Three thoughts after Sun Devil’s win against Vanderbilt

The Arizona State Sun Devils (3-2) left  Las Vegas this weekend with a win against the Vanderbilt Commodores (3-3) 82-67. ASU finishes in third place in the Vegas Showdown.

With the Sun Devils win, here are three takeaways from the game.

Three takeaways from Arizona State’s win over Vanderbilt

This was the best offensive performance of the season

The Sun Devils offense was dominating all game. ASU finished the first half with 44 points and outshot the Commodores from the floor 51.8% to 37.5%.

Forward grad student Alonzo Gaffney led the team in points with 19 and was 7-11 on field goals. Guard grad student Jose Perez was right behind Gaffney with 15 points and was 4-9 on field goals. Perez was 7-8 on free throws.

Junior Guards Frankie Collins and Jamiya Neal both scored over 10 points each.

Arizona State has struggled on the offensive end this season, they only scored 49 points against BYU on Thanksgiving. Their performance against Vanderbilt should give some Sun Devil fans hope that the offense can turn things around this season.

Getting to the free throw line… and converting

Friday was a foul-heavy game as the Sun Devils and Commodores both had 20 personal fouls each. ASU managed to capitalize on these opportunities as they were in total 14-17 on free throws. That’s 82.4% compared to Vanderbilt’s 14/20 (70%).

Seeing free throws go in is a big positive for ASU. The Sun Devils have struggled mightily from the line so far this season. On the season they’re shooting just over 60% from the line. That’s after their strong performance against Vanderbilt. It’s been ugly so far from the charity stripe, but this was a sign of hope.

A key part of Arizona State getting to the line was Jose Perez. So far this season Perez has gotten to the foul-line eight times on three separate occasions. Having a guy that can routinely get to the line and draw fouls is important. In the future, when ASU is struggling to score, or going through a shooting drought, hopefully, they can rely on Perez to get to the free-throw line to get them going.

The Sun Devils are still looking for a “go-to scorer” this season. Desmond Cambrdige Jr. was that last season, could Perez grow into that role this year?

Consistency was key

After their lead at halftime 44-29, the Sun Devils were able to keep a double-digit lead for the rest of the game. ASU’s largest margin in the game was by 18 points at 7:50 in the second half 64-46. Vanderbilt’s largest lead was only by one with 14:16 in the first half 11-10.

We’ve seen many times, an Arizona State team blow leads. Especially when this Sun Devil squad hasn’t been in the position of being up double digits this season. The discipline to keep their foot on the gas, and not let Vanderbilt crawl back, was a good sign.

Arizona State will next host Sam Houston State on Nov. 29.

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