ASU’s defense was as stifling as usual; this marked the fifth time Arizona State has held an opponent under 35% from the floor this season.
(Dallas, TX) DJ Horne scored 22 points as Arizona State Men’s Basketball secured its best record (9-1) through 10 games since the 2017-18 season and the largest road victory in the Bobby Hurley era with a 75-57 win at SMU Wednesday night.
ASU’s defense was as stifling as usual; this marked the fifth time Arizona State has held an opponent under 35% from the floor this season. The Sun Devils are also up to 56 blocks through their first 10 games, the fourth most an ASU squad has had in that span since at least the 1987-88 campaign.
That elite defense held SMU scoreless over a nine minute stretch that circumvented halftime while ASU went on a 15-0 run to eliminate their deficit and soar to the lead for good.
KEY MOMENTS
Arizona State made three of its first four shots from the floor including two from three-point range.
The Sun Devils closed the first half on a 6-0 run over the final 3:37 to bring them to within five at the break. SMU was held without a bucket over the same stretch heading into halftime.
SMU was held without a point from 3:37 in the first half until a single free throw with 15:18 left in the second half, allowing a 15-0 Sun Devil run.
ASU went on a 5-0 run over 2:38 into the under-12 media timeout in the second half, moving ahead 44-38.
After that 3:37 mark in the first half, Arizona State proceeded to go on a 42-15 scoring stretch.
NOTABLES
The victory moves Arizona State to 9-1. It is the best mark for the Sun Devils through 10 games since the 2017-18 season, where ASU started 12-0 including a road victory at No. 2 Kansas. It is only the second time in the Bobby Hurley era that ASU has at least nine wins in its first 10 games.
Arizona State had 18 assists on 27 made field goals; that’s a 66.7% assist-to-field goal ratio. The Sun Devils have had at least a 60% assist-to-field goal ratio in five consecutive games for the first since at least the end of the 2017-18 season.
Tonight’s 18-point winning margin of victory is in a true road game in the Bobby Hurleyera.
ASU’s last true road win by at least 18 points was on Jan. 22, 2015 at Cal (35).
Tonight was also the largest second half point differential in a true road game since at least the 1996-97 season.
In back-to-back road games, Arizona State has trailed by double-digits and come back to win. This has not happened since at least the 2000-01 season.
DJ Horne’s 22 points mark the fourth time a Sun Devil has gone for at least 20 points this season. He has done it twice and Frankie Collins has done it twice. It is Horne’s fifth time dropping at least 20 points as a Sun Devil.
In all but one game this season – with the exception of the season opener because there was no leading scorer – the Sun Devils allowed more points to an opponent leading scorer than their season average. Zhuric Phelps entered tonight averaging 19.6 points per game through SMU’s eight contests this season and scored 19 against ASU.
There’s more on the Sun Devil defense; tonight was the fifth time Arizona State has held an opponent under 35% from the floor this season (18-55/32.7%). Nine of the first 10 Sun Devil opponents have shot less than 40%.
Arizona State has 56 team blocks through 10 games, the fourth most in ASU Men’s Basketball since the start of the 1987-88 season.
Warren Washington has been a massive presence inside for ASU this season. He has led or tied for the Sun Devil rebounding lead in six straight games and seven of the first 10 overall. He tied with Frankie Collins against SMU with 7 boards.
A key for ASU was the offensive glass. They led 14-12 in the category against the Mustangs, marking their first win on the offensive glass since Nov. 16 against VCU (11/+3).
Arizona State allowed just 57 points against SMU. ASU has held opponents under 60 points six times, the most of any Pac-12 team this season; Utah and USC are second with four. The Sun Devils are one of only three Pac-12 teams (USC/UCLA) to hold an opponent under 60 points in a league game.
Opponents are shooting 56-211 (26.5%) overall from three point range against the ASU defense this season.
The Sun Devils won the turnover differential tonight by three and have won the turnover battle in all three road games they’ve played this season (Texas Southern/+5, Colorado/+10).
Frankie Collins continued his dominance dishing the basketball this season. He has led or tied the ASU lead in assists in all nine games he’s played and had a game-high five against the Mustangs.
Devan Cambridge has been extremely effective shooting the rock. In his last six games, he is 31-43 (72%) from the floor.
Four Sun Devils had a +/- in double digits; Frankie Collins (19), Desmond Cambridge Jr.(19), Alonzo Gaffney (14) and DJ Horne (10).
ASU is now 2-1 in true road contests this season.
The Sun Devils are now 5-0 all-time against the Mustangs.
SMU very rarely loses at home. With the loss, the Mustangs boast a 51-17 record over the past five years at home, including a 17-1 record last season.
Arizona State has won or drawn eight of the last nine battles in points in the paint. Tonight, they led 30-16 in the paint. The only even draw came against No. 20 Michigan at the Barclays Center. The 14-point spread is the largest for ASU this season.
On the other side, ASU’s defense held SMU to a season-low 16 points in the paint.
