Arizona State put five players in double figures, led by Kimani Lawrence’s 19 points and 10 rebounds, as the Sun Devils were too much for Portland on Tuesday night in their 76-60 win at Tempe, Ariz.
The season opener for both teams included the Sun Devils shooting 56.3 percent from the field in the second half, outrebounding Portland 42-27 and forcing the Pilots into 21 turnovers that resulted in 17 points.
Bobby Hurley, in his seventh season at Arizona State, is reloading the program after losing Remy Martin, a three-time All-Pac-12 selection who averaged 19.1 points a game last season. He left as a Super Senior to Kansas after testing the NBA draft. Alonzo Verge Jr., the Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year in 2019-20, is also gone to Nebraska.
Former Ohio State players Alonzo Gaffney (15 points) and Luther Muhammad (10 points, seven rebounds) contributed to the scoring output against Portland.
Marvin Bagley finished with 12 points and DJ Horne had 11. Marreon Jackson, a graduate transfer from Toledo, tallied five assists.
Portland, playing under first-year coach Shantay Legans, was led by Chris Austin’s 22 points. Mike Meadows added 16 points and Moses Wood finished with 12 points.
After Arizona State built a 24-13 lead with 7:03 left in the first half, Portland went on a 12-1 run behind a couple of fast-break layups by Austin.
Bagley and Jackson closed the scoring with consecutive 3-pointers to give the Sun Devils a 31-25 lead at halftime.
Arizona State’s 7-2 start to the second half fueled by two layups by Lawrence increased the lead to 38-28 with 18:36 left.
Horne’s 3-pointer with 10:59 remaining that gave the Sun Devils a 54-37 lead capped a 9-0 run.
Following Austin’s two free throws with 8:38 left trimmed the lead to 54-43, Horne responded with a 3-pointer.
The Sun Devils led by at least 13 points the rest of the way.
–Field Level Media
