Randy Bennett didn’t need long to make one thing clear about his new Arizona State team: the ball has to go in from deep.
“You have to be able to shoot the ball to be good,” ASU head basketball coach Randy Bennett.
That wasn’t happening in the opening stretch of his Sun Devil tenure. Through the first two games in Tempe, against East Tennessee State and Northern Colorado, the three-point numbers lagged badly. ASU lost the three-point battle in both games and struggled to even get above 30%.
Then came Tuesday night, and the perimeter finally caught fire.
In an 85-63 win over Hofstra, JRob Croy, Joel Foxwell and Bryce Ford each knocked down at least three threes, giving ASU the kind of outside production Bennett has been talking about since the summer.
“A big part of our summer was that (shooting),” Bennett said. “A big part of our recruitment was that. I just know, through experience, you better have some guys who shoot the ball because it's a lot easier to guard you if you can't.”
Joel Foxwell kept it simple when asked about the difference.
“We made shots. That was the main part,” Joel Foxwell said about ASU's spark on Tuesday night.
The performance stood out even more because of how much the conversation around ASU has shifted from the Bobby Hurley years. Hurley’s teams were built around guard play and a heavy diet of three-point shooting, the kind of backcourt-driven identity that earned the program the “Guard U” label.
Bennett’s approach is different. His teams lean into size, rebounding and defense, then ask for smart, efficient offense on top of that. Still, no system gets a pass in today’s game if it can’t stretch the floor.
That issue became more pronounced when G Emmanuel Innocenti went down with an injury in the season opener. Without him, ASU’s guard play took a hit, and the offense leaned harder on getting into the paint. Against Northern Colorado, that meant 33 points from star forward Paulius Murauskas.
Hofstra, though, brought a bigger lineup into the building, and that made the perimeter answer even more important. Croy, Foxwell and Ford delivered. Together, they scored 43 points and hit 10 threes as ASU shot 50% from beyond the arc.
“JRob put on a flurry, and Foxy (Foxwell) was in on that too,” Bennett said. “That was an impressive little eight minutes, maybe separated the game.”
Croy was the biggest name in the box score, finishing with 18 points and four made threes in just his third college game.
“He's a great shooter,” Bennett said about Croy. “He's a good competitor, and he's learning the game.”
With Innocenti likely to return this Friday against UL Monroe, Bennett suddenly has more moving parts in the backcourt than he did a week ago. And after Tuesday night, the Sun Devils look like they have more perimeter options than anyone might have expected.
In Other News...
Paulius Murauskas Is Changing Arizona State's Ceiling Faster Than Expected
Paulius Murauskas has wasted little time making Arizona State look more dangerous than expected. The Sun Devils have already seen the transfer forward deliver a 22-point, 11-rebound performance in a win, and the early returns have matched the buzz that followed him into the program, where he was picked as the preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year.
His impact has gone beyond scoring, too. Murauskas was named to the Big 12 Starting Five of the Week, and head coach Randy Bennett has pointed to his leadership and knack for drawing fouls as part of what is lifting the teams ceiling. For Arizona State, the encouraging part is not just that Murauskas has been productive, but that he seems to be settling in fast enough to change the shape of the season before it has really settled in. [Read more 🡒]
Arizona State Just Made The Kind Of Early Statement Fans Needed
Arizona State got the kind of road win that can steady a fan base early in the season, knocking off Mountain West preseason favorite UNLV 65-58 in Las Vegas. The Sun Devils leaned on a balanced effort to do it, with Morson scoring 17 points and grabbing seven rebounds, while Ruby Whitehorn added a double-double that included 10 rebounds.
Heloisa Carrera and McKinna Brackens also chipped in with a combined 19 points, giving Arizona State enough support to survive a tough environment and stay unbeaten at 3-0. The next test comes back home against Penn State, where the Sun Devils will try to turn this early statement into something even more convincing. [Read more 🡒]
Arizona States Early Turnaround Starts With Two Veterans Fans Need To Notice
Before Arizona State had even played a game under Randy Bennett, the new coach had already sent a message about who would help set the tone. Senior forward Paulius Murauskas was voted team captain, and he backed up that trust with a career-high 33 points against Northern Colorado, a reminder that the Sun Devils early progress is being driven by players who arrived with experience and expectations. With Bennett leaning on transfers in the starting lineup, the roster is beginning to look more stable than it did at the start of the transition.
Bryce Ford has been part of that same foundation. The senior guard stayed with the program after the coaching change and has given Arizona State important production as Bennett works to build depth and reshape the rotation. For a team trying to move quickly from uncertainty to identity, the value of veterans like Murauskas and Ford goes beyond box scores, even if there is still plenty to sort out as the schedule gets tougher. [Read more 🡒]