Spokesman-Review
Men's College Basketball
Preview
Brigham Young at Arizona State
When: 9:30 PM ET, Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Where: Desert Financial Arena, Tempe, Arizona

No. 25 BYU brings a four-game winning streak and a fresh national ranking into Wednesday night's game against Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz.

The Cougars (19-8, 10-6 Big 12) followed up last week's rout of then-No. 23 Kansas with a 96-95 victory Saturday at then-No. 19 Arizona.

The next challenge is beating an Arizona State team that ended its six-game losing streak with a 66-54 win Sunday at Kansas State.

The Sun Devils (13-14, 4-12) will play the rest of the season without leading scorer BJ Freeman, who was dismissed from the program Sunday for conduct detrimental to the team.

Arizona State also may not have freshman standout Jayden Quaintance, who suffered an apparent knee injury with less than five minutes remaining against Kansas State. He finished with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting.

"I'm not sure about Jayden yet," Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said. "He'll get examined, and it didn't look good how he fell, and that kid usually just bounces right up. So just holding our breath until we get some answers there."

The Sun Devils have a seven-game home losing streak in Big 12 games.

BYU has won four of its last five road conference games, the latest on Saturday night when Richie Saunders made two late free throws against Arizona.

The Cougars achieved their first back-to-back wins over ranked opponents in 37 years with the victories over Kansas and Arizona.

Saunders, who scored a team-high 23 points at Arizona, went to the stripe with 3.2 seconds remaining after a foul was called on Trey Townsend. Saunders was driving to the basket and lost his balance after bumping into Townsend's left leg but drew a whistle.

"Luckily we were able to make enough (plays) of our own; Richie was incredible," BYU coach Kevin Young said. "My message to our group is whatever the next challenge in front of us, we are trying to attack it, whether that is practice, whether that is a shootaround, whether that is a game."

BYU defeated Arizona State 76-56 in the Big 12 opener for both teams at Provo, Utah, on Dec. 31.

Saunders scored a career-high 30 points in that game. The Cougars scored 19 points off 13 turnovers and outscored Arizona State 36-24 in the paint. BYU's 38-28 rebounding advantage included 13 offensive rebounds for a 16-6 edge in second-chance points.

If Quaintance is unable to play Wednesday night, Arizona State will need other frontcourt players to step up.

Quaintance leads the Sun Devils with 7.9 rebounds per game. Basheer Jihad, a wing player, is next at 5.6 a game and 7-footer Shawn Phillips Jr. adds 4.6.

Phillips finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds in the win at Kansas State.

Arizona State's perimeter game struggled without Freeman, who was averaging 13.7 points a game. Jihad, Alston Mason and Adam Miller combined for 18 points on 6-for-18 shooting from the field (3 of 11 from deep) against Kansas State.

--Field Level Media

Stats and Records
Team Comparison
  W/L Strk Home Away Neutral Day Night Conf
Brigham Young 19-8 W4 13-2 4-5 2-1 4-3 15-5 10-6
Arizona State 13-14 W1 5-7 3-6 5-1 4-7 9-7 4-12
Last Meeting
Brigham Young Arizona State
Date Away Home Pts Reb FG% Pts Reb FG%
12/31/24 ASU 56 BYU 76 76 35 48.3 56 25 36.8
Player Stats
Previous Matchup
Points Player Total FG% FTM
Brigham Young R. Saunders 30 61.1 2
Arizona State B. Freeman 11 36.4 0
Rebounds Player Total Off Def
Brigham Young K. Keita 10 5 5
Arizona State J. Quaintance 6 4 2
Assists Player  
Brigham Young E. Demin 7
Arizona State B. Freeman 3
Season
Points Player Total FG% FTM
Brigham Young R. Saunders 404 52.0 56
Arizona State A. Mason 343 43.3 76
Rebounds Player Total Off Def
Brigham Young K. Keita 198 68 130
Arizona State J. Quaintance 189 72 117
Assists Player  
Brigham Young E. Demin 134
Arizona State A. Mason 107
Quickchart Matchup
blue bar Brigham Young Off vs  red bar Arizona State Defense
blue bar 80.8 Points For
red bar 73.6 Points Against
blue bar 48.5 FG%
red bar 42.2 FG%
blue bar 33.2 Reb
red bar 33.5 Reb
red bar Arizona State Off vs  blue bar Brigham Young Defense
red bar 73.7 Points For
blue bar 69.5 Points Against
red bar 44.0 FG%
blue bar 43.1 FG%
red bar 30.7 Reb
blue bar 27.0 Reb