ASU is 10-4 in non-conference road games under Bobby Hurley. The Sun Devils were 8-22 before Hurley took over the program.
Arizona State has 36 halftime comeback wins in the Bobby Hurley era and three this season (Colorado/-15, VCU/-7).
Former Sun Devil Football Linebacker, Dallas Cowboys legend and Phoenix native Darren Woodson was in attendance at SMU cheering on his Sun Devils to victory.
FIRST HALF
DJ Horne cashed in the opening basket of the game on ASU’s first possession after a find from Desmond Cambridge Jr. at 19:30, and the pair reversed fortunes on the following possession as Cambridge Jr. drained a triple from Horne.
ASU snapped an 8-0 Mustangs run after Warren Washington grabbed Arizona States’ first offensive rebound of the contest and Alonzo Gaffney dropped in a jumper on the assist from Horne with 12:58 left in the opening stanza.
The Mustangs opened the first 10 minutes on a hot shooting streak, but Horne drained another triple with 10:54 left and cut the SMU lead to 7, 20-13. He then snatched a rebound on the defensive end and made a swooping layup high off the window.
Sun Devil assist leader Frankie Collins picked up his first dime with 7:52 left in the first half as Devan Cambridge drained a tight trey from the right corner and ASU trailed 25-18.
Horne found Devan Cambridge for a loud slam on the fastbreak with 4:05 left in the half.
Freshman Duke Brennan earned his first points of the game after snagging his own miss and putting it back in with 2:39 to play in the first half. Brennan then grabbed Collins’ miss at 2:00 and put that one down, cutting the Mustang advantage to seven, 33-26. Then, with 1:12 to play, Collins threw down a transition thud and brought ASU to within five.
Arizona State closed the first half on a 6-0 run over the final 3:37 and forced SMU to miss their six shots along with two turnovers in the final three minutes of the first half.
SECOND HALF
Collins scored the first Sun Devil points of the second half on a layup with 18:01 to play after forcing two SMU misses and the Sun Devils only trailed by three, 33-30.
The Mustangs continued to struggle from the floor. After Horne made three free-throws at 16:36, SMU were on a scoreless stretch of 7:01 extending back to the first half allowing ASU to go on a 12-0 run.
Brennan snatched an offensive rebound and Horne drilled another three, his third trey of the contest with 15:53 left, giving the Sun Devils their first lead since 17:21 in the first half, 37-33. It capped a 15-0 ASU run.
Jamiya Neal dropped in a layup at 12:21 from Luther Muhammad, putting ASU ahead 41-38. A SMU miss led to a Gaffney transition triple and gave the Sun Devils their largest lead of the game, 44-38 with 11:15 left in regulation.
Gaffney slammed home an offensive rebound with 9:57 to play and extended the lead to six, 46-40. If that was not enough, Washington threw down a boisterous drop-step slam with 8:24 left and extended their lead to seven, 50-43.
The Sun Devils took their first double digit lead of the game at 5:49 on a Gaffney layup, 57-46. Washington continued to live above the rim with an easy two-handed dunk with 4:15 to go and Desmond Cambridge Jr. hit a three from Collins with 3:55 left. ASU led by 16, 64-48.
The Mustangs were unable to mount a comeback attempt.
QUOTABLES
Arizona State Men’s Basketball Head Coach Bobby Hurley
On what comeback on the road says about their character…
“The more games we win, the bigger the target gets on us. So when we come to places like this, teams are prepared and ready to play. We didn’t get stops early in the game and they were hitting their threes. The last four minutes of the first half were pivotal for us. We got a lot of stops and I thought in the second half, our defense was outstanding.”
On second half effort…
“Our defense was excellent and offensively, we were moving the basketball well; 18 assists on 27 made field goals, so you like to see the sharing of the basketball. The points in the paint, we were attacking off the dribble and were also solid play around the basket. I thought this was probably Alonzo Gaffney’s best game of the season, just his efficiency, how he guarded and made a big three in the second half. He had a really good game.”
On DJ Horne’s impact…
“Early in the game, before we got our feet under us, he hit some really big shots and was really solid throughout the whole game. That’s what he does, he’s a guy that we can count on for points in big games.”
Arizona State Men’s Basketball Guard DJ Horne
On what he was seeing offensively early in the game…
“I just tried to let the game flow to me. I came into the game into a slump. As a shooter, you don;’t want to just start throwing them up and getting in your head. I just tried to let the game come to me and it seemed like shots were coming my way. My teammates were finding me in a position to score and after I saw that first one go in, I knew I had to be aggressive.”
On defensive adjustments in the second half…
“We locked in more on the overall gameplan. We ran shooters off the line. They got off to a hot start shooting-wise so we put an emphasis and running them off the line and that’s what ultimately kick-started our defense because they stopped making shots after that.”
UP NEXT
Arizona State will head to Las Vegas for a neutral site clash against the No. 21 Creighton Bluejays (AP) Monday night at 7:00 MST.
Click on Logo
