In our weekly update on the Arizona State men’s hoops team, the Sun Devils come from behind again and a once-cold Sun Devil finds his jumper. (Plus, we’ve got video of the controversial finish to ASU’s win over BYU.)
 

Last Week (1-0, 9-1 overall): 76-75 W vs. BYU

What Did We Learn: The Sun Devils are developing a reputation as a comeback team, but of course that’s a double edged sword. After going 10-29 in Herb Sendek‘s first two seasons when trailing at the half, Arizona State is 3-0 this year after coming from behind to beat San Diego State, IUPUI and BYU. Better to get off to a hot start, but the Sun Devils showed real grit against a very good BYU team. That’s going to be a nice “quality win” come selection season. (Check out video of the controversial ending below.)

We also learned that Jamelle McMillan might actually be developing a jump shot. He spent the summer altering that ugly delivery you remember from last year, and it looked great on Saturday. He was 4-for-6 from the field and 2-for-3 from beyond the arc against BYU. He posted a season high 10 points in just 18 minutes, and added three assists.

Star of the Week: James Harden – the human free throw machine. As ASU struggled to fight back against BYU, Harden continually drove to the hoop and went to the free throw line a staggering 18 times in the second half. He was 16-for-21 from the line for the game, and did all the heavy lifting in the second half.

Kudos also to Jeff Pendergraph. BYU chose not to double team him, and Pendergraph scored 22 points on 9-for-14 from the field. Maybe not the best choice for the Cougars.

What’s Next: Just one game again this week, and it’s a wacky noontime start Tuesday at Wells Fargo Arena against Idaho St. The Bengals are just 2-8 and, in all honesty, this should be very easy win for ASU. If the Devils can get out to an early lead, we could see a lot of Taylor Rohde, Eric Boateng and Kraidon Woods.

Here’s a fun fact: Idaho State has made 41 three-pointers in its first 10 games. ASU has made 84 – and Harden and Rihards Kuksiks have combined to shoot 47-for-100. Bombs away!

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Tags: ASU Men's Basketball , Eric Boateng, Herb Sendek, jamelle mcmillan, James Harden, Jeff Pendergraph, Kraidon Woods, rihards kuksiks, taylor rohde // Add Comment »