For the first road trip of the renewed Big 12 era for the Colorado men’s basketball team, the Buffaloes will visit a familiar arena. And square off against a familiar opposing coach.

It will not, however, be a familiar Arizona State squad.

Throughout the lead-up to CU’s return to the Big 12, head coach Tad Boyle has remarked that one of the biggest differences, and biggest challenges, with the move from the Pac-12 is the increased fervor that will mark most opposing arenas in league play.

This time, though, CU will test the road waters of the Big 12 schedule at ASU, a familiar venue from the past 13 seasons in the Pac-12. The Buffs lost 76-73 in Tempe last year, but previously won three consecutive road games at ASU.

The Sun Devils are 4-0 at home but played most of their weakest nonconference foes in Tempe, defeating Idaho State, St. Thomas, Cal Poly and San Diego. Yet ASU also posted neutral-floor wins against St. Mary’s, Santa Clara, New Mexico and Grand Canyon, and the Sun Devils took Gonzaga to the wire on the road in November.

“The one thing about college basketball now is summer access, you’ve got eight hours a week with your team,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “You’ve got the fall. And now it’s January 2025. They’ve been together long enough to be a cohesive unit. Just like we’ve been together long enough to be a cohesive unit. They have three freshmen who are talented. Three talented transfers.”

ASU has forged its solid start behind a trio of highly-touted freshmen. Guard Joson Sanon has played mostly off the bench, but he’s ASU’s leading scorer and is shooting over 48% from long range. Forward Jayden Quaintance, the most recent winner of the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week award, has started all 12 games and leads ASU with 8.1 rebounds per game while sporting a .517 shooting percentage. Amier Ali has played in all 12 games off the bench, averaging 4.7 points.

Like the Buffs and their addition this season of three graduate transfers, ASU head coach Bobby Hurley added experience via the transfer portal. Ball State transfer Basheer Jihad has anchored the frontcourt, ranking second on the team in scoring and rebounding. Former Missouri State guard Alton Mason, who also played at Oklahoma, leads ASU in assists. And guard BJ Freeman, who faced the Buffs last year when he was with Milwaukee, is averaging 11.3 points and nearly five rebounds per game.

ASU finished 9-2 in nonconference play, with the losses occurring at Gonzaga and against Florida, both of which are within the top 20 of this week’s Associated Press Top 25. However, ASU is coming off a 20-point loss at BYU in the program’s first Big 12 game.

“Really talented,” Boyle said of the new-look Sun Devils. “(Sanon) can really, really shoot the ball from three. He can play off the bounce. He can get to the rim. He’s a good player. Quaintance is a good player. They’ve got some really talented guys. They can shoot the ball. All three freshmen are highly regarded and highly touted.

“Quaintance is a guy that can block shots. He’s a problem at the rim.”