First Four scouting report: Watch out for ASU’s size

DAYTON, Ohio— Arizona State’ s size and physicality impressed Mitch Henderson. St. John’s fiveout offense and quickness in transition stood out to the Princeton coach.

Whichever teams exerts its strengths more in Wednesday’ s First Four matchup in Dayton will likely advance, according to Henderson, one of two coaches to face both tournament teams this season.

“That’s it right there,” Henderson said in a phone interview Monday. “The physicality of the game can’t be a factor for St. John’s, and Arizona State has to value the ball.”

Princeton beat Arizona State, 67-66, on the road on Dec. 29, while it fell to St. John’s, 89-74, in the Holiday Festival at the Garden Dec. 9. All-Big East firstteam selection Shamorie Ponds left a big impression on Henderson. When he’s playing well, and with pace, it makes the Red Storm that much tougher to deal with. In the game against Princeton, Ponds scored 26 points, had five assists and four steals as the Johnnies forced 20 turnovers.

“I would watch Ponds carefully. If he’s able to dictate things offensively and they’re playing free and loose, that’s a good sign for them,” he said. “When we played them, they shot the ball well. They had a lineup where they could shoot from all f ive posi t i ons. How is Arizona State going to guard that?”

The key to Princeton’s victory over Arizona State was the Tigers holding their own on the glass and limiting the Sun Devils to 32 percent shooting from the field. St. John’s biggest weakness this year has been on the glass, where it gets out-rebounded by an average of 5.8 boards per game. Arizona State is 15th in the nation in rebounding.

“You got to rebound,” Henderson said. “They’re a very physical team.”

Zylan Cheatham leads the Sun Devils in rebounding at 10.4 rebounds per game, but the player who caught Henderson’s eye was leading scorer Luguentz Dort, a skilled freshman wing built like a linebacker. The Montreal native averages 16.1 points and can wreak havoc in the paint.

“I’m most interested in the Dort matchup. Who’s going to guard him from St. John’s?” Henderson said of the 6-foot-4, 215-pound guard. “He’s such a powerful kid. When you see him in person, you’re not going to believe it.”

The Princeton coach is looking forward to watching the game because of the differences between the teams. While both play fast, their success is determined in very di ffe rent ways.

“Both teams are going to have something to worry about,” Henderson said.