3 Winners From ASU's Win Over Santa Clara
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TEMPE -- The Arizona State Sun Devils moved to 9-2 to start the 2025-26 season with a comeback win over the Santa Clara Broncos on Saturday night.
Virtually everything that could have gone wrong for the Sun Devils did in the first half, including Bobby Hurley getting ejected with four seconds left in the half.
Fortunately, the team stepped up in unison over the final 20 minutes of action to secure another key victory in pursuit of an NCAA tournament appearance.
Nick Irvin
Irvin has been an assistant coach on Hurley's staff since August of 2022 - taking his renowned coaching career in the Chicago area to Tempe.
The fourth-year assistant took over de facto coaching duties after Hurley's ejection and played an instrumental role in the tide shifting due to some simple adjustments made.
The Sun Devils opted to switch everything off of screens on defense, while increasing the on-ball pressure on Santa Clara star Christian Hammond, pushing the pace on offense to create more scoring opportunities to close the gap.
ASU's Balanced Offense
Eight of nine players in the Arizona State rotation scored on Saturday - displaying the balanced and efficient group that has been the case for virtually the entire season.
Noah Meeusen, Marcus Adams Jr., Moe Odum, Anthony Johnson, Andrija Grbovic, and Massamab Diop all knocked down three-point looks. The team totaled 20 assists and only committed six turnovers in the second half.
The offense looked solid in the first 20 minutes of action, but truly took off in the second half - showing real flow, intention, and connectivity in the process.
2025-26 Team Identity
Hurley has been attempting to overhaul the culture since the 2024-25 season ended, as the 13-20 mark resulted in a mass exodus of the roster that was in place.
Hurley made it a point of emphasis to target players who were undervalued in the collegiate game, as well as overseas players who had been overlooked for some time.
The result has been incredibly positive to this point, as the entire roster is intrinsically motivated to prove those who wrote the team off this season wrong. This is a gritty team that will simultaneously create incredible looks on offense while locking in and playing stifling defense in complement.
The next opportunity to see Hurley's squad in action is this Wednesday, when the Sun Devils travel to face former Pac-12 rival UCLA on the road.
Read more on why the Arizona State men's basketball team will exceed expectations in the 2025-26 season here, and on why the bright future of the football program isn’t dimmed by the loss to Arizona here.
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Kevin Hicks is an Arizona State alumni and now serves as the Arizona State Beat Writer On SI.