It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
Feast Week is upon us, meaning it’s time to mail it in at your job (more so than you usually do), gorge yourself on turkey while consuming enough booze to open up a political dialogue with your teenage niece, and of course, watch hours of college basketball on your phone while your office manager isn’t looking (may be speaking from personal experience).
Sean Miller’s Texas Longhorns are in the beautiful state of Hawaii to participate in the Maui Invitational, which tips tonight at 10:30 p.m. central time. So put the kids to bed, crack a late-night beer, and lock in for the ‘Horns first game away from the Moody Center since November 4 as they take on the Big 12’s Arizona State Sun Devils in the fourth game of the classic collegiate basketball November tournament.
Arizona State roster
A tenured collegiate coach like Bobby Hurley is no stranger to personnel turnover, but even someone with his background likely did not anticipate the attrition that occurred from 2024-25 to 2025-26 for his program. Like a bad set at a standup comedy open mic (also speaking from experience), 11 people walked from the Devils squad after last year’s nightmare season, including three sought-after freshmen; a potential top five pick in center Jayden Quaintance left for Kentucky, and two additional highly regarded pieces in guard Joson Sanon (St. John’s) and wing Amier Ali (Mississippi State) departed as well.
To fill out the roster, Hurley turned to the transfer portal, where he supplanted freshman potential with mid-major experience, adding a plethora of battle-tested sophomores, juniors, and seniors to fairly positive results early on. Arizona State is 4-1 on the season so far, with their only loss coming to an elite Gonzaga team, 77-65.
Their starting lineup looks like this.
The leader of the pack in most categories is lead guard Maurice “Moe” Odum, who averages 14.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 7.2 assists, and 2.6 steals per game. Despite the numbers, the Pepperdine transfer has struggled with efficiency inside the arc, shooting just 38.6% from the field (though he has connected on 36.4% of his three-point attempts). He has also turned the ball over at a decent rate (3.0 per game), but this speaks more to his usage rate than bad reads in general.
His back court mate, Toledo transfer Bryce Ford, has been much more effective from an efficiency standpoint, shooting 46.3% from the field while scoring 11.2 points per game. A true sniper from beyond the arc, Ford is at a blistering 52.2% from three on 4.6 attempts per game, giving the Sun Devils a floor spacer that opens things up from the perimeter.
Wing Andrija Grbovic is a 6-foot-9 international player whose most recent professional stint was with KK Budućnost of the Montenegrin and Adriatic basketball leagues. The 22-year-old has had a bit of a tough time adjusting to D-I competition, putting up just 5.2 points per game on 35.7% from the field and 25% from three. He also averages 2.6 fouls per game, meaning his lack of polish translates to the defensive end as well. He is a prime candidate to target defensively for a player like Longhorns forward Dailyn Swain.
Santiago Trouet, the San Diego transfer, is another player that has had his struggles from the field, though he adds value through his rebounding prowess. Putting up a modest 7.0 points per game, Trouet is shooting 33% from the field, 10% from three, and 50% from the stripe, but does add 6.8 boards per outing as a 6-foot-10 forward.
The most impressive player this year for the Sun Devils has been freshman center Massamba Diop, a Senegalese seven-footer averaging 13.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 3.0 stocks while hitting 58% from the field overall. Diop is astoundingly mobile and coordinated for a young big man, even demonstrating the ability to put the ball on the deck in transition. The future NBA player is without a doubt their biggest threat and will be a real challenge for Matas Vokietaitis and Lassina Traore to handle as he builds upon his extremely impressive start.
Important bench pieces for ASU include backup lead guard Anthony Johnson, a Cumberland transfer putting up 12.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game on 51% from the field and 40% from deep, as well as 6-foot-6 forward Allen Mukeba, an Oakland transfer averaging 6.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks on 52% from the floor.
Bobby Hurley’s offensive strategy
Bobby Hurley, like Sean Miller, likes to push the pace, trying to get a shot up within the first 8-to-10 seconds of any given possession. Similar to Miller’s teams as well, the Sun Devils try to get into transition off of both makes and misses, emphasizing outlet passes and drag screens while attacking the opposing defense before they’re set. Arizona State ranks 44th in the nation in pace according to Warren Nolan, averaging 74.2 possessions per game.
In the half court, the Sun Devils run a four-out alignment, with Diop playing the interior in this iteration of their roster. The key to Hurley’s system is pressuring the rim with their ball handlers, utilizing high pick-and-rolls and drive-and-kick actions. Stopping this offense for Texas will require staying home on drives and not collapsing, which would allow for open perimeter looks. Luckily for the Longhorns, they have the personnel to stifle this kind of offensive system given their multitude of defenders that can move laterally, particularly in Swain and Chendall Weaver.
ASU head coach Bobby Hurley
Sun Devils defense
Defensively, Hurley pushes for ball pressure first and foremost, and plays a feast-or-famine system on the perimeter that emphasizes attacking passing lanes in order to force live-ball turnovers and get into transition. They switch 1-4, which is a high-risk, high-reward setup that will crumble behind bad communication. They play a lot of help defense, which again can result in forced turnovers or wide-open corner threes. Their success directly correlates with their discipline and connectivity.
Given Texas does not necessarily have the personnel to punish a team that gambles and allows for unguarded attempts from beyond the arc, it is conceivable that Arizona State could give this Texas offense some trouble. However, if the ‘Horns can be decisive with their passes, get some consistent paint touches, and connect with a reasonable percentage from deep, they will likely be able to handle the perimeter pressure. With Diop patrolling the painted area, it would benefit Texas to try to draw him out using big-to-big pick-and-rolls with Swain handling, allowing for not-so-heavily contested shots at the rack.
Prediction
Texas is a 7.5-point favorite tonight, with ESPN analytics giving the ‘Horns an 86.5% chance to take down Arizona State in Maui. The matchup will come down to three things.
Texas has done an excellent job this season at limiting turnovers, meaning they are in prime position to beat a team that thrives on a chaotic style of play and achieves much of their offense through defensive pressure.
The other kicker is that the Sun Devils are horribly inefficient scoring the basketball and have struggled offensively throughout the season, ranking 244th in overall field goal percentage (44.0%), 170th in three-point percentage (33.9%), 292nd in free-throw percentage (66.7%), 271st in two-point percentage (50.0%), and 212th in field goals made per game (27.0). Outside of a few players, the majority of their rotation has had trouble connecting from the field.
If the Longhorns can take care of the ball, they will neutralize the fast-break energy that Arizona State brings on the offensive end; Texas will then control the tempo of the game, forcing the Sun Devils to play half-court offense, which will in turn cause major struggles due to their lacking ability to shoot. If things go even mostly to plan, Texas will win their first game of the Maui Invitational and live to fight another day.
