(Tempe, AZ) Sun Devil Men’s Basketball moved to 2-0 to start the season thanks to a 81-66 victory over Utah Tech on Sunday afternoon at Desert Financial Arena.
For the second consecutive contest, Arizona State (2-0) controlled the action and did not trail the entire contest. ASU’s frontline was the storyline, with center Massamba Diop and forwards Allen Mukeba and Santiago Trouet dominating both ends of the floor. The Maroon and Gold were once again sparked by a fantastic effort from the substitutes, resulting in a decisive 25-8 advantage in bench points. The Sun Devils held the Trailblazers to 40% from the field and 30% on 3 PT FGs while also forcing 16 turnovers for the second consecutive game.
In both victories, four Sun Devils have scored in double figures. This afternoon it was freshman Massamba Diop leading the way, showing off his entire skill set. He finished with a game-high 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including a 2-for-2 mark behind the arc. Diop added six rebounds and two steals in 31 minutes of action. Redshirt sophomore Santiago Trouet responded with a fantastic game, registering his sixth career double-double (13 points and 10 rebounds). Senior guard Moe Odum provided 14 points of his own, while graduate transfer Allen Mukeba reached double figures (10 points) in under 20 minutes off the bench for the second straight game.
“To have three turnovers and with two them being ones that we shouldn’t even have had, we really could have had one turnover at halftime. Until the end of the game we had done a really good job in that department” (Coach Hurley on Arizona State’s lack of turnovers).
Photo – Sun Devil Athletics
First Half
The Sun Devils began with shooting five straight three point shots, with two going in, starting with Massamba Diop’s first career three point shot off an ankle breaker to open the scoring for ASU and Bryce Ford from the corner. Utah Tech stayed in it with ASU holding on to a 10-7 lead going into the first media timeout, with 14:56 remaining in the first half.
After scoring 10 to start the game, the Sun Devils were held to just four points on offense which included a throw down slam by Allen Mukeba. The defense held the Trailblazers to just four points and were able to draw a charge from Trevor Best. Arizona State held on to a 14-11 lead with 11:57 remaining in the half.
Utah Tech quickly tied the game off a three pointer, but the Sun Devils responded with an 8-0 scoring run that included Massamba Diop’s second made three of the game and held on to the lead 24-16 with 6:52 remaining
Moe Odum splashed a three from way downtown to extend a 13-2 scoring run for the Maroon & Gold. Allen Mukeba took advantage of a Utah Tech turnover by draining a mid-range jumper from the free throw line as the Sun Devils extended the lead to double digits 31-21 with 3:30 left in the half.
The Sun Devils closed the half by forcing three turnovers with Moe Odum picking up a steal. ASU was able to close the second half with a floater from near the free throw line by Odum as the Sun Devils held on to a 39-25 lead heading into halftime over the Trailblazers.
Photo – Sun Devil Athletics
Second Half
Despite the Trailblazers going on a quick 5-0 run at the 19 minute mark in the half with a tip-in from Santiago Trouet and a baseline three from Bryce Ford. Trouet also hit a nice turnaround jumper off a Ford assist as ASU maintained a 48-35 lead with 15:10 in the half.
The Sun Devils came out of the break with a three from downtown by Marcus Adams Jr, his first points of the season. Andrija Grbovic joined in on the downtown party with a three of his own. ASU put on the defensive clamps and held Utah Tech to a two minute scoring drought to hold onto a comfortable 55-40 lead with 11:46 left in the second.
Coming out of the break, Allen Mukeba tossed a dime to Anthony “Pig” Johnson for a driving layup, and Moe Odum got into double digits scoring off a pull up mid-range jumper and a three point trey from the corner with ASU holding on to a 64-46 lead with 7:56 in the half remaining.
Santiago Trouet continued his outing with a smooth layup off of Odum’s fifth assist of the game. That layup gave Trouet his first double-double as a Sun Devil (6th double-double overall). He wasn’t done though, he splashed a fastbreak three pointer as ASU led comfortably 75-57 with 4:28 left in the second.
The Trailblazers kept fighting back as they went on a 13-0 run with three treys making up for most of the points. moe Odum was able to silence Utah Tech by scoring four of the last six points from the Sun Devil while tossing an assist to Massamba Diop on a dunk. The Sun Devils secured the win by a score of 81-66.
Photo – Sun Devil Athletics
Quotables
Arizona State Head Coach Bobby Hurley
Opening Statement
“I thought coming into this that it was going to be a dangerous game. Utah Tech is a unique team. They played very well against Arizona Friday night. They were only down by seven at the half, to a team that beat the national champions (Florida) a couple of days earlier. I thought they would be good and scrappy. I was pretty pleased with how we played for the most part. 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 until it got sloppy towards the end of the game. We can’t afford to do that against really good teams that we’ll be playing throughout this year. Hopefully we do a better job of handling that, not playing the scoreboard, and having good possessions at both ends of the floor. We failed to do that for the last minutes of the game, otherwise, I was pretty happy about today.”
On limiting the turnovers
“We talked as a staff at halftime and if Allen [Mukeba] just went and laid the ball in, he was trying to be unselfish to throw it to Trevor [Best] for a layup and he mishandled it, that was one turnover. I think Pig [Johnson] tried to thread the needle with a pass off a steal. That was our other one and then we got another on an illegal screen. To have three turnovers and with two them being ones that we shouldn’t even have had, we really could have had one turnover at halftime. Until the end of the game we had done a really good job in that department.”
On Massamba Diop having Moe Odum as a teammate
“I thought Moe was just a little bit erratic today. He didn’t have a normal game or workout. I thought he was a little off on some of his 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 and 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.”
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