"I hope they play all night,"

Randy Bennett kept it honest after ASU's win vs. Hofstra on Nov. 10. Arizona State's new head coach heard that UL Monroe, ASU's next opponent, and TCU, a Big 12 foe, were headed to double overtime in Fort Worth, Texas.

Three days later, the Sun Devils will try to avoid overtime thrillers and make quick work of the Warhawks for a 4-0 start.

Here is what to know for the Friday night tip-off in Tempe:

Will Emmanuel Innocenti Return? And How Will the Guard Play Change?

Randy Bennett mentioned the possibility of Innocenti returning to the court for the Friday matchup, after rolling his ankle in the season opener vs. East Tennessee State.

Innocenti is a captain and a usual starter for the Sun Devils. ASU saw his potential put into action in the exhibition against New Mexico, scoring 13 points on two threes while supplying lockdown defense on the Lobos' top guards.

The Ivory Coast native will be a big addition to the ASU lineup, but in his absence, other guards have thrown their names into the hat.

G Bryce Ford delivered a 17-point outing off the bench vs. Northern Colorado, adding nine points against Hofstra. Freshman guard JRob Croy stole the night vs. Hofstra, lacing four threes on an 18-point night.

These performances showed the world that ASU may be deeper than expected at the guard position, but with Innocenti returning, what will happen to their minutes? Will Bennett find a way to get all three involved?

"I don't like not having E-Man (Emmanuel). But in some ways, it's probably helped some of our younger guys get some key minutes," Bennett said. "And we have to develop (them), and JRob, and shows us offensively a way that we can be explosive because those guys, you get Bryce (Ford) and Foxy (Joel Foxwell) and JRob out there, they can they can explode on you for three."

Will ASU Be Able To Stop The Three?

While the Sun Devils caught fire from behind the arc vs. Hofstra, their opponent responded with a plethora of threes as well.

Bennett and Devils will be the first to tell you: ASU has not guarded the three-point line very well so far this season.

"We've given up eight (threes in the game), the goal is five," Bennett said. "Only give up five in a game, so we're not good enough there yet."

ASU's threes allowed through three games:

ETSU: 7 3PTs

UNCO: 8 3PTs

Hofstra: 8 3PTs

It won't get easier with the Warhawks, either. ULM has hit 12, 8, 9 and 10 threes in their first four contests. 10 threes vs. TCU helped ULM bring the Horned Frogs to the brink.

ULM guard Dayjaun Anderson led the Hawks in scoring at TCU, scoring 20 points with four threes. Anderson has hit three or more threes in three of ULM's four games.

If Innocenti does return, he will likely be paired to Anderson on defense, but ASU's efforts on the perimeter will need to be a full-team battle.

Can ASU get to their five threes allowed goal? Or will the Warhawks use their shooting to push another Big 12 competitor?

Can ASU Finally "Break" An Opponent?

"We need to be able to break teams. We're up 20, but we could have pushed it out to 30, 40, and the game could have been completely over with 10 minutes to go," ASU guard Joel Foxwell said. "We just let teams hang around and linger a little bit. So I think that might be the next jump for us: making sure that we can really step on the gas and break teams mentally."

ASU is 3-0, but let's break down those halves.

ETSU:

First Half: ASU 37, ETSU 31

Second Half: ASU 38, ETSU 34

Northern Colorado:

First Half: ASU 48, UNCO 26

Second Half: ASU 42, UNCO 37

Hofstra:

First Half: ASU 41, HOF 32

Second Half: ASU 44, HOF 31

Arizona State has won four out of the six halves by under 10 points, but has yet to truly dominate a game from wire-to-wire.

A win is a win, but against lesser non-conference opponents, seeing a complete game from the Sun Devils would instill some big-time confidence for the upstart roster, especially with "Feast Week" games vs. LSU and South Carolina just a week and a half away.

Could Foxwell and Co. finally "break" a team out of the gate? Or will ULM put another Big 12 opponent on notice?

How to Watch Arizona State vs. Northern Colorado

Date: Friday, Nov. 13, 2026
Kickoff: 7:00 p.m. MT / 9:00 p.m. ET
Location: Desert Financial Stadium, Tempe, Arizona
TV Channel: ESPN+
Radio: Arizona Sports 98.7 FM