Arizona State's leading scorer kicked off team
The Arizona State Sun Devils will now have to find a way to win without their leading scorer.
Senior guard BJ Freeman, who was averaging 13.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists, was dismissed from the ASU men's basketball team on Sunday. The dismissal was first reported by Chris Karpman.
“He’s had a couple of conduct issues, and it was just too many. It got to the point where we’re at right now,” Hurley said on his pregame radio show Sunday. “We’re going to be very supportive of him as he looks for his next opportunity.”
Freeman, who transferred to Arizona State from Milwaukee in the offseason, was ejected from Arizona State's loss to rival Arizona on Feb. 1 for headbutting Caleb Love with 30 seconds left in the game. He was then suspended for ASU's game at Oklahoma State on Feb. 9 for conduct detrimental to the team.
A 6-foot-6 guard, Freeman had been the Sun Devils most consistent player during conference play. He scored in double digits in 13 of his last 15 games, including back-to-back 21-point performances in close losses to Texas Tech and TCU.
Freeman averaged 21.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists last season at Milwaukee. He was one of three big offseason transfer portal additions for Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley, along with forward Basheer Jihad (Ball State) and guard Alston Mason (Missouri State).
Junior center Shawn Phillips Jr. started in place of Freeman on Sunday afternoon against Kansas State as Hurley went with a bigger lineup. The Sun Devils upset Kansas State 66-54 to snap a six-game losing streak.
Arizona State (13-14, 4-12) is in second-to-last place in their first season in the Big 12. Despite their record, the Sun Devils are ranked No. 65 in the NCAA NET Rankings because they've played one of the toughest schedules in the country. ASU has played 14 Quad 1 games, but is just 4-10 in those matchups.
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-66e6aeb5014b4c4eeac84ca997f034c9.jpg "Ben Sherman")
Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his 27-year journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. A basketball junkie, March Madness is his favorite time of the year.