ASU offense erupts in win over NAU

As Arizona State took the floor for the second time of the season, ASU succeeded with a lot better performance than the lackluster opener versus Tarleton State.

The balance of Arizona State was evident early as the defense was forcing Northern Arizona deep into the shot clock forcing perimeter shots that were not falling early.

Unlike Monday, the Sun Devils started scoring basketball starting with a Frankie Collins layup to start the scoring. Marcus Bagley and DJ Horne's jumpers had the energy and score up early leading 7-2 at 17:23 left in the first half.

As the first half continued, the Sun Devils continued to do well as DJ Horne had four straight points while the defense only had two team fouls through 7:30 minutes of play.

As Austin Nunez and Collins tacked on points to give the Sun Devils a nine-point lead, NAU was not only struggling from the perimeter going 9-29 in the first half, with that not finding any rhythm.

The Sun Devils were rolling going towards the half as starting with about seven minutes left, the Devils scored 5 points by three players showing the ball movement with multiple players scoring all night. There the score was 26-13.

The dominance continued ending the half on a 7-0 run that started with a Horne three, leading him later to two made free throws. Collins and Cambridge got involved in the action proving that free throw-making was a point of emphasis after Monday’s struggles.

The Sun Devils playing the game very physically led to physical play in response from NAU. At the end of the first half, Marcus Bagley went for a lay-in when he was cut from under hitting the ground hard and leaving for the locker room early. The game went to the half with a score of 47-22.

As the Sun Devils went into the half a lot different than they went in last week, they also came out a lot different. Putting up seven straight points resulted in a 57-22 lead and Bagley was back on the court.

The largest lead of the night, 35, was a different position from where the Sun Devils have been in some time under head coach Bobby Hurley. Time went on after the big start to the second half, but the scoring did not go with it.

“I’ll attribute some of you know the maybe dysfunction or just you know poor play to you know being in a lopsided situation and not knowing how to handle it,” Hurley said. “We need to relearn what that feels like and how to continue to be productive, to continue to defend and get stops and not get distracted and not looking at the scoreboard.”

The game became “chippy” and even possibly more physical. It did not do much for the Sun Devils. With about 14 and a half minutes left in the second half, a jump ball ended up with two opposing players and a referee on the ground. Freshman Duke Brennan and assistant coach Jermaine Kimbrough were ejected for leaving the bench area.

Although the 30-point lead Sun Devils struggled, letting the Lumberjacks back into the game where the score was 75-62 at one point, there it was a lot of upsides. In lieu of the dominance, Horne had a career night scoring 25 points.

“It felt good, for me my whole mindset in this year is I want to win,” Horne said. “Whatever it takes to get the win at the end of the day, that’s what I’m most happiest about. The fact that it was my career night tonight here, it’s a win.”

The Sun Devils improve to 2-0 as Collins had an astounding eight assists and fellow transfer Warren Washington also felt his presence known, being a bully in the paint and posting 12 points.

The Devils now embark on a three-game road trip taking on Texas Southern and two other teams including VCU as a part of the Legends Classic in Brooklyn. The Road Trip Starts Sunday at 1:00 PM in Houston.