Arizona State will try to correct the shortcomings coach Bobby Hurley noticed in the season opener when the Sun Devils host Utah Tech on Sunday in Tempe, Ariz.
Arizona State led from start to finish in Monday’s 81-64 victory against Southern Utah, but Hurley was not pleased with the overall performance of his team, which has only one player returning from last season.
Allowing 44 points in the paint and committing 14 turnovers will be particular points of emphasis for the Sun Devils (1-0) against the Trailblazers (2-1), who are coming off a 93-67 loss at No. 13 Arizona on Friday.
“The program needed to win and just get off to the right start, so mission accomplished there,” Hurley said. “There’s a lot of work to be done. … We lost containment of the ball way too much. I thought we were too spread out on defense and not helping when a guy drove the ball.
“We can’t really afford to do that as the water gets deeper over the next couple weeks.”
Arizona State’s new point guard Moe Odum, a transfer from Pepperdine, and 7-foot-1 freshman center Massamba Diop showed promise taking care of the ball and playing defense in the middle, respectively.
Odum tallied nine points on 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range to go along with eight assists and three turnovers. He also had three steals. Diop scored 14 points, grabbed five rebounds and blocked three shots.
Utah Tech was led by Ethan Potter’s 15 points and six rebounds against Arizona.
The Trailblazers remained within 10 points until midway through the second half, when the Wildcats started to pull away.
“Sometimes a road trip like this can really build your team and bring them together; that’s what we hope we can do,” Utah Tech coach Jon Judkins said of the back-to-back games at Arizona and Arizona State before traveling to Hawaii for a tournament next week.
