Arizona St. eager to get revenge vs. San Francisco

Field Level Media|published: Sat 2nd December, 22:37 2023

Arizona State Sun Devils guard Kamari Lands (0) looks to the basket against the Sam Houston State Bearkats at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe on Nov. 29, 2023. credits: Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

Arizona State looks to avenge two recent losses to San Francisco when the clubs meet for a nonconference game on Sunday afternoon in Tempe, Ariz.

The Sun Devils (4-2) will be looking to remain unbeaten at home but will have to deal with a team that won 66-65 in its last trip to Tempe in December 2021.

The Dons (5-2) then doubled their pleasure with a 97-60 home shellacking of Arizona State last December.

USF graduated its top two scorers from the latter team — Khalil Shabazz and Tyrell Roberts — but Isaiah Hawthorne (19 points) and Marcus Williams (11) are back as juniors after combining for 30 points in last season's blowout.

Missouri State transfer Jonathan Mogbo has become the Dons' leading scorer this season, averaging 15.7 points, highlighted by a season-best 21 when USF recorded its most impressive win to date, a 76-58 victory over Minnesota last Sunday at San Francisco's Chase Center.

San Francisco coach Chris Gerlufsen was particularly impressed with his team's defensive effort against the Big Ten Conference squad.

"We spent a lot of time in the offseason being really nit-picky," he said of the effort to improve upon last season's 20-14 finish. "The defensive side of the ball was a big part of that. The guys are just starting to figure out when you play the right way on the defensive side of the ball, how hard we can be to deal with."

The Dons will be making their second trip to Arizona this season. They split two games in the Arizona Tip-Off in Glendale, falling 76-72 to Grand Canyon before handling DePaul 70-54.

Arizona State also went 1-1 in tournament play last month when it lost 77-49 to BYU before beating Vanderbilt 82-67 in the Vegas Showdown.

The Sun Devils returned home to blitz Sam Houston State 78-61, bringing a big smile to the face of coach Bobby Hurley.

"Proud of my team," Hurley said after watching his guys shoot 51.6 percent from the field, led by Jose Perez's 9-for-13 performance that led to a 24-point night. "We're still finding ourselves. It's still not the entire way there."

—Field Level Media