Sun Devils show offensive dominance and defensive sloppiness in win over SUU

In 2025, Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley experienced a lot of losing. In last season’s inaugural Big 12 Conference campaign, his team finished 4-16 in the regular season and was bounced from the conference tournament in the first round. 

To add insult to injury, Hurley then lost nearly all of his players to the transfer portal, including all three of his marquee freshman acquisitions, two of whom were five-star players who moved on to AP top-10 programs Kentucky and St. John’s.

So, it’s no surprise that Hurley wasn’t excited about his Sun Devils’ (1-0) performance following an 81-64 win in their season opener against Southern Utah. With 13 new players on the roster, the nine players who made up the rotation showed their talent, but Hurley is looking to nullify sloppy habits long before his next go around the Big 12 merry-go-round. 

“We struggled at the end of last year, and I told the team we haven’t won a game in a long time,” Hurley said post-game. “We had two close exhibition games that didn’t go our way; the program needed to win today.” 

Hurley rattled off numerous issues as to why he wasn’t pleased with ASU’s play, including turnovers, points in the paint allowed, and rebounding, all of which circle back to his understanding of where his team needs to be come Jan. 3, 2026, when Big 12 play starts. 

“It’s hard to be overly enthusiastic,” Hurley added. “There’s a lot of work to still be done … I just think we all want to be accountable and we want to try and set a sort of bar at a certain level.” 

Hurley’s primary issue with the Sun Devils outing was the turnovers; six different players combined for 14 turnovers, and while the Thunderbirds only produced 16 points off turnovers during the game, many of them were live-ball turnovers, giving their opponent the chance to capitalize. 

“It’s just too many turnovers,” Hurley added. “I told them it’s just stupid stuff. There are things we need to clean up.” 

However, the turnovers were partially overshadowed by ASU’s willingness to move the ball. Senior point guard Moe Udom finished fourth in the country last season in assists per game; his array of passing tricks was on display Tuesday as he collected eight dimes to share the wealth. 

“I think they like each other, they’re willing to pass with which is nice,” Hurley noted. “Good to have guys that have a good feel for the game that way.”

Perhaps no one feels as strongly about Udom’s play as senior guard Anthony “Pig” Johnson. The NAIA transfer led the Sun Devils in scoring with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, hitting a pair from beyond the arc. Playing with a guard like Udom, who not only passes but gives it his all on defense, conjuring three steals brings a welcomed intensity. 

“That’s my point guard, I love him to death,” Johnson said post-game. “Whatever he needs me to do, I’m willing to do it.”

Offensively, ASU did a lot more right than not, shooting 49% from the field and 39% from beyond the arc. Four players scored in double figures, and no individual took over nine shots. All of the units played with pace, scoring 24 fast break points and never trailing after the opening 31 seconds. 

Defensively, it was where Hurley raised his eyebrows, but his discontent was reserved for the methodology, not the outcome. The Thunderbirds scored just 64 points and shot a measly 4-of-25 from three-point range, yet they got into the painted area with ease, scoring 44 points.

The main culprit of that scoring inside was freshman point guard Elijah Duval, who scored 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including seven layups, which, according to Johnson, is “A big no-no for Hurley.” 

“We weren’t talking, we were not always up on the ball screen like we need to be, allowing big gaps to drive into,” Hurley elaborated. We all need to get better on defense.” 

Hurley’s frustrations with the lack of protection at the rim don’t come as a shock when you notice three players listed 6-foot-11 or taller were in the starting lineup, including 7-foot-1 freshman Massamba Diop. So, giving up 17 layups and allowing another 16 offensive rebounds against Southern Utah would make most coaches scratch their heads; Hurley is not an exception. 

“With as many guys over 6-foot-8 we’re playing on the floor, we give up 16 offensive rebounds, there’s a lot of work ahead of us,” Hurley said. “Now we don’t have any excuse like ‘hey, last year (Jayden Quaintance) got hurt and we had a lot of small guys trying to get a rebound, well, we have a lot of guys who are 6-foot-8 or bigger on the floor, so we ought to be able to take care of business on the backboard.” 

It wasn’t all doom and gloom in ASU’s win; it led by double figures nearly the entire second half, and the aforementioned Diop had a +27 plus minus with 14 points, five rebounds, and three blocks, the Senegalese Big man showed his ability to move up and down the floor as well, making a coast-to-coast layup in the first half and dishing out an assist in the post to a cutter as well. 

The Sun Devils didn’t have many players who would wow you in the box score, but with this being the first game of the season, Hurley tested out lineups constantly; he’d substitute players in with a moment’s notice, as Odum, with 31 minutes, was the only player to reach 30. Hurley was most impressed with his team’s demeanor when he would interchange rotations. 

“Everything about this team and how they conduct themselves just on campus and the little things on a day-to-day basis are very complimentary to them as people,” Hurley said. “Even today, our pregame warm-up, I thought was way better, our coaches came in saying ‘these guys were taking and they were working hard and they’re excited to play.

“I felt like I could coach with a free mind, and if I wanted to sub someone out, I wasn’t worried about the fall. I took four guys out at one time, and the next four guys came in with a good attitude. When I went back to those four guys, they were fine.”

The Sun Devils looked like a better side than the Thunderbirds from the opening tipoff, and Hurley has many positives on both ends of the floor to take away, but as the weeks roll around, they’ll run into difficult tests quickly. No.21 Gonzaga, No.12 UCLA, and two SEC opponents round out their non-conference slate before another trying year in the Big 12 ensues. 

“It’s great to win and I want them to feel happy,” Hurley claimed. “But I also want to cautiously make them alert to the fact that the water is going to get deeper and the mistakes that we made tonight are not going to be acceptable in some of our games in the near future.” 

Johnson agreed with Hurley’s sentiment and admitted the team is not yet where they want to be, although they got a game one win. 

“We weren’t close to achieving it,” He said.