"What a time to be alive."
Senior guard Gerry Blakes, basking in the aftermath of a 22-point performance on his 22nd birthday, was introspective for a moment in the press conference following Monday night's win over the Belmont Bruins, the first for coach Bobby Hurley in Tempe.
After its "embarrassing" opening game loss to Sacramento State last week, Blakes and ASU men's basketball team felt the pressure to come out and perform for Hurley after an exhausting couple days of practice.
The Sun Devils (1-1) rebounded, both figuratively and literally, and took down the Bruins 83-74 Monday night behind a big game from Blakes.
Following Friday's loss, Hurley gave the Sun Devils a lesson they would not soon forget, putting them through a grueling film session Saturday, pointing out all of the team's flaws and shortcomings.
"I think that the guys learned a lot from that," Hurley said.
Then, when they took the court again, Blakes said it was "one of the toughest practices I've had as a basketball player."
Saying the theme of the day was "punishment," Blakes said the team did a lot of running for each and every action Hurley deemed incorrect, sending a message to his team.
Fast-forward to Monday when the Sun Devils could show Hurley their improvements – and show him they did.
The Bruins (1-1) came out of the gates matching ASU shot-for-shot, making for a topsy-turvy first half where each run was matched point-for-point.
In the second half, the 3-point shooting of ASU, which was next to nonexistent against Sacramento State, picked up ASU all night. Junior guard Andre Spight, who could not buy a basket in his Sun Devil debut, was on from beyond the arc, nailing four bombs, including three in a row to begin the second half to keep ASU rolling.
In addition to his 15 point outburst, Spight added six assists, which he said were helped by how good he felt with the ball in his hands.
"I just felt really good after my first shot went in," Spight said. "The rim kind of opened up for me and the game kind of opened up for me and I was able to find my teammates."
The game stayed tight, with each point, rebound and turnover countered by more of the same by the other side, shaping the game up for a tight finish.
With under four minutes remaining in the game, ASU held a slim one-point lead following a pair of Belmont free throws. Where they faltered Friday, the Sun Devils stepped up, outscoring the Bruins 14-5 in the final 3:27 to get the first win of the Hurley era in Tempe.
Blakes said the team knew what needed to get done, or there'd be hell to pay once again.
"It was either do what we had to do to win, or go through what we went through the last game," Blakes said. "And we definitely didn't want to do that."
Related Links:
ASU men's basketball rides to first win on Gerry Blakes' birthday
ASU women's basketball falls 68-64 in overtime to No. 18 Kentucky in season opener
Reach the reporter at mtonis@asu.edu or follow @Tonis_The_Tiger on Twitter.
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