Randy Bennett Earns Victory, Not Identity, in First Game as Arizona State Head Coach vs. East Tennessee State

"There's just a little anxiety," ASU head men's basketball coach Randy Bennett said. "Just because it's new."

The growing pains, the early stages, the "first date". However you want to label it, Arizona State men's basketball has it.

ASU's 75-65 victory over East Tennessee State gave new head coach Randy Bennett his first win in Tempe, but also gave him a boatload of questions to answer afterward.

A system headlined by rebounding and defense gave up big offensive plays to the Buccaneers, including ETSU G BJ Ward's 25-point night. On the boards, ASU barely edged out the Bucs 34-31 despite their massive size advantage.

"I thought our rebounding has been bad, and we were inconsistent tonight," Bennett said. "We're usually a very good rebounding team. We should be. We have good size, but we're just not there yet. Our habits aren't where they need to be. Defensively, same thing. Didn't defend (the) three well, and they can do that. We just make errors that we shouldn't make. We'll get better."

Did scoring headline the day? Not quite. Captains Paulius Murauskas and Dillan Shaw combined for 34 points, but went 2-11 from the three-point line. Arizona State finished the first half with a stunning 21.4% three-point percentage.

Younger players such as Shaw and G Joel Foxwell struggled against the ETSU defense, throwing blitzes on screens and even doubling up guys like Murauskas.

"They got aggressive on those on-ball screens, so they're gonna they're gonna blitz you, and they're gonna come," Bennett said. "Dylan's in an on-ball, he's not used to being blitzed in an on-ball. He hasn't had that much experience doing that in his career, but he'll get better at it."

A lack of trademark defense and rebounding, on top of a lid on the basket, left fans a bit skeptical in their first glimpses of the Randy Bennett team.

It was just a few hours before that Molly MIller's team successfully laid out the blueprint for now just how the second-year head coach wants the team to perform, but the fans.

"Fans don't want to come out and see golf clapping on the sidelines," Miller said. "So our Bench-Energy was really good today. They don't want to see this kind of nonchalant attitude. I think everyone picked each other up."

Some moments in the men's game couldn't even earn a golf clap. Rather, fans held their breath.

Gonzaga transfer and starting guard Emmanuel Innocenti left the game in the first half due to a sprained ankle, delivering a big blow to the thin ASU rotation.

There was a tension in the air late into the game, with ETSU cutting the Devils' lead to five multiple times in the second half, leaving not much of a celebration when the final buzzer sounded and the victory bell was rung.

While Desert Financial Arena left tense, Bennett made his way to the press conference podium. Arm back on his chair, relaxed and happy to be there.

Why? Because they stayed composed and found a way to win, and that will have to be ASU's identity before they can find a true one.

"That's what I was pleased with," Bennett said. "Composure, because it was kind of ratty there for a while."

So while ASU gets used to Bennett, and Bennett gets used to ASU, the motto may be as simple as that: stay composed and stay in ballgames. By any means necessary.

Arizona State will return to the court on Friday, Nov. 6, vs. Hofstra in Tempe.

"These guys will be ready to play.," Bennett said. "They were ready to play tonight, but we need to get better."

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