What Bobby Hurley said after Arizona State's win over St. Thomas
Five games into the season, not many people expected the Arizona State men's basketball team to be 4-1.
Facing a daunting nonconference schedule that included No. 4 Gonzaga and a loaded Grand Canyon team in their first four games, Bobby Hurley knew he would have to get his team to come together quickly. And he has.
After Sunday's 81-66 win over St. Thomas-Minnesota, the Sun Devils are one of the biggest surprises in the first two weeks of the college basketball season.
Ball State transfer Basheer Jihad had another big game in the win over St. Thomas with 20 points and 6 rebounds. Freshman guard Joson Sanon added 18 points and 9 rebounds off the bench. Five-star freshman Jayden Quaintance had his best game of the season with 13 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks.
Here's what Hurley had to say after ASU's fourth win of the season:
Hurley on St. Thomas' Unique Style
"I knew it was going to be a tough game. Their style is different. They're a very unique team, they move very fast, they back cut, shoot a lot of threes, a lot of long rebounds, a lot of long possessions of defense. ... There are easier teams that you most likely could find to play than this one, particularly with how we started the season with the difficulty of a lot of these games and the emotion involved.
"So just happy to get through the game. Glad we got separation. I thought we got the ball inside to Basheer well in the second half when it was still within striking range for them, and he did a good job of scoring and getting fouled."
Hurley on ASU's Turnovers
"We've got to still do better at the turnovers. We just can't turn the ball over like this, and they're not really pressuring us and trying to turn us over. So this should be a game where we are under 10 for sure so that's something that's been a pattern that we have to kind of correct and fix."
Hurley on Austin Nunez's Injury
"Austin has an ankle, slash Achilles [injury] ... and he didn't think he could go. We practiced yesterday, he couldn't go today. We'll reevaluate him. He'll see the docks tonight and tomorrow and we'll know more tomorrow."
Hurley on Jayden Quaintance's Big Game
"I'm happy that Ace [Adam Miller] in the first half found him a couple of times. He's got to find a way to get him some easy baskets. He hit a three, so I'm glad he made his his first three as a Sun Devil. He does it in practice, he just hasn't really connected yet in the games. Besides the points, I loved how he was going after the glass and rebounding for us. And then just his normal defense was kind of what I'm used to seeing from him from that end of the floor."
Hurley on Joson Sanon's Impressive Play
"He looks like he's got that look. He's really confident, playing the way I expect him to play. It's why we brought him here and why people think he's an NBA prospect. That's what he looks like. Just his shot, how effortless it is for him to make [shots]. I liked his rebounding. He had eight defensive rebounds which was huge for us. We told our guards they've got to rebound because they cut and they like to sneak in and get those rebounds. And also a lot of long rebounds because they were going to take a lot of threes tonight. ... People identify him as this kind of lethal scorer, and it's good that he's branching out and doing some other things we need him to do."
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Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. One of his favorite memories was covering the 1999 Fiesta Bowl - the first BCS National Championship Game - at Sun Devil Stadium.