Arizona State men show improvement in nonconference win over Utah Tech

The Arizona State men picked up their second win of the season. Improvement in rebounding and ball-handling were big factors …

Nothing like a free lunch for a little motivation.

Point guard Moe Odum offered that for certain players who snagged a particular number of rebounds in the team’s latest outing. The Sun Devils registered an 81-66 victory over Utah Tech on Nov. 9 at Desert Financial Arena, improving on the areas ASU coach Bobby Hurley complained about earlier in the week.

One of those was rebounding, hence the Odum-provided incentive. It was 10 rebounds from freshman center Massamba Diop, eight for forward Santiago Trouet, and seven for Andrija Grbovic.

Diop fell just short with six rebounds but tallied a team-high 18 points and six rebounds, while Trouet chalked up the first double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

“Lunch is on me,” Odum said, sitting next to Trouet at a table in front of the media. “That’s kind of our thing. I’m on him about the rebounds. I reward them for the rebounds, reward those big men.”

ASU shot 45.5% (30-for-66) from the field, which included a 9-for-24 (37.5%) from long distance. The Trailblazers shot 40% (22-for-55), with a 30% (9-for-30) from deep.

Let’s take a closer look at what went down.

What went right

Cut down on turnovers: The Sun Devils had 14 in the season opener on Tuesday, which was a high total, especially given that the opponent wasn’t playing a particularly tight defense. They cut that down to eight in this one, with only one player having more than one. The Trailblazers scored 11 off those turnovers. On the other hand, ASU forced 16 and scored 19 points off those. The assist-to-turnover ratio was good as well, with ASU totaling 19 assists.

Rebounded better: ASU was outrebounded by one in the opener. Again, that was distressing not just because it has more size this season, but it was also the caliber of competition. ASU finished with a 41-36 advantage on the boards. It gave up 10 offensive boards, six fewer than in the first game. It gave up 22 points in the paint, an improvement from 44 five days earlier.

Shot well from the line: ASU made 12 of 16 attempts (75%).

Bench points: ASU outscored Utah Tech in bench points 25-8, with Allen Mukeba scoring 10 and Marcus Adams eight. ASU appears more balanced this season and less reliant on the scoring of one or two players.

What went wrong

Got sloppy with big lead: ASU’s biggest lead was 23 points at 75-52 with 5:16 left. Utah Tech went on a 13-0 run over the next 2:25 to cut the deficit to 75-65 on a 3-pointer by Chance Trujillo. That was the longest scoring run the visitors had in the contest. Odum hit two free throws to stop the run with 2:10 left in the game.

They said it

ASU coach Bobby Hurley: “I was pretty pleased with how we played for the most part. We addressed some issues, some concerns I had after the last game. Our aggression level was better, keeping them out of the paint was better until it got sloppy towards the end of the game. So we can’t afford to do that against really good teams that we’ll be playing throughout the year. So hopefully we’ll do a better job of not playing the scoreboard and still having good possessions at both ends of the floor.”

ASU point guard Moe Odum, on Massamba Diop: “He doesn’t have a ceiling. He’s through the sky. I’m on him every day. I’m telling him, ‘You’re young, but I see a lot in you.’ It’s your mind, not your age. He’s really good. We’re not letting him miss a day, not letting him take a day off.”

Personnel notes

The four players who were sidelined due to injuries for the first game remained out — G Adante Holiman, G Noah Meeusen, F Jovan Icitovic, and G Vijay Wallace. Wallace is out for the season . . . . Hurley started the same lineup he did in the opener — Trouet, Diop, Odum, Grbovic, and Bryce Ford.

Up next

Arizona State will host Gonzaga (2-0) at 9 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 14. That game will feature two players with local ties who now play for the Zags. Guard Adam Miller, who played the previous two years for the Sun Devils, is now at Gonzaga, as is former Grand Canyon standout Tyon Grant-Foster.

Miller is averaging 10 points and Grant-Foster had 14.5 in the Zags’ first two games.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ASU basketball team shows improvement in win over Utah Tech

Source: Utah News