TEMPE – Arizona State Men’s Basketball defeated Kansas State, 87-84, to earn their first Big 12 Conference win of the season.
In front of the home fans at Desert Financial Arena, the Sun Devils (10-6, 1-2) defeated the Wildcats (9-7, 0-3) to snap a four-game losing streak. Head Coach Bobby Hurley‘s team controlled the inside game, dominating their opponent in both points in the paint (50-28) and blocks (10-3). ASU posted 51 second half points and shot 53% from the field after the break, with the halftime adjustments implemented by the coaching staff paying off with another patented comeback effort.
A balanced offensive attack was responsible for the productive output, with all five Sun Devil starters finishing in double figures. Leading the way was freshman center Massamba Diop, who registered his third-straight game with 20 or more points. Diop added nine rebounds and five blocks, with his presence in the paint causing problems for Kansas State.
A great sign for Arizona State was the resurgence of senior Moe Odum, who matched Diop with a team-best 21 points. Backcourt mate senior Anthony “Pig” Johnson was also extremely effective and efficient, scoring 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting. For the third time this season, redshirt sophomore forward Santiago Trouet had a double-double. He ended the night with 10 points and 10 rebounds to become the first Sun Devil since Devan Cambridge in 2022-23 to have three double-doubles in a season. Fellow big man Allen Mukeba was also impactful, contributing ten points and eight rebounds to go along with two blocks.
Arizona State continued their success in getting to the free throw line, finishing with 32 attempts at the stripe. They also limited the efficiency of Kansas State star guard PJ Haggerty, holding him to just 36.8% shooting overall. The Sun Devils boasted a 48-34 advantage on the glass, as the moved to 6-0 when out-rebounding their opponent. ASU also hands Jerome Tang just his fifth loss in 40 games when Kansas State has scored 80 or more points in his tenure. The most important game of the season is next on the schedule, as the Maroon and Gold head to Tucson to take on Arizona on Wednesday, Jan. 14 at 8:30 PM MST.
Series history
Arizona State now owns the lead in the series with Kansas State. In the 13th meeting between the two programs, the Sun Devils captured their seventh victory. This was the first time that ASU had beaten Kansas State in Tempe since 1980, but they had only met one other time since. Hurley moves to 3-2 against the Wildcats during his tenure in Tempe.
10-6 start
The Sun Devils have started 10-6 or better for the fourth consecutive season. It is their eighth 10-6 start or better in the 11 years of the Bobby Hurley era. Five of their wins to start off 2025-26 have come away from home (4 neutral, 1 road). The 10-6 start comes against the nation’s 25th-strongest schedule according to ESPN, who has ASU slotted at 72 in their latest Strength of Record metric with three Quad 1 wins credited (Texas, Santa Clara).
First half
Odum got things going for the offense as he made good on his first attempt beyond the arc. The Sun Devils anchored themselves in defensively early on, as limited the Wildcats to under 30% shooting at the first media timeout.
A back-and-fourth affair developed, with both sides exchanging runs. With Kansas State leading 11-10 at the 11:31 mark, ASU went on its largest run of the half and outscored Kansas State 8-0 over the next 1:30. Arizona State boasted a 20-16 lead as the half entered its third media stoppage at the 7:31 mark.
Both sides increased their tendency to attack the rim, leading to more attempts at the free throw line. Kansas State began to get hot from beyond the arc, allowing them to pull ahead by a small margin as the half wound down. The Wildcats would score on their final possesion, taking a 38-36 lead into the break.
The Sun Devils made their impact felt from within 22 feet, amassing 33 of their 36 points from inside the arc and holding Kansas State to just 7-21 (33.3%) from on two-point field goals. Massamba Diop led the charge on the defensive end for ASU as he tallied an incredible five blocks in the first half of play.
Second half
In what was a repeat of the first half, the first points out of the break came courtesy of Moe Odum. He hit a three pointer, matching ASU’s first half total from behind the arc with just one shot. The tides changed to start the second half in what jumped off to a more efficient offensive game. The senior guard tandem of Johnson and Odum kept the offense on track through the early going, attacking the rim at a high rate. Heading into the half’s first media timeout Arizona State trailed 51-45, attempting to withstand Kansas State’s three-point barrage.
The Sun Devils remained committed to their gameplan and earned their first lead of the half at 56-55 with 12:57 left in regulation. However, KSU gained some traction connecting from deep on consecutive three-point shots to give them their largest lead of the second half, 65-58, with 10:32 left to go.
ASU responded by doing damage down low. The trio of Trouet, Mukeba, and Diop each contributed to a 12-1 scoring run that had the Sun Devils on the other end of a five-point lead at 70-65 with 6:39 to go. Over that seven minute stretch ASU accumulated a 20-6 point differential over the Wildcats and provided a nine point lead — their largest lead of the night with less than five minutes remaining.
The late push from the Sun Devils moved the starting five into double-digit scoring and was enough to hold off Kansas State and complete the 87-84 comeback victory.
Quotables
Arizona State Head Coach Bobby Hurley
On the victory
“It wasn’t the cleanest game in the world. But with everything the guys have been through the last couple weeks this outcome was much needed for morale. I told the guys when you start losing, the feeling is like when are you going to win again and tonight was our night. Haggerty’s a really good player; he’s banking 3s and at the end. So when you lose a couple of games, things like that start happening, and you question whether you’re going to get over the hump. I’m glad we were able to do enough to get the win tonight.”
On what contributed to their late scoring run
“I thought Santi (Santiago Trouet) was a big part of our turnaround in that second half. He had some really blue-collar plays, getting offensive rebounds and driving the ball. We got to the basket. Massamba (Diop) was very good offensively and challenging shots defensively. We had an advantage over them around the basket and we were able to take advantage of it. It was 50-to-28 in the paint. When you have that type of attack where you’re getting those quality shots you’re in pretty good shape.”
On the rebounding advantage over Kansas State
“It’s more of some of the lineup combinations, the way we’re starting the game with Santi and Allen (Mukeba) and Massamba naturally gives us a rebounding advantage and gets us off to a good start on the interior. That’s kind of the thought there, but Santi, I thought, was a standout going after the offensive glass especially in that stretch where we really started to get some momentum. He was a big part of it.”
Up next
Sun Devil Men’s Basketball will take a trip down south to Tucson, where they will face off against their in-state rivals Arizona on Wednesday, Jan. 14 at 8:30 PM MST. Coverage of the game can be found on television at FS1.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Connor Smith
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