Everything Randy Bennett Said About Paulius Murauskas, Arizona State's Win vs. Louisiana Monroe

After moving to 4-0 in his new ASU digs, Randy Bennett took to the podium following a Friday victory over the Warhawks.

Arizona State head coach Randy Bennett yells out to his team as they play the Hofstra Pride at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe on Nov. 10, 2026. | © Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Friday night in Tempe belonged to the Sun Devils. More specifically, Paulius Murauskas.

Randy Bennett's captain forward lit up the court once again with 31 points and 13 rebounds in ASU's 92-62 victory over UL Monroe.

What did Bennett think about the victory and Murauskas' performance? Here is everything the new Sun Devil coach had to say postgame:

Murauskas' Importance to ASU

"When I don't have to talk to them (his players) during the games, they've gotten good, and that's kind of where I am with Paulis. Wasn't always like that, but I just let him play. He knows what he's doing.

"When they start saying the things you're saying, when they start saying those things to their teammates, what the coaches are trying to tell our team when they're saying it, then you have good leadership. And he really wants to be good. He really wants his team to be good."

"Everybody asks me, 'Man, where's he gotten better?' And that's (leadership) by far number one. He's gotten better in other areas. He's gotten stronger, but he's just really grown up into a good leader."

ASU's Rebounding, Defensive Performance vs. ULM

"That's one of our big deals: rebounding, defending, taking care of the ball, and then being efficient offensively, and we weren't happy about it slipping to a plus 13. So we have to play 40 minutes, and our guys did a good job. I have no complaints, but we could have put that number up there even higher. But we keep getting better."

Did ASU Play a Complete Game?

"We were good, on defense, until (the) last eight to 10 minutes. But we were good. Our numbers, our defensive numbers, are good. Big key on them was keeping them off the three, which we have not been doing a great job of. We did a pretty good job tonight. They got some buckets late, that can happen, but we don't want it to happen. The guys don't get to play a lot. You got to play, and they need those minutes, and they need to be coached hard in those minutes so that they get better. That's the whole deal."

Where Does Paulius Rank in Bennett's "Alumni Tree"?

"At that position, I would say the best (I've coached) at that position. We've had some really good guards and really good fives. He's in the conversation. I thought about it a lot recently. Like, where is he? He's just put himself into, in my 25 years, the elite category group. It'd be hard for me, breaking down, (Matthew) Dellavedova and Patty (Mills) and (Jock) Londale and (Omar) Samhan, those guys. But as far as a four, best one I've coached."

Bennett, Murauskas and the Devils will return to the court on Wednesday, Nov. 18, for a 7:00 PM tip vs. Oakland.