By Adam Beadle
Multimedia Staff
It was a remarkable win for Arizona State and head coach Bobby Hurley, who claimed his 200th victory as a head coach at the Division I level. ASU beat Grand Canyon 87-79 at the Footprint Center, the home of the Phoenix Suns, to improve to 3-1 on the year.
The Sun Devils had another strong showing from the 3-point line, fueled by freshman guard Joson Sanon, who finished the game with 21 points, 15 of which came from beyond the arc. Sanon’s 15 points from three are the most by an ASU freshman since Jaelen House scored five against Texas Southern on December 28, 2019.
“It looked like I was watching him in a gym in April,” Hurley said about Sanon’s performance. “[Sanon] was just playing with the ultimate confidence, and he’s such a gifted kid, and when he gets in a zone like that, he’s virtually unstoppable because he can get to the basket, he shot great, he can shot right into the defenders face, he can go off into the mid-range.”
Sanon, who did not play in the second half against Gonzaga due to an injury, played the sixth-man role for the Sun Devils, coming off the bench as senior guard BJ Freeman started in his place.
Sanon added that playing well in an NBA arena didn’t make the game any different for him.
“It’s normal to be honest,” Sanon said. “I just hoop.”
Amidst Sanon's strong performance came another double-digit scoring night and another near-double-double performance from senior forward Basheer Jihad. Jihad finished the game with 18 points, five rebounds, and assists, shooting an efficient 9-of-11 from the free-throw line.
“Basheer has put together a heck of a couple games for us,” Hurley said. “High-level games, rebounding the ball, putting the ball in the basket… getting to the free throw line. Defenses have to play him away from the basket. He could shoot, he could drive, so he’s a very complete player. It’s nice as a coach to have someone that you know could do so many things to impact quality offense.”
With the atmosphere in Phoenix on Thursday night, you would’ve thought it was an NCAA Tournament game. But while the stands were packed, it felt and looked like a GCU home game, which enabled the Lopes to come out of the gates and score quickly.
Similar to how freshman forward Jayden Quaintance racked up two fouls quickly against Idaho State, senior guard Adam Miller accumulated two fouls within the game's first two minutes, bringing Sanon onto the floor. Junior guard Austin Nunez even picked up a Flagrant 1 foul after jumping in the air to contest a shot from former Valley Christian High School alum sophomore guard Caleb Shaw.
ASU’s foul trouble would tell its own tale as the game evolved. The Sun Devils gathered 11 fouls by the end of the 1st half, matching the same number of turnovers ASU had at the break, the two points of emphasis Hurley said he made to his team at the half.
Going back and forth with the Lopes in the first half, senior guard Tyon Grant-Foster, who made his season debut for GCU after missing the first two games of the season with an injury, performed at a high level in the first half, accumulating seven points and four steals a little over halfway through the first half.
“We had multiple guys on him at different times, but he’s very good attacking the basket,” Hurley said. “We wanted him to be more of a contested jump shooter. We talked about filling the gaps so that he didn’t see big driving lanes because he’s a very dynamic, very explosive player, so we tried to do the best job we could to keep him in front and trying to contest shots.”
But great three-point shooting from Sanon would give the Sun Devils the lead at halftime as he knocked down back-to-back 3s shortly before the break to provide ASU with a one-point advantage, 41-40.
With GCU turning the ball over multiple times, ASU took advantage coming out of the break. A three-pointer from Miller was part of a 7-0 run the Sun Devils would go on to start the half. But the fast-paced play from the Sun Devils would be halted at the midway point. ASU would go on a scoring drought that would last around three minutes, but it was saved with another three-pointer from Sanon.
With 11:53 left to go in the second half, ASU's lead would grow to 12, its largest of the game. Despite being outrebounded, ASU was still finding ways to score. Sanon would add his fourth three-pointer of the night, ushering a GCU timeout. Sanon would then knock down his fifth soon after.
ASU's dominance continued not only on the perimeter but also inside the paint. Late in the second half as Miller made a physical layup under the rim, thanks to a Quaintance steal, that seemed to be the deciding factor for Lopes fans to make their way to the exits early.
However, it was Quaintance's defensive effort late in the game that would be the key to sealing an ASU victory. With under two minutes remaining in the game, Quaintance made a remarkable recovery in the paint, not letting the ball out of his sight and rising to block a GCU shot that called the game for the Sun Devils.
“His block at the end of the game, things he does are just different,” Hurley said.
Quaintance’s 14 blocks on the year makes him even with Robert Morris junior forward Amarion Dickerson for the most blocks at the Division I level. Quaintance only needs seven more to overcome former ASU center Jordan Bachynski's 20 blocks he accumulated in his freshman season.
Through the first four games, Hurley feels his team has had a more challenging schedule than any other team in the country.
“For us to be where we are right now, we’re in a good spot, and we got to keep getting better,” Hurley said. “We have a couple of home games coming up, so we’re excited about where things are going.”
“I can’t believe how much better we’ve gotten in, like, less than three weeks.”
The Sun Devils, who have continuously improved in each game this season, will look to build on their efforts as they host St. Thomas on Sunday and Cal Poly on Wednesday at Desert Finacial Arena.
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