Paulius Murauskas Leads Arizona State Sun Devils Past Hofstra Pride 85-63

TEMPE — The Arizona State Sun Devils (3-0) beat the Hofstra Pride (1-2) 85-63 on Tuesday night at Desert Financial Arena, and the game was what head coach Randy Bennett has been talking about: this is the tallest team in school history — the third-tallest team in NCAA men’s basketball — and a team built like that has to dominate the boards. The Sun Devils did, outrebounding Hofstra 43-17, with 14 offensive rebounds to the Pride’s 5.

Arizona State led 41-32 at halftime behind Paulius Murauskas, who had 17 of his 22 points in the first half to go with 11 rebounds for the game.

The shooting followed the same line. Arizona State shot 48.3 percent from the field to Hofstra’s 38.1, went 13-of-26 (50.0 percent) from three against 8-of-21 for Hofstra. The one loose spot was the ball — the Sun Devils turned it over 13 times to Hofstra’s 6 — on a night when the size covered for it.

The game broke open in the second half — on the boards and with the ball moving, Arizona State started going. On consecutive possessions the Sun Devils hit three straight three-pointers: JRob Croy from the left wing off a Murauskas feed, Croy again from the right wing off another Murauskas feed, and Joel Foxwell from the top of the arc. With about 14 minutes left it was 58-35, and the Sun Devils were pulling away. Hofstra made a small run late, and it was not enough.

And the ball moved early. The Sun Devils had 14 assists by halftime — 17 for the game, against 9 for Hofstra — with Joel Foxwell dealing 6 of them and Murauskas 3 more. The ball popped from the start, and the open man got the shot.

Foxwell ran the offense with 16 points and 6 assists, and freshman JRob Croy gave the Sun Devils 18 points, hitting 4-of-6 from three in his third college game. Afterward, on the ESPN+ broadcast, Croy talked about the way this team plays for each other — the bench coming off its feet to celebrate a free throw before the break — and said:

“It’s awesome. This team is so special. I feel like we all get along super well not just on the court, but off the court — we’re definitely just trying to celebrate each other’s success every time we step on court.”

1. Tavarez led Hofstra with 12 points, and N. Jefferson had 11 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds for the Pride.

The Sun Devils stay home and host Louisiana-Monroe on Friday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m.

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