One of just eight undefeated teams remaining, the Florida Gators (9-0) will try to keep their spotless record on track December 14th when they take on the Arizona State Sun Devils who have had a pleasant start to the season at 8-1. This game will take place on a neutral site in Atlanta, Georgia under the “Holiday Hoopsgiving” title, increasing the value of both games. Currently Arizona State is 34th in the NET making this a quad-1 game at the moment–though there is certainly a chance the Sun Devils drop below the 50 mark which would make this a quad-2. The NET rankings are currently all over the place due to the small sample size and they will change drastically between now and the end of the season, but the 34th rank for Arizona State speaks to a solid start to the year.
Last year was a frustrating one for Sun Devils basketball as they made a lot of gambles in the portal on players that had worn out their welcome at previous spots–and those gambles did not pay off. Finishing the season 14-18 and second last in a Pac-12 that was not particularly strong there was a lot of pressure to turn things around with head coach Bobby Hurley, a rare power conference coach that has been with his team for a decade, starting to get a bit of heat on his seat. Though he might have retooled a bit in the offseason, expectations were not particularly high with the Sun Devils picked to finish 12th in the Big 12 (a league that now has 16 teams). So far, they have certainly looked better than what a lot of analysts have expected.
Sitting at 8-1, the Sun Devils are 50th in KenPom in addition to being 34th in the NET. Their strength of schedule so far is 67th in the country (Florida’s is 209th, as referenced), and their only loss has come to mighty Gonzaga where they lost just 88-80–giving the Bulldogs one of their toughest games of the season. They have wins over Saint Mary’s (34th in KenPom), New Mexico (73rd in KenPom), Santa Clara (88th in KenPom), and Grand Canyon (92nd in KenPom), which might not be win that are going to lead headlines but are strong victories over solid teams. Gonzaga is 4th in KenPom meaning that ASU has played a team in Florida’s range (currently 8th), and given their volume of games against strong competition they won’t be surprised by Florida’s talent and athleticism.
A big reason why the Sun Devils have had such a strong start to the season is their precise three-point shooting. Right now they’re knocking down 39.5% of their threes which is good for 19th in the country and they’re also at 98th in the country in attempts–so they’re maintaining a tremendous percentage while letting a lot of these shots fly. Providing these elite shooting has been Joson Sanon (54%), Adam Miller (46%), and Alston Mason (42%), but they are lucky to have a number of role players also capable of knocking down open shots that makes them a potent shooting team all around.
Leading the way for the Sun Devils offensively has been guard Joson Sanon, who in addition to shooting the ball at a remarkable 54% rate from three also has some creation ability to break down a defender one on one to get to the rim. He’s averaging 15.9 points a game to lead Arizona State and the Gators will need to be aware of him away from the ball where he can punish opponents with his catch and shoot or driving ability. Sanon is just a freshman who was 24th in the class of 2024 and his emergence as a leading scorer for a high-major team has been remarkable, making him a key player to watch for.
One of the great stories of the season for Arizona State has been the emergence of Basheer Jihad. Jihad started his college career at Ball State, and while he put up solid numbers he wasn’t a particularly sought after player in the transfer portal before ending up at Arizona State. The 6’9”, 235 pound forward is notable for his excellent ball handling ability and is someone who can grab a defensive rebound and move the ball up the floor himself before finishing at the rim. A big ball handler like this is unlike anything the Gators have seen this year and he will present quite a matchup issue for Florida’s frontcourt. Averaging 13.7 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, Jihad has been a key part of Arizona State’s strong start.
A familiar name to Florida fans will be freshman Jayden Quaintance, one of the top players in the 2024 class who the Gators recruited heavily. Originally Quaintance committed to Kentucky but decommitted after John Calipari left for Arkansas. It was expected that Quaintance would follow him, but he instead shocked the college basketball world when he announced he’d be attending Arizona State. At just 17 years old he’s one of the youngest players in the country, so young in fact that he won’t even be eligible for the NBA Draft following this year and he will have to play two seasons of college basketball which was part of the reason he was so heavily recruited by top programs. Being so young there have been some learning moments for the 6’9” center, but he has also shown the elite flashes that have people expecting him to be a future first round pick. Averaging 7.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per game he’s not a big time scorer, but his athleticism pops and he seems to be getting better each game.
Defensively Arizona State has been a bit shaky at times, partially due to the fact some of their key players are freshmen still learning the game. They can get scrambled in rotation and allow straight line drives to the rim and given just how potent Florida’s offense has been it looks like another chance for them to put up a huge point total. Arizona State’s strong start to the season has been due to their elite shooting and versatility offensively with so many ball handlers and the Gators will need to lock in defensively in order to slow the Sun Devils down. While Sanon might be Arizona State’s leading scorer the ball handling of Basheer Jihad could present Florida the biggest challenge and they’ll hopefully come off the lengthy break with a clear strategy of how to slow him down.
Florida and Arizona State will tip off December 14th at 3:30 PM ET and it will be televised on SEC Network.