Junior guard Gerry Blakes goes up for a layup in a game against Chicago State, Friday. Nov. 14, 2014 at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. The Sun Devils defeated the Cougars 81-67. (Photo by Ben Moffat)After a sluggish performance en route to a 49–39 win over Bethune-Cookman Monday, ASU basketball will host Loyola Marymount Thursday in the third game of the CBE Hall of Fame Classic.
The Sun Devils (2-0) are still in a learning stage, with the team going through growing pains after losing its star players from the previous season, Jordan Bachynski and Jahii Carson.
Replacing Carson, the main source of ASU's scoring, and the defensive and rebounding skills of the 7-foot-2 Bachynski — a formidable inside presence — will be an experiment for coach Herb Sendek in the early going.
“I think we are still searching to find our way,” Sendek said. “College basketball can be a humbling experience.”
One area of concern, even though it's tough to gauge with such a limited sample size in terms of games played, is the consistency of senior forward Shaquielle McKissic.
McKissic scored a career-high 20 points in the Sun Devils' season opener, but only managed to record a single point in the win against Bethune-Cookman.
Fortunately for ASU, junior forward Eric Jacobsen posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Undersized for a Pac-12 center at 6-foot-10, Jacobsen won't be able to dominate in the paint against larger centers come conference play, but he provides a remedy for ASU's tendency to stagnate offensively, and is a viable low-post threat when three-pointers aren't easily available.
Aside from Jacobsen, the lone Sun Devil able to score in double figures against Bethune-Cookman was senior forward Jonathan Gilling, who had 11 points in the win, converting 3-5 attempts from behind the arc.
Loyola Marymount (1-1), of the West Coast Conference, fell to Boise State 77-69 at home on Saturday, Nov. 15.
The Lions tend to have a balanced scoring distribution, and three players notched double figures in the points column against the Broncos.
Loyola Marymount's primary threat will be sophomore guard Evan Payne, who led the way with 20 points against Boise State, and redshirt senior forward Godwin Okonji added a double double, with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
On Monday, Bethune-Cookman shot 25 percent from beyond the three-point line, starting 0-9 and finishing 4-16, as ASU packed the paint and dared the Wildcats to shoot from outside.
With the Lions struggling to connect from beyond the arc at a dismal 28.6 percent through two games, Sendek and the Sun Devils will likely exploit this weak point in the Loyola Marymount offense Thursday.
Reach the reporter at mtsteine@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @MarcTSteiner
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