In the first game of the 2025-26 season, the Southern Utah University men’s basketball team traveled to take on Arizona State University on Tuesday, Nov. 4 at the Desert Financial Arena in Tempe, Arizona. ASU held the lead the entire game and left with an 81-64 victory.
SUU is now 0-6 all-time against ASU. This was their first matchup since 2005 and their closest contest since 1995.
First half
The Thunderbirds got off to a slow start, only scoring six points in the first seven minutes and giving up four turnovers. Four of the points were scored by freshman four-star recruit Elijah Duval, who led all players with 17 points but also led all players in fouls with four.
Despite having similar rebounding numbers to ASU and scoring just as much in the paint, SUU had a lesser defensive presence with just two blocks in the first half. Both were back-to-back rejections at the three-point line from forward Jayden Feroah.
SUU also committed nine fouls in the half to ASU’s five. The T-Birds only had one free throw attempt while sending the Sun Devils to the line 10 times before halftime.
ASU took control and built a stable lead, with their lowest advantage after the first points of the game being three and their largest being 12. SUU tailed 40-28 at the half.
Second half
SUU didn’t gain much ground in this half, as ASU’s lead went below 10 only once and rose to as much as 22. This mostly stemmed from shooting disparities, as the T-Birds went 1-14 from three while the Sun Devils went 5-11 despite shooting worse from inside the arc than SUU.
SUU and ASU both had foul trouble in the second half, committing nine fouls each. ASU went to the free throw line 10 times in the half and took six of the half’s first seven attempts. ASU ended up at the line 20 times compared to SUU’s eight this game, going 14-20 while SUU made every attempt.
While SUU used size to their advantage, outscoring ASU in the paint and out-rebounding them for more second-chance points, a 12-2 run sparked by back-to-back threes put the game in ASU’s hands with seven minutes left.
The T-Birds attempted a comeback with a late run to cut the lead to 12, but the Sun Devils responsed with a final offensive push of their own to ice the game at 81-64.
Key stats
— ASU had 35 bench points to SUU’s 14, and the T-Birds only had two points from non-starters in the second half.
— SUU shot 37% from the field and just 16% from three, going 4-25.
— 15 players suited up for SUU, with four recording no stats and just 29 seconds of play. Forward Juok Riak was the only one who stayed on the bench.
— Despite having nearly identical rebounding numbers, SUU had five more offensive boards and 16 second-chance points to ASU’s nine.
— ASU had 24 fast break points compared to SUU’s 11.
Top T-Birds
— Freshman Cale Barclay had seven points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench.
— Isaiah Cottrell had 11 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in 20 minutes.
— Duval had 17 points, three assists and three steals, all team leads, and three rebounds. He shot 70% inside the three-point line.
— Feroah had eight points, seven rebounds, two blocks and a steal.
Up next
SUU will head home to face the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 6:30 p.m. in the America First Event Center.
Author: Andrew Streeter
Photgrapher: SUU Athletics
Editor: Payson Davis
