Diop, Trouet anchor promising early growth in victory

Despite opening the season with a win over Southern Utah on Tuesday, ASU head coach Bobby Hurley wasn’t exactly popping champagne. “I’m not overly enthusiastic,” he admitted, pointing to the long road ahead if his Sun Devils hope to silence doubters and compete in the relentless grind of the Big 12 this season.

It’s hard to argue with Hurley. Fourteen turnovers and 36 second-half points allowed to a Big Sky opponent hardly inspire confidence. But with only one returner from last season and seven new international players on the roster, the potential for growth is enormous. Hurley was eager to see that growth start taking shape against Utah Tech on Sunday, a team that had given No. 13 Arizona a scare just two nights prior, trailing by only seven at halftime before ultimately falling.

“I knew this would be a dangerous game,” Hurley said after the game.

Sunday offered encouraging signs. Turnovers were down, defense was up, and ASU controlled the court for roughly 35 minutes of a 15-point victory. The Sun Devils nearly turned it into a blowout, led by the freakishly talented freshman center Massamba Diop, who posted 18 points, including two three-pointers, and redshirt sophomore forward Santiago Trouet, who recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Together, the towering duo dominated the paint, helping ASU hold off a late surge from Utah Tech and secure an 81-66 win.

If anyone doubted the upside of ASU’s frontcourt, Diop erased those doubts immediately. From possession one, he set the tone, hitting a snatch back, stepping back behind the arc, and draining ASU’s opening bucket. The 7-foot-1 freshman followed that up with thunderous dunks in transition and slick finishes off pick-and-rolls, making the paint a dangerous place for Utah Tech defenders.

“When I watched the film on him, maybe he wasn’t allowed to shoot threes last year, but in practice it looks really good,” Hurley stated. “When he shoots them in skill work and post-practice work, they look good. It was just net-net on both of his threes. We got to find ways just to keep getting him the ball in different places. Good things are happening. He’s special. A chance to be really, really good.”

“He has no ceiling,” senior guard Moe Odum said with a grin. “He’s through the sky.”

Diop’s dominance helped ASU rack up 38 points in the paint, fueling a 39-25 first-half lead where last game’s turnover and defensive issues were nowhere to be seen. Graduate student forward Allen Mukeba contributed to the early paint attack, totaling eight of his 10 points in the first half while muscling his way to the basket and backing down defenders. 

Combined with a suffocating early defensive effort that forced 10 Utah Tech turnovers and held the Trailblazers to just 34.5% shooting, ASU’s improved ball control, committing only eight turnovers all game and just three in the first half, had the Sun Devils on track for a far more commanding win than in game one.

“I was pretty pleased with how we played, for the most part,” Hurley admitted. “We addressed some issues, some concerns I had after the last game. I think our aggression level was better, keeping them out of the paint was better.”

ASU extended its lead late in the first half with a 13-2 run fueled by fast-break excellence, senior guards Moe Odum and Anthony “Pig” Johnson leading the way with highlight-reel slams and 10 of the team’s 19 assists, contributing to 20 fast-break points.

But if Diop’s first-half brilliance built the lead, Trouet’s second-half dominance maintained it. The 6-foot-11 Argentine forward scored nine of his 13 points, grabbed nine of his 10 rebounds, and assisted on two of his three baskets after halftime, consistently cutting in the fast break, crashing the offensive boards, and creating clean mid-range looks. His relentless effort on the glass and ability to secure second-chance possessions helped ASU post 42 second-half points, cementing the final 81-point total.

“I just go and get it. Coach told me, ‘You want to play, go get the ball.’ For real,” Trouet shared. “I like to get rebounds. I can control getting rebounds. Putting the ball in, you can’t control it.”

Even so, this wasn’t a flawless performance. ASU played a complete game for just 35 minutes, not a full 40. After allowing 25 first-half points, the Sun Devils gave up 41 in the second as Utah Tech ramped up full-court pressure and began playing more freely.

Sloppy passes and flashy but ill-advised plays, including missed dunks and risky bounce passes threading defenders, handed momentum back to the Trailblazers. What had looked like a comfortable blowout turned into a tense finish, as Utah Tech went on a 13-0 run late before ASU finally pulled away.

Senior guards Johnson and Odum, who combined for 26 points on 9-of-17 shooting in game one, managed 21 points on a much rougher 7-of-22 performance in game two, including just 2-of-9 from three.

Hurley called Odum’s play “erratic,” noting that both guards, while careful with turnovers, sometimes forced the issue, Odum with contested shots and Johnson with home-run plays that fueled Utah Tech’s momentum and accounted for three turnovers. Add nine missed free throws by the Trailblazers, and despite 16 forced turnovers on defense, the game was far closer than it should have been.

“(Odum) didn’t have a normal game or even workouts, and he’s walking in right now,” Hurley remarked. “Sorry, Moe, but I just said, like, today I thought you were a little off on some of your reads, and he knows that because he’s had a long career and he’s played very well. I think what Moe does and has done since day one is establish a desire to pass, a desire to make his teammates better. And if you’re starting with that at the point guard spot, it kind of is infectious amongst the group.”

While ASU is still some ways from Big 12 play, their non-conference slate ramps up next Friday when they host No. 21 Gonzaga and welcome back two-year Sun Devil Adam Miller, returning after transferring this offseason. It will be the ultimate test to see if this reinvented ASU squad can carry its own weight and click the way Hurley envisions. Despite a late push from Utah Tech, Sunday showed glimpses of progress, but the Sun Devils will need to elevate their game quickly if they want to pull off a monumental upset.

“It feels really, really good. It really feels like, deep down inside, I feel like we genuinely have a chance to shock the world,” Odum proclaimed. “We just have to get back to the drawing board. It’s good to cherish this one. It’s very hard to get wins in college, but this is behind us. We have to move on.”