JRob Croy scored 11 of his 18 points during a decisive run early in the second half Tuesday night for Arizona State, which never trailed in an 85-63 win over Hofstra in Tempe, Ariz.
Paulius Murauskas recorded 22 points and 11 rebounds for Arizona State, which is 3-0 for the first time since the 2018-19 season. Joel Foxwell added 16 points and six assists while Ben Defty had eight points — including the first six of the Sun Devils’ 20-2 second-half run — and seven rebounds.
Arizona State shot 8-for-12 from 3-point range in the second half and hit 50% (13 of 26) from beyond the arc overall. The Sun Devils, who have three 7-footers, also outrebounded Hofstra 49-25 and pulled down 17 offensive boards.
Arizona State outscored Hofstra 44-31 in the second half after outscoring its first two opponents, East Tennessee State and Northern Colorado, by a combined nine points following intermission.
Xavier Blake and Deywilk Tavarez each scored 12 points off the bench for Hofstra (1-2), the defending Coastal Athletic Association champion. Fellow reserve Nick Jefferson had 11 points and led the Pride with five rebounds and five assists.
The Sun Devils led by as many as nine points in the first half before Hofstra pulled within three points twice, the last time at 33-30 on Tavarez’s 3-pointer with 3:05 left.
The teams combined for six straight empty possessions, during which Trey Boyd III missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer for Hofstra, before Arizona State ended the half on an 8-2 run. Ajak Nyuon drained a 3-pointer with two seconds left to extend the Sun Devils’ lead to 41-32.
Joshua DeCady opened the second half by splitting a pair of free throws for Hofstra before Defty and Croy combined to score 17 points in the 20-2 run.
Croy’s 3-pointer closed the surge and gave the Sun Devils a 61-35 lead with 13:43 remaining. Arizona State was up by at least 20 the rest of the way.