It hasn’t been all well and good for the Arizona State Sun Devils, but head coach Randy Bennett’s first game in charge went in the win column.
Monday night at Desert Financial Arena, the Sun Devils defeated the Eastern Tennessee State Buccaneers 75-65, with 21 points and nine rebounds from forward Paulius Murauskas.
Despite the win, the Sun Devils have a lot to clean up in many areas as the Buccaneers hung around for the majority of the game.
“We did a good job representing what Randy is,” point guard Joel Foxwell said of the Mesa native after the game. “It’s good that we won, but we still have a lot of work to do.”
With about 10 minutes remaining, the Buccaneers cut the Sun Devils’ lead to five points. Even though they looked like they were potentially losing control of the game, ASU did not panic and kept their composure. It was the part of the team’s effort that Bennett was most proud of.
“That’s what I liked about it: the composure, because it was a little seedy there for a while,” Bennett said. “I thought they kept their cool.”
Bennett noted that defense and rebounding were the areas where he noticed his team struggled the most, with the game stats reflecting that.
The Buccaneers shot 41.2% from three and pulled down 12 offensive rebounds. The Sun Devils won the overall rebounding battle 34-31, but Bennett still expected more from that end.
Notably, for the Buccaneers, guard BJ Ward had a game-high 25 points on 10-of-23 shooting.
“Our habits are not where they should be,” Bennett said. “Defensively, same. We just make mistakes we shouldn’t make.”
On offense, however, Bennett was overall happy with the process the team played with, and throughout the game they looked more and more connected.
In the first half, the Sun Devils shot 3 of 14 (21.4%) from three, while in the second half their 3-point shooting jumped to 5 of 12 (41.7%).
Foxwell, who finished with 15 points, said the Buccaneers’ screen blitz forced the Sun Devils to adjust in the second half. He said he was pleased with the looks he was able to generate for his teammates in the second half, but knows he can improve as well.
“I don’t think I was at the pace I wanted to be at,” Foxwell said. “But Randy is giving me the opportunity to go out there and lead the team and give the guys the best shot possible.”
Murauskas was the star of the night, and despite an ineffective 0-for-5 shooting night from three to go along with five turnovers, he took over the game late to seal the deal with numerous tough paint finishes. He also finished an impressive 11 of 12 from the free throw line.
“I’m just trying to be aggressive,” Murauskas said. “Overwhelming rebounds, being physical especially if the three ball doesn’t fall.
Arizona State will look to start its season 2-0 on Friday as it hosts the Northern Colorado Bears at 7 p.m.
Gn sports
