Fall River’s Joson Sanon shines in college basketball debut, rings victory bell

TEMPE – Sun Devils Men’s Basketball took down non-conference opponent Idaho State in their home-opener on Tuesday night at Desert Financial Arena.

Arizona State (1-0, 0-0) pulled out a hard fought 55-48 win over Idaho State (0-1, 0-0) to kick off the 2024-2025 regular season. Guard Joson Sanon and forward Jayden Quaintance made their highly-anticipated collegiate debut in front of the home crowd, becoming the first freshman duo to start the first game of the year since 2020. ASU used a historic defensive effort to secure the ninth straight win in a home opener under Head Coach Bobby Hurley.

The Sun Devils held Idaho State to 48 points in tonight’s home-opener, tied for third lowest points scored by an opponent since 2000. Arizona State also held Idaho State to a 25.4 FG%, marking the lowest FG% by ISU since Montana held them to 24.6 FG% on February 6, 2012. The 14.3% shooting from beyond the arc by the Bengals was the lowest percentage by a Sun Devil opponent since Grambling shot 7.7% from deep on November 22, 2022

Three Sun Devils players reached double figures, led by senior guard Alston Mason, who finished with 14 points while connecting on 2-of-4 shots from downtown. Senior forward BJ Freeman was productive off the bench and nearly reached double-double, finishing with 12 points and eight rebounds. Joson Sanon looked comfortable in his first game as a Sun Devil, as he finished with 11 points, three rebounds, and three assists.