Paulius Murauskas continued his hot start to the season, tallying his fourth 20-point effort in as many games as Arizona State cruised to a 92-62 win over Louisiana-Monroe on Friday night in Tempe, Ariz.
Murauskas, who followed coach Randy Bennett from Saint Mary’s to Arizona State, had 20 points and 11 rebounds at halftime. He finished with 31 points and a season-high 13 rebounds.
Joel Foxwell added 16 points and nine assists for Arizona State (4-0).
Dayjaun Anderson’s 17 points and eight rebounds led the way for Louisiana-Monroe (1-4).
The Warhawks played some tight defense early and forced long-distance 3-pointers in the opening minutes of the game. But the Sun Devils took their first lead at 10-9 on a Murauskas layup at the 13:50 mark and Murauskas followed that with a dunk on their ensuing possession.
From there Arizona State took control, using a 12-0 run to jump ahead 24-11 with 8:29 left before halftime.
Arizona State’s defense tightened as the first half wore on, and the rebounding disparity between the two teams grew wider, with the Sun Devils holding a 29-10 edge on the glass at halftime.
A blocked shot from Ben Defty at one end led to a Murauskas second-chance layup as Arizona State got to the rim for baskets to extend its lead while Louisiana-Monroe struggled offensively. And when the Warhawks tried to double-team Murauskas, he fed Foxwell for a 3-pointer as part of another 12-0 run which put Arizona State up 39-16 with 3:04 left.
The Sun Devils took a 47-22 lead into the break, with 14 offensive boards to three for the Warhawks.
Arizona State’s lead reached 33 points at 55-22 less than 90 seconds into the second half, and another sizable run, this one 11-0, pushed the Sun Devils’ lead to 66-25.
Bryce Ford’s driving dunk with 11:59 to play got the crowd on its feet and gave Arizona State a 72-34 lead.
