started the season. The difficulty of these games and the emotion involved. Just happy to get through the game.”
True freshman Jayden Quaintance had his first career double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds. He also had four assists and three blocks. Among his points were his first three-pointer.
ASU shot 50% (27-for-54) for the game, while St. Thomas shot 60% (26-for-66).
Let’s take a closer look:
What went right
Rebounding: The Sun Devils entered with a minus-2.3 rebounding margin, but in this one, they weren’t playing the likes of Gonzaga or Duke, so they should have managed a better effort, and they did with an advantage of 44-29. ASU had 33 defensive rebounds, with St, Thomas taking 66 shots, 37 of those 3-pointers which meant ASU was able to grab some long rebounds.
Got to the line: ASU finished with a 26-5 advantage in free throws attempted. Much of that was because it made a concerted effort to get the ball in the paint for easy buckets or to draw the fouls. Points in the paint ended up 30 each.
Balanced scoring: Four ASU players finished in double figures, with Jihad and Quaintance joined by Joson Sanon (18) and another true freshman, Amier Ali (10). Sanon also collected nine rebounds, eight of those defensive. Hurley had mentioned that getting the guards involved in rebounding was also a focus.
Assist total: ASU tallied 18 assists, with Adam Miller leading the way with six. The four by Quaintance is significant for a big. B.J. Freeman and Alston Mason each had three.
What went wrong
Too many turnovers: This has been a problem in the still-young season, and the Sun Devils carelessly commit them, not because opponents are playing aggressive defense. They had 13, which they have been averaging, and eight came in the first half. St. Thomas finished with a 17-13 advantage in points off turnovers.
Personnel
Hurley only used eight players. Junior guard Austin Nunez did not play due to an ankle/achilles issue. He had been averaging 11.3 minutes per game.
They said it
Jayden Quaintance on getting his first double-double:
“Just trying to play a little harder, make more of an impact on defense, and rebounding is a part of that, so that was my mindset going into this game, especially since we were a lot bigger than this team. I feel like that helped us a lot, gave us some momentum and got us going in transition.”
Basher Jihad on Quaintance:
“I have been working with him a little. I was 17 when I started college so I know what that’s like and what that feels like. Just helping him along, teaching him. He’s a good listener and he’s always open to criticism and he’s very passionate about the game so it’s easy to get to him and he’ll make the changes you ask him to.”
Up next
The Sun Devils will host Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (2-2) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. The Mustangs have won their last two games after dropping the first two of the regular season.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona State men’s basketball downs St. Thomas for fourth win
