Three takeaways from ASU’s win over Sam Houston State

TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona State basketball cruised to a 78-61 victory over Sam Houston State Wednesday night, leading from start to finish.

The offense picked up where it left off against Vanderbilt and the defense continued its stifling play. Here are three takeaways from the game.

Arizona State vs Sam Houston State takeaways

Jose Perez, welcome to Tempe!

Graduate student transfer guard Jose Perez had a breakout game Wednesday. He was efficient, shooting 9-13 from the field and 5-7 from the line. He grabbed eight rebounds, tallied three assists, and picked up a block and steal as well.

Perez, who arrived at ASU less than two months ago, seems to be getting into a rhythm with the flow of the offense. He’s now scored double digits in three of the last four games, including two 20-point games.

This is nothing new for Perez, he’s been a reliable scorer throughout his collegiate career. He averaged over 15 points per game at Gardner Webb as a freshman and sophomore. Perez then transferred to Marquette where he played in just 10 games before landing in Manhattan in 2021. He averaged 18.9 points per game with the Jaspers, leading the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in scoring and earning a spot as a first-team all-conference player.

Now Perez is starting to thrive in the Sun Devils backcourt. He’s opening up space for his teammates, driving to the hoop, and getting to the free-throw line consistently. If Perez can consistently complement junior guard Frankie Collins in the backcourt, the future for ASU’s offense is bright.

Defense leads to offense

ASU scored 28 fast break points and 18 points off turnovers. Both were contributors to the Sun Devils’ 50 points in the paint. ASU’s defense has been aggressive all season, but the ability to covert turnovers into quick buckets helped the Sun Devils build an early lead and coast to victory Wednesday.

“It was our best half in the first half of getting deflections and it got us in a position where we are getting stops and thought we might be able to run on Sam Houston in transition,” head coach Bobby Hurley said. “It’s fun to watch the guys play that way.”

On the season, ASU is forcing an average of nearly 15 turnovers per game. But they are only scoring about 14 points off of those turnovers and about 11 fast-break points per game. To match that, the Sun Devils are averaging just 28 points in the paint per game.

ASU forced 15 turnovers Wednesday, on par with its season average, but was much more efficient converting those turnovers. This is a key for the Sun Devils going forward. Fans know they can count on a scrappy ASU defense, but the inability to turn those turnovers into points causes the defense to lose its effectiveness.

Collins and graduate student forward Alonzo Gaffney led the charge on defense, grabbing three steals and getting three blocks respectively. The Sun Devils snatched eight steals and a season-high seven blocks. The pesky defense has been a staple for ASU the last few seasons

Free throw shooting needs to improve

If there was one thing that had to go wrong Wednesday night, it was the free throw shooting. ASU shot just 42 percent from the line on 8-19 attempts, its lowest since 2021 when it converted just 2-8 against Washington State.

The Sun Devils have severely struggled at the line through the first six games. They’re having plenty of success earning trips to the charity stripe, just haven’t converted. ASU is averaging over 20 free throw attempts per game but making just 58 percent of them.

The Sun Devils ranked 343rd coming into Wednesday, which was bottom 20 in the nation. After the rough night at the line, that number will only drop. This is one area ASU will need to improve in if they want to be successful down the road.

ASU is now 3-0 at home this season and will look to keep the momentum going when they welcome San Francisco on Sunday. The Dons embarrassed the Sun Devils last season in a 37-point blowout and came into Tempe and handed ASU a 1-point loss the year prior.

There’s no doubt Hurley will have his squad ready to defend its home court Sunday.

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