TEMPE - Arizona State’s new-look men’s basketball team is already leaning on two veterans who arrived in very different ways, and both are giving coach Randy Bennett exactly what he needs early.
Senior forward Paulius Murauskas wasted no time making his presence felt. Before he had even played a game for the Sun Devils, his teammates voted him a captain.
Then he backed it up Friday with 33 points against Northern Colorado, the most he has scored in a college game, in a 90-63 win. Afterward, he rang the victory bell at Desert Financial Arena.
“We’re going to flip this thing and make this place great again,” Murauskas said after the game, referring to the announced crowd of 5,295 in an arena that seats 14,198.
He followed that with 22 points in Tuesday’s 85-63 win over Hofstra, but the early message from this ASU group is that one scorer won’t be enough. Murauskas won’t have to carry it alone.
Bryce Ford is part of the answer. Unlike Murauskas, Ford stayed put after former coach Bobby Hurley’s departure, choosing to remain in Tempe and play for Bennett. The senior guard is already looking like a steadying piece for a roster that barely resembles last season’s.
With only two players back from last year’s team, Bennett inherited a program in transition. He hired Murauskas and Ford into leadership roles almost immediately, and the early returns have been obvious. Four transfers started against Northern Colorado, including Murauskas and former Saint Mary’s teammate Dillan Shaw, who also started against Hofstra.
Murauskas’ path to ASU has been winding. He began his college career in Tucson, but played only five minutes per game as a freshman at Arizona.
At Saint Mary’s, he started every game in his first season and then led the Gaels in scoring the next year at 18.4 points per game. Two assistants who coached him there followed Bennett to Tempe, and that familiarity helped seal the move.
“After not playing my first year, they helped me get through that and I trust them to keep making me a better player,” Murauskas said when ASU announced his signing in July.
Bennett said Murauskas was among the first players his staff targeted after arriving at ASU, and he pointed to the senior forward’s commitment as a key part of building out the roster.
Ford’s route was different, but just as important. He started 20 of the 27 games he played last season in his first year at ASU after transferring from Toledo. After meeting Bennett, he decided to stay.
“His vision for me on how he could get me to the next level stood out,” Ford told reporters at Bennett’s introduction in May.
A Scottsdale native, Ford played at Pinnacle High School in Phoenix before his two seasons with the Rockets. His older sister Alyse played volleyball at ASU, and Ford said he grew up watching the Sun Devils.
“I came back because ASU feels like home to me,” Ford said when the school announced his return during the offseason.
Ford also spent last season dealing with hip pain and had surgery in the offseason. He got back to practice earlier than expected and said the issue is no longer bothering him.
“It feels great, just knowing that I’m back and my hip is 100%,” Ford said. “No more nagging or none of that.” .
He played just under nine minutes in the opener against East Tennessee State, then scored 17 off the bench against Northern Colorado and added nine more in the win over Hofstra. Against Northern Colorado, Murauskas was on the floor for every minute Ford played.
Ford said his role includes a different kind of responsibility than he had last season.
“Boxing out is a big key point of this program,” he said. “And if you don’t box out, you won’t play.”
Bennett is already trying to build depth, too. Three Sun Devils got into the opener with six seconds left, and all three played at least two minutes against Northern Colorado.
“We’re going to need a full team, not a three-man band,” Bennett said.
ASU is 3-0 and has two more home games, against Louisiana-Monroe and Oakland, before heading to The Acrisure Series in Palm Springs, California for matchups with LSU and South Carolina. Big 12 play starts in January, and Bennett now has a few weeks to keep learning what he has in Tempe - and who his leaders really are.
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 🡒]
UCF Heads Into Arizona State With A Backfield Problem To Solve
UCF is heading into its matchup with Arizona State with its backfield depth already under pressure. Running back Duke Watson will miss the game because of injury, and the Knights are also dealing with a long list of unavailable players that includes Tyler Gibson, DJ Bell, Kahmel Johnson, Demari Henderson and Dylan Burk, leaving the roster thinner than usual as they prepare for a tough road test.
Waden Charles is listed as doubtful with an undisclosed injury, while several others remain on the questionable or probable side of the availability report. For Arizona State, that kind of uncertainty can matter just as much as a single absence, because it can change how UCF handles its rotations, its pace and its options if the game turns into a grind. [Read more 🡒]