By Spencer Rodak, Stadium Sportzz
TEMPE, Ariz. – Opening the 2025-26 season on the road, the SUU men’s basketball team fell to Arizona State, 81-64.
The T-birds would hang close with the Big 12 Conference member Sun Devils for a good portion of the game, but in the end, ASU would come away with the double-digit win.
Arizona State scored the first five points of the game before Dylan Jones scored a layup for the Thunderbirds’ first points of the season.
SUU stayed within striking distance for much of the opening half, cutting the home team’s advantage down to three on multiple occasions.
ASU would finally push its lead to 10 with just under three minutes to play in the first half (34-24), but a quick 4-0 SUU spurt cut it back down to six, 34-28.
The Sun Devils answered by scoring the final six points of the period, taking a 40-28 lead to the break.
Second half
Southern Utah was able to get the ASU lead down to nine (45-36) with 15:20 remaining, but was unable to get any closer the rest of the way.
The Sun Devils took a 22-point lead – their largest of the game – with 7:08 left in the game (67-45).
From there, the Thunderbirds were able to cut the deficit down to 12 (72-60), but ASU would close out the final two-plus minutes to record the 81-84 win.
Freshman Elijah Duval led the T-birds offensively, totaling a game-high 17 points. Senior transfer Isaiah Cottrell chipped in 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks.
SUU struggled to put the ball in the net in the loss, shooting just 37.1 percent (26-70), including an abysmal 4-of-25 (16 percent) from the three-point line.
On the positive side, the T-birds edged the Sun Devils in the paint points battle (44-36) and second chance points (16-9), while also recording more rebounds (40-39).
Up next
Southern Utah (0-1) makes its season home debut on Saturday, Nov. 8, against Texas Rio Grande Valley.
The two former conference foes will face off at 6:30 p.m. MT, and the game can be seen on ESPN+.