The Arizona State Sun Devils will try to make it four wins in as many games the next time they take the court at Desert Financial. This time the opponent will be Louisiana-Monroe, which will be in town to play Grand Canyon the next night.
This marks the first season ASU has gotten off to a 3-0 start since the Sun Devils did so in 2018-19 under former coach Bobby Hurley. This is also the first time ASU has held its opponent to 65 points or fewer in each of its first three games of the season since the 2014-15 campaign.
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ASU has won all three games by 10 or more points, and two by 20 points.
Here is a closer look at the next game.
Louisiana-Monroe (1-3) at Arizona State (3-0)
Time/Site: 7 p.m. on Nov. 13, Desert Financial Arena.
TV: ESPN+. Radio: Arizona Sports 98.7 FM (KMVP).
About the matchup: ASU is coming off an 85-63 win over Hofstra, while Louisiana-Monroe is coming off a 100-92 double-overtime loss at TCU. The teams have never played.
About the Warhawks: The Warhawks compete in the Sun Belt Conference. They were 4-18 a year ago, with a 1-17 mark in the conference. That led to a coaching change. Ryan Cross, who helped guide UAB to two NCAA Tournament appearances and two conference tournament championships, is now at the helm. Cross makes the return to Monroe, having spent eight seasons with the Warhawks from 2012 to 2020. The team’s leading scorers are senior guards Dayjuan Anderson (16.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg) and Quaran McPherson (16.8 ppg) — both transfers from UAB. Anderson totaled 20 points, 13 rebounds and five assists in the loss at TCU.
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About the Sun Devils: Paulius Murauskas (25.3 ppg, 8.3 rpg) is coming off a double-double in the win over Hofstra. He had 22 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore point guard Joel Foxwell (12.7 ppg) and true freshman JRob Croy (11.7 ppg) are also averaging double figures. ASU has been playing without three players: senior forward Jonathan Griman, sophomore forward Marcus Vaughns and senior guard Emmanuel Innocenti. Innocenti, considered the team’s best defensive player, could return for this game. He sprained an ankle in the season opener. ASU is averaging 83.3 points, is shooting 48.8% from the field and has a +11 rebounding margin.
They said it: “This can be a good team. I’m not just trying to pump our team or our program up. I just compare them to our good teams at St. Mary’s. Those were usually around 25-ish. I’ll just go through the guys. We’re every bit in that conversation; we just haven’t done it yet. It’s gonna get crazy in January.” — ASU head coach Randy Bennett
“Different guys will step up on different nights. We have so many players capable of making an impact in games. I was proud of the guys that came off the bench ready to play. That is not easy to do. They push us in practice every day and have earned the right to see the court. I enjoy cheering them on late in games from the sidelines. They never stop competing.” — ASU point guard Joel Foxwell
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona State basketball coach Randy Bennett sees 25-win potential
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
