Quaintance, Jihad lead ASU basketball team to road upset of No. 23 West Virginia

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Arizona State men’s basketball wasn’t exactly clicking on all cylinders but it did enough to upset No. 23 West Virginia 65-57 in Big 12 play Tuesday night at West Virginia Coliseum. The win snapped a four-game losing streak and a seven-game road losing streak.

ASU (11-7, 2-5) had its biggest lead of 13 points early in the second half but nothing is easy, especially on the road. The Sun Devils were still up by double digits at 50-40 with 7:59 to go but the Mountaineers made it a game.

West Virginia (13-5, 4-3), which was coming off a victory over No. 3 Iowa State on Saturday, cut the deficit to 55-51 on a pair of free throws by Sencire Harris with 2:19 to go. ASU extended its lead to six on a dunk by Jayden Quaintaince. The Mountaineers missed a 3-pointer at their end, Quaintance grabbed the rebound and made a shot at the other end to get the lead back to eight.

The lead was later down to five at 60-55 with 53 seconds to go but the Sun Devils answered with a driving layup by B.J. Freeman and hung on from there. They also played the last three minutes with three players having four fouls.

Arizona State Sun Devils forward Jayden Quaintance (21) dunks the ball during the second half against the West Virginia Mountaineers at WVU Coliseum on Jan. 21, 2025.

ASU shot 48% (25-for-52) from the field and was led by Basheer Jihad with 17 points and eight rebounds. Quaintance recorded his sixth double-double with 15 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field, 12 rebounds, and three blocked shots. The three blocks give him 57 for the season, which breaks the ASU record for a freshman of 55 by Marion Bennett (1991-92).

Freeman had 14 points and eight rebounds in 27 minutes. He was a game-time decision after suffering a knee injury in Saturday’s loss at Cincinnati.

For the fifth time in six games, ASU played without freshman guard Joson Sanon. The team’s top shooter and its second-leading scorer has been slowed by a high ankle sprain. With Sanon out, coach Bobby Hurley has been down to a…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/quaintance-jihad-lead-asu-basketball-050104311.html

Author : AZCentral | The Arizona Republic

Publish date : 2025-01-22 05:01:00

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