Veteran coach Randy Bennett has never minced words when talking about the ways his teams need to improve.
Entering the second game of his Arizona State tenure, Bennett wants to see several corrections Friday night against Northern Colorado in Tempe, Ariz.
The Sun Devils (1-0) struggled to pull away from East Tennessee State in Monday’s season opener, hanging on for a 75-65 win. Bennett, leading the program after 25 seasons at Saint Mary’s, will seek a more complete effort from his new squad on Friday.
Arizona State held a slight rebounding advantage (34-31) over the Buccaneers and was even in points in the paint with 30.
“I attribute that to us not being good enough in those areas,” Bennett said. “Maybe some guys are better when the lights are on than others, but if they get enough reps and enough games, they’ll all get there. We’re just not there yet. Our habits aren’t where they need to be.”
Bennett was hired in March to oversee a struggling program after the firing of Bobby Hurley. Packing the 14,100-plus-seat Desert Financial Arena in Tempe is a priority for Bennett, whose team saw just 5,353 seats filled on Monday.
“The obvious way is to win,” Bennett said of boosting attendance. “Win and people come. The other thing is if you act right and play hard, people appreciate that. We’ll do that.”
Following Bennett from Saint Mary’s, Paulius Murauskas scored 21 points in his season debut, while Portland transfer Joel Foxwell added 15.
Northern Colorado (1-0), meanwhile, routed Division III Colorado College 117-64 on Monday. Jeremiah Hammond led the Bears with 17 points in his first college game and Chiante Tramble scored 13.
Coach Steve Smiley’s team, which led the Big Sky Conference with an average of 82.5 points per game last season, drilled 16 3-pointers on Monday.
“We have the ability to do it,” Smiley said. “At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if it’s two or three. It’s just, is it a good shot or a bad shot? And I don’t think we take very many bad shots.”