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ASU basketball crushes Northern Colorado behind Murauskas, Ford
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- ASU basketball crushes Northern Colorado behind Murauskas, Ford
The first game was a little tighter than Arizona State men's basketball coach Randy Bennett would have liked. His team's second outing was significantly better.
Senior forward Paulius Murauskas and senior guard Bryce Ford combined for 50 points as the Sun Devils (2-0) cruised past visiting Northern Colorado 90-63 on Friday, Nov. 6, at Desert Financial Arena.
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Murauskas followed up a 21-point performance with a career-high 33 points on Nov. 6, with 18 coming in the first half. He was 13-for-18 from the field, with five rebounds and two steals.
Ford, one of just two returning players from last year's squad, saw just 8 minutes of playing time in the opener but logged 22 minutes off the bench Friday. He chipped in 17 points, on a 6-for-11 showing from the field and a 3-for-3 from the line.
"We did a good job defensively first half and half of the second half, maybe first 12 minutes," Bennett said. "It was good to get separation. I think there are little steps we're making. One of them is learning how to do that. Get a lead, be able to stretch the lead, just never have a run where they cut it and make it close.
"We were able to play all 11 guys we had who could play, and they all made contributions. For us to get better and our bench to get better, we have to get in situations where they can play in games. You can only do so much in practice. But you need game reps."
What went right
Big lead early: The Sun Devils jumped on the Bears from the start and led by as many as 24 points in the first half. That allowed Bennett to use more of his bench, something he needed to do after two starters had to play 40 minutes on Nov. 2.
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Better effort defensively: This was an emphasis in practice this week, and it showed. The Bears were held to 42.9% (24-for-56) for the game, and just 35.5% (11-for-31) in the first half. Langston Reynolds, the conference preseason player of the year selection, was just 3-for-11 from the field.
Fewer turnovers:ASU had five turnovers. It forced 12 turnovers and finished with a 16-12 advantage in points off turnovers.
Rebounded better:ASU finished with a 40-32 advantage on the boards, an improvement of seven over the first game. Dillan Shaw had 12 rebounds, while Filip Malesevic had 11. ASU had an 11-9 edge in offensive rebounds and a 29-23 advantage in defensive rebounds.
Better shooting:The Sun Devils shot 53.8% (35-for-65) from the field. That included 58% (22-for-38) in the first half. Marauskas and Ford were a combined 19-for-29.
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What went wrong
Foxwell had a tough night: Sophomore point guard Joel Foxwell went 2-for-10 from the field (1-for-6 from deep) and scored just seven points after being one of the standouts in the opening game. He did have eight assists, three rebounds and two steals.
Gave up 3-pointers: The Bears made 8 of 18 attempts from deep, with five different players making at least one. They were 2-for-6 in the first half and 6-for-12 in the second.
Personnel notes
Emmanuel Innocenti did not play after sustaining a sprained ankle on Nov. 2. True freshman JRob Croy started in his place. Senior forward Jonathan Griman and sophomore forward Marcus Vaughns were also unavailable due to injuries. Neither played in the opener. Bennett used 11 players, 10 of them factoring in the scoring.
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They said it
Ford on the big emphasis:"One thing is the emphasis on defense and rebounding. Boxing out is a key point in this program. If you don't box out, you won't play. Defense, plugging the gaps, and doing the little things is definitely one big thing I would say is different than last year."
ASU's Paulius Murauskas on improvement:"We played better for longer minutes. We didn't start the second half good, but we kept our composure and went out and played pretty good for 40 minutes. Rebounding was better today, especially in the beginning. Dillan (Shaw) did a really good job."
Up next
ASU remains at home and will host Hofstra (1-1) at 7 p.m. on Nov. 10. Hofstra was a 60-58 loser to Princeton in its last game.
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It will be only the second meeting between the schools. Hofstra defeated Arizona State 64–59 in 1997.
ASU takes a commanding lead early
After the season opener earlier this week, Arizona State men's basketball coach Randy Bennett said he had to get more players involved. He specifically mentioned senior guard Bryce Ford, who played just eight minutes in that game.
The coach was true to his word, bringing Ford off the bench early in a first half that ended with the Sun Devils up convincingly, 48-26 over visiting Northern Colorado at Desert Financial Arena.
Ford entered the game at 4:30 into the first half in place of true freshman JRob Croy, who started for the injured Emmanuel Innocenti. Ford scored 12 points, going 5-for-7 from the field, including 2-for-3 from long distance. He played 11 minutes.
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Paulius Murauskas is the game's leading scorer with 18 points on a 9-for-13 showing from the field.
ASU has a rebounding advantage of 22-15 and has outscored the Bears in the paint 28-18.
Northern Colorado (1-0) at Arizona State (1-0)
When: Nov. 6, 7 p.m. MST.
Where: Desert Financial Arena
TV: ESPN+ Radio: Arizona Sports 98.7 FM
About the matchup: This will be the first meeting between the schools. Both teams won their season openers. ASU defeated East Tennessee State 75-65 , while Northern Colorado defeated Colorado College 117-64.
About the Bears:Northern Colorado was projected as the No. 2 finisher in the Big Sky Conference coaches' preseason poll behind Montana State. The team has led the Big Sky in scoring the last two seasons and ranked in the top 20 nationally in shooting percentage the last three seasons. The Bears are coming off a 20-12 showing a year ago but lost all five starters. Freshman guard Jeremiah Hammond had a team-high 17 points in the opener. He was one of six players who scored in double figures in the opener. Fifth-year senior guard Langston Reynolds has returned after starting 34 games in 2024-25. He averaged 16 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game, but then spent last season at Minnesota. The team is coached by Steve Smiley, who has led the Bears to three 20-win seasons in six years. The school is no stranger to Big 12 competition. Last season, the Bears played both Texas Tech and Colorado. It lost to Tech, 101-90, but defeated Colorado, 86-81.
About the Sun Devils: The Sun Devils got 21 points and nine rebounds from senior forward Paulius Murauskas in the season-opening win, the first of the Randy Bennett coaching era in Tempe. The other bright spot in the victory was the performance of 7-foot-3 freshman center Filip Malesevic, a native of Serbia who had 12 points, six rebounds, and a block in 25 minutes coming off the bench. Senior guard Emmanuel Innocenti, a transfer from Gonzaga, is questionable with a sprained ankle sustained in the opener. Bennett will be looking to get more players involved after sticking with eight players in the opener. Both Murauskas and sophomore point guard Joel Foxwell played 40 minutes. If Innocenti is unavailable, true freshman JRob Croy and returning veteran Bryce Ford could see more playing time.
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(This story has been updated to add new information.)
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ASU basketball crushes Northern Colorado behind Murauskas, Ford
