Jordan HammVideo by Eliav Gabay
Thursday was an incredible snapshot for the Arizona – and specifically the Valley – basketball scene.
The Arizona State and GCU men’s and women’s basketball teams all came together at the pinnacle of Arizona basketball, the Footprint Center, and had two slugfests of games.
Molly Milller’s squad came away with their second Power 5 win in program history when the GCU women’s team took down Arizona State 70-59.
Alyssa Frescas-Durazo was as advertised as a premier outside shooter. The UNLV transfer ended the day with 22 points, with 14 coming in the second half. For context, Arizona State score 17 in the final two quarters.
It’s another marquee win for GCU as this program looks to reach its first NCAA women’s basketball tournament in program history after being close in the last two years.
Arizona State coach Natasha Adair preached playing the full 40 minutes to get wins. Grand Canyon is a great non-conference test as the Sun Devils gear up for their first year in the Big 12.
The men’s squads followed, and the atmosphere was cranked up to 11.
Even in an NBA arena, the building filled out and was an incredible atmosphere.
ASU and GCU need to play every year and they need to play in this building.
Awesome, awesome atmosphere tonight. pic.twitter.com/yo02Ffx3Zz
— Jordan Hamm (@JordyHamm) November 15, 2024
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The Havocs are known for their constant noise and energy, and Arizona State made sure there was plenty of gold throughout the building. Sitting at mid-court, you could feel the noise and momentum seesaw across the court depending on who was hitting the big shot.
For the Sun Devils, that was Joson Sanon – the freshman guard with NBA aspirations – who had 21 points on 8/12 shooting. The 87-76 final score felt closer than the score showed.
It was a great night of basketball and celebrating the Greater Phoenix Area.
Which is why they should run it back next year. And the year after that.
And again, and so on…each and every year.
Arizona State fans might previously look at this matchup as a lose-lose situation. Arizona State, the Power 5 school in the Pac-12, was supposed to beat Grand Canyon, a program that was new to Division I status. You lose to the feisty Lopes? It looks horrible on your resumé in March. You win? It doesn’t do that much to push you up the rankings with the postseason committee.
But that’s not the case anymore.
The GCU men are regulars in the tournament now.
A win against them is a nice line item in the postseason. A loss is not the anchor it once was.
“They have arrived,” Bobby Hurley said of his opponent after the game.
The GCU women’s team has beaten Arizona State in back-to-back years now. For the Lopes, they get another shot at a Power 4 program. ASU doesn’t need to go far to get a quality non-conference game that not only will add to their season on paper, but push them to get better.
The fact the Lopes are moving to the Mountain West Conference in the coming years means their profile will continue to rise. They will face better competition, grow from it and establish a new standard, much like Arizona State is looking to do in the Big 12. The line between big, bad “Power 4” and “mid-major” (which to some is a pejorative) gets really, blurred when GCU establishes themselves in their new conference.
And while conference realignment has done away with some of the geographical rivalries across the nation, there is an opportunity to create a new one.
It’s a win for these team’s schedules. It’s a win college basketball. It’s a win for the Arizona basketball scene.
All they need to do is to figure out is the best route for the Havocs’ shuttle to Tempe, whether the Curtain of Distraction is headed up the I-17 or if they’ll meet in the middle at Footprint.
