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Tempe, Arizona: Arizona State Beats East Tennessee State 75-65 in Bennett Debut

Paulius Murauskas scored 21 points and Arizona State beat East Tennessee State 75-65 at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe on Monday night, giving Randy Bennett a win in his first game as Sun Devils head coach after 25 years at Saint Mary's.

By Orbit Post2 min read
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Tempe, Arizona: Arizona State Beats East Tennessee State 75-65 in Bennett Debut

Key points

  • Randy Bennett won his first game as Arizona State head coach on Monday night, as the Sun Devils beat East Tennessee State 75-65 in the season opener at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe, Arizona.
  • Paulius Murauskas scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Arizona State.
  • Arizona State led 37-31 at halftime.

Randy Bennett won his first game as Arizona State head coach on Monday night, as the Sun Devils beat East Tennessee State 75-65 in the season opener at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe, Arizona. Bennett took over the program after 25 years at Saint Mary's, and his new team led for almost the whole night without ever fully shaking the visitors.

Murauskas sets the tone

Paulius Murauskas scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Arizona State. The preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year made 11 of 12 free throws, and the Sun Devils won the game at the line, hitting 21 of 26 free throws while East Tennessee State made 8 of 12. Joel Foxwell added 15 points and five assists.

Arizona State led 37-31 at halftime. Emmanuel Innocenti hit a three-pointer for a 25-15 lead with 7:16 left in the first half, Murauskas free throws made it 32-20 with 4:47 left, and a late Buccaneers run, capped by a Jaylen Cooper three-pointer with 36 seconds left, cut the margin to six at the break.

The Buccaneers keep coming back

East Tennessee State was led by BJ Ward, who scored a game high and career high 25 points in his first game as a Buccaneer. Trevor Hennig scored 15 off the bench and Cooper added 10. The Buccaneers, picked second in the Southern Conference preseason poll, outshot Arizona State from the field and from three-point range and scored 23 points off 13 Sun Devil turnovers.

Arizona State led by as many as 13 in the second half, but Ward pulled East Tennessee State within 65-59 with 2:33 left on a layup after a steal. Murauskas answered with a three-point play and Andrae Shaw hit a three-pointer in a 7-0 run that made it 72-59 with 1:18 left, and the Sun Devils closed it out from there. Arizona State shot 43.4 percent from the field and trailed for only 1:03 in the first half.

The win came with one concern. Starter Emmanuel Innocenti left the game in the first half with an ankle injury and returned to the bench in the second half on crutches with a boot on his left foot. Arizona State hosts Northern Colorado on Friday, and East Tennessee State plays at NC State the same night.

Timeline

  1. Nov 2, 2026Randy Bennett coaches his first game for Arizona State after 25 years at Saint Mary's, and the Sun Devils beat East Tennessee State 75-65 in Tempe.
  2. Nov 2, 2026East Tennessee State guard BJ Ward scores a career high 25 points in his first game as a Buccaneer.
  3. Nov 6, 2026Arizona State hosts Northern Colorado in Tempe, and East Tennessee State plays at NC State.

Sources