TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - Arizona State Sun Devils forced the most turnovers in a game in almost 23 years, and had plenty of offense for an easy win.
Guards Remy Martin and Jaelen House scored 20 points each, and Arizona State quickly overcame a slow start to cruise to a 92-55 win over Rider on Sunday.
House, a freshman, recorded his second straight game scoring in double figures, and the Sun Devils defense rattled the Broncs into committing 29 turnovers. Alonzo Verge Jr. and Romello White added 11 points each for Arizona State.
“That’s ultimately what we want to do. We want to get out and fastbreak,” Martin said. “We’re a fast transition team so, when we create turnovers, we get it going and we’re pretty hard to stop in transition.”
Stevie Jordan scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half for Rider (2-1). It was the first ever meeting between the two teams.
The Sun Devils made just three of their first 17 shots and trailed by as much as eight in the early going. They tied the score at 12 on three free throws by House and took the lead on a Jalen Graham dunk.
Those points were part of a 13-0 run that saw the Sun Devils take a 17-12 lead. The Broncs went more than 4 ½ minutes without scoring through the middle part of the first half.
Jordan picked up his third personal foul only eight minutes into the game and did not play the rest of the first half.
After a steal by Elias Valtonen, the Sun Devils got a fast-break layup from Rob Edwards for a 31-22 lead with 4:30 to go in the half. It was Edwards’ first two points after the senior guard scored 20 and 23 points in the first two games, and he finished with five.
Martin hit back-to-back 3s to make it 39-22, and Arizona State closed the half on a 16-2 run for a 43-24 halftime lead, having forced 16 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
“They were a legitimate opponent,” Sun Devils head coach Bobby Hurley said. “We were able to score in bunches when we got those live ball turnovers.”
Hurley said House made the Broncs feel uncomfortable with his quickness on offense and defense.
Arizona State finished with 16 steals. Martin and Verge had four each.
“Got in some foul trouble, lost our composure,” Rider head coach Kevin Baggett said. “Didn’t offensive rebound like I thought we could.”
BIG PICTURE
Rider: The Broncs were picked to finish second in the MAAC in the league’s preseason coaches poll, with five starters back from last year’s team. They’ll play at Wisconsin before starting conference play.
Arizona State: The Sun Devils will get some practice time at home before three games in four days in Connecticut and New Jersey next week. Arizona State is 21-6 in November under head coach Bobby Hurley, including 13-1 the past three seasons.
HIGHLIGHT REEL
White had two blocks, and his best one came in the first half when the big man denied Rider forward Dimencio Vaughn’s one-handed dunk attempt along the baseline. White stared down Vaughn after the play, and had another emphatic would-be block later in the first half but was called for goaltending.
UP NEXT
Rider travels back East to face Massachusetts in Amherst, Massachusetts, on Wednesday. The Minutemen are 3-0.
Arizona State heads to the East Coast for a three-game road trip. Up first is St. John’s in Uncasville, Connecticut, in the Air Force Reserve Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-off.
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