Jayden Quaintance scored 18 points, matching his season high in Big 12 games, to lead Arizona State to a 66-54 victory over Kansas State on Sunday afternoon in a matchup of depleted teams in Manhattan, Kan.
The Sun Devils snapped a six-game losing streak and handed Kansas State its third straight loss.
Quaintance apparently injured his right knee on a drive to the basket with 4:47 remaining. He did not return to the game.
The Sun Devils (13-14, 4-12 Big 12) were without leading scorer BJ Freeman, who was averaging 13.7 points per game. He was dismissed from the team Sunday for conduct detrimental to the team.
Freeman was ejected in back-to-back games against Colorado (Jan. 28) and Arizona (Feb. 1). He served a one-game suspension for a game against Oklahoma State Feb. 9.
Besides Quaintance, ASU was led by Amier Ali with 11 points and Shawn Phillips Jr. with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
The Wildcats (13-14, 7-9) played without starter Coleman Hawkins, who missed the game because of a deep knee bruise suffered in a loss to Utah Feb. 17. Hawkins averages 10.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists.
The Wildcats were led by David N’Guessan with 20 points and 13 rebounds. CJ Jones added 10 points.
Kansas State shot just 19.2 percent (5-of-26) from 3-point range and 33.3 percent overall.
The Sun Devils shot 46.3 percent from the field and were 9 of 25 from behind the arc.
Arizona State scored the first seven points of the second half to grab its largest lead at 41-28. The Wildcats cut it to single digits on multiple occasions, but each time the Sun Devils responded, often from the hands of Quaintance.
The Sun Devils pulled out to a big first-half lead. Quaintance hit his second 3-pointer of the half for a 23-14 lead at the 7:25 mark. The lead reached 12 points before K-State closed the half with a 9-3 run. ASU led 34-28 at intermission.
Arizona State forced 10 first-half turnovers but only scored seven points off those turnovers. Quaintance led the Sun Devils with 10 points, with Ali adding 9. Jones led K-State with 9 points.
