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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,…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/basheer-jihads-20-points-leads-042840880.html
Author : AZCentral | The Arizona Republic
Publish date : 2024-11-18 04:28:00
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