Even without sophomore sensation Ike Diogu, the Sun Devils were still successful in the paint in the team's 80-65 win over the EA Sports Southwest All-Stars on Wednesday.
While the Sun Devils out-rebounded the traveling team 47-42 and recorded three blocks, head coach Rob Evans said the inside game would have been a different story with his preseason All-American big man in the paint.
"If Ike's in there, they aren't going to get all those second and third shots," Evans said. "I was pleased with the way they battled, considering the fact he wasn't in there."
Hill, Wooden benched against EA
Evans revealed after Wednesday's win that he benched two players, senior small forward Jamal Hill and freshman forward/center Keith Wooden, for academic reasons.
Hill was late for a tutoring session and Wooden came unprepared to one, pushing Evans to sit the two players to start the EA game.
"They understand that when you don't take care of that, whether it's an exhibition game or a regular season game, that's the penalty you pay," Evans said. "Hopefully they understand that and we get them in the lineup next week."
Wooden sparked the Sun Devils in the second half, scoring the team's first six points. The 6-foot-8 freshman from Lawrence, Kan., finished the game with eight points and a block in 16 minutes of play. Hill scored nine points on 4-of-8 shooting in 15 minutes of play.
First-half jitters
The Sun Devils' inexperience showed to start Wednesday's game - eight players have never played in Division I basketball - as ASU committed 12 first-half turnovers and had trouble getting its offense set. The team trailed by nine points at the half to a group of traveling former college basketball players.
"I thought in the first half our guys came out and were a little bit tense, and I expected that from them," Evans said. "They weren't playing as hard as you have to play at this level."
Big game for Braxton
While he didn't lead the team in scoring, point guard Jason Braxton had one of the best Sun Devil performances of the night. The junior lead the team in assists (8) and tied for the lead with eight rebounds. Braxton also did not miss a shot, hitting both his free throws and adding a three-pointer with less than two minutes to go in the game.
Reach the reporter at jeffrey.hoodzow@asu.edu.
