Junior guard Jamiya Neal had a pair of highlight reel dunks in Arizona State's 63-52 victory over Texas Southern on Saturday afternoon in Tempe. (Erin Hjerpe / Inferno Intel)
After suffering a lopsided loss to Mississippi State in its season opener on Wednesday, Arizona State (1-1) regrouped in its return to Tempe on Saturday.
It wasn’t always pretty but ASU won its home opener against Texas Southern (0-2) 63-52 at Desert Financial Arena. The offense wasn’t dynamic, but it didn’t need to be.
“We’re still finding ourselves right now,” Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley said. “I would say that anytime you get kind of punched in the mouth, like we did on Wednesday night, there’s sometimes a carry-over effect. And it didn’t affect our defense tonight, but offensively, we were still very shaky.”
The defense carried the Sun Devils early and forced 16 Texas Southern turnovers in the first half. ASU led 28-18 after 20 minutes and controlled the game the rest of the way.
ASU graduate forward Alonzo Gaffney gave the team an 8-6 advantage five minutes into the game. The Sun Devils led the rest of the game.
Gaffney’s score helped start a 12-2 run that stretched the Sun Devils lead to 10 points with 11 minutes remaining in the half.
“(Gaffney) got off to a good start to hit a couple of shots early in the game,” Hurley said. “I thought he might have carried that confidence throughout the whole game on the offensive end. But defensively, that’s why he’s such a valuable player for us with his interchangeability on defense, ability to impact the game at the end of the floor.”
Texas Southern responded with a 4-0 run to make it a 21-16 game.
Freshman forward Akil Watson halted the Tigers’ momentum with a dunk on the ensuing Sun Devil possession with 4:10 left in the half. It was the first score of Watson’s collegiate career.
Senior guard Jamiya Neal scored five consecutive points in a 13-second span to give the Sun Devils a 28-18 lead with 2:31 remaining in the period.
Neal’s most impressive basket came off the fast break after Gaffney’s halfcourt steal. Neal received Gaffney’s pass and slammed home a windmill dunk despite being fouled by a Tigers defender. Neal knocked down his free throw to make it a three-point play.
“I think our second half of the Mississippi State game kind of carried over,” sophomore forward Kamari Lands said. “With how we won the second half against them. It’s because our pressure was there. You know, we were trapping and we were flying around.”
ASU led 28-20 at halftime despite struggling to shoot. The team was 34.5 percent from the field, 14.3 percent from behind the perimeter, and 43.8 percent from the free-throw line in the first half.
“I think we’re a better free throw shooting team than what we showed tonight,” Hurley said. “But I think that played a major role in putting a lot of pressure on our offense.”
The lack of offensive efficiency allowed Texas Southern to hang around in the second half. The Tigers went on a 10-2 run in the middle of the period to narrow the ASU lead to 40-38 with 13 minutes left.
ASU responded with a 16-6 run over the next seven minutes. Lands started the scoring with a fast break dunk. Senior forward Zane Meeks hit two straight 3-pointers to stretch the Sun Devils lead to 10 points with over seven minutes remaining.
“Zane has had a tough offseason,” Hurley said. “He’s dealt with a foot issue and missed a lot of time. I was happy to see him come in and hit a couple shots. I thought those were very timely three-point shots that he hit when we were struggling to score there.”
The Sun Devil offense improved over the final 20 minutes and made 5-of-11 shots from the 3-point line and 8-of-12 free throws. Neal, Lands, and junior guard Frankie Collins finished in double figures.
Collins led the team in points (13), rebounds (8), and assists (6). After going 0-for-2 from beyond the arc against Mississippi State, Collins made two 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to give ASU a 56-44 lead with over five minutes remaining in the game.
“I don’t look at it as like it’s my time to go get a bucket,” Collins said. “But if we struggling to get a bucket or the team is making a run and then needs to be shut down, I think I’ll just go out there and do whatever needs to be done and stop that run, or get us going.”
Texas Southern senior guard PJ Henry scored five points in consecutive possessions, including a 3-pointer, to get the Tigers to within seven points with 3:11 left. Henry led Texas Southern with 12 points.
ASU responded with a 6-0 run to put the game on ice. The scoring stretch was highlighted by two dunks from sophomore center Shawn Phillips Jr.
“It’s early in the season,” Hurley said. “I’m glad that we were able to win this game. And now, you know, we have some time to practice to get guys more acclimated and, and figure out a way to get better.”
Hurley got more players involved tonight. Freshman guard Braelon Green joined Watson in making his ASU debut. Meeks, junior forward Bryant Selebangue and graduate transfer guard Jose Perez also impacted the game off the bench.
ASU hosts UMass Lowell (2-0) on Thursday at Desert Financial Arena at 7 p.m. MST.