Arizona State upsets Kansas State after losing leading scorer
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Led by its star-studded freshmen class, the Arizona State men's basketball stunned Kansas State 66-54 on the road Sunday afternoon.
The win snapped a six-game losing streak for Arizona State (13-14, 4-12) and came a few hours after news broke that the Sun Devils' leading scorer, BJ Freeman, had been dismissed from the team.
Junior center Shawn Phillips Jr. started in place of Freeman, giving the Sun Devils a bigger lineup against the Wildcats. It paid off as Phillips finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks to help spark the upset.
But Arizona State's freshmen were the real story, led by five-star forward Jayden Quaintance. After being sidelined for two games with a foot injury, Quaintance looked explosive against Kansas State, finishing with 18 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. He knocked down two 3-pointers and shot 8-of-11 from the field.
Freshman guards Amier Ali and Joson Sanon came off the bench to combine for 20 points and four key 3-pointers. Ali, who has played big minutes the past five games, scored 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting from downtown. Sanon, who has been struggling with his shot, had 9 points and 3 rebounds.
The Sun Devils, who were 5.5-point underdogs to Kansas State, took an early 12-6 lead and never trailed after that. They led 34-28 at halftime and extended the lead to double digits for most of the second half.
Freeman kicked off team
Freeman, who was averaging 13.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists, was dismissed from the team for an accumulation of conduct issues, according to Hurley.
“He’s had a couple of conduct issues, and it was just too many. It got to the point where we’re at right now,” Hurley said on his pregame radio show Sunday. “We’re going to be very supportive of him as he looks for his next opportunity.”
Freeman, who transferred to Arizona State from Milwaukee in the offseason, was ejected from Arizona State's loss to rival Arizona on Feb. 1 for head-butting Caleb Love with 30 seconds left in the game. He was then suspended for ASU's game at Oklahoma State on Feb. 9 for conduct detrimental to the team.
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-66e6aeb5014b4c4eeac84ca997f034c9.jpg "Ben Sherman")
Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his 27-year journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. A basketball junkie, March Madness is his favorite time of the year.
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