(Stanford, CA) Bobby Hurley‘s program leads the Pac-12 in halftime comebacks in his tenure — now 42 — and entered the game tied for most two-possession wins (now 38) since 2019-20 with Wisconsin.
Friday night at Stanford they added one of each by shutting out Stanford in the final 1:54 after trailing from the opening tip.
Stanford jumped out to a 37-28 halftime lead, but Arizona State made seven of its final eight shots and came back from a 10-point deficit in the final five minutes for a 76-73 win in the Pac-12 opener for both teams at Maples Pavilion.
ASU didn’t take its first lead until 31 seconds left on a Frankie Collinsjumper in the lane. ASU trailed for 35:02 and was down by as many as 12, as ASU notched its 42nd halftime comeback under Coach Hurley.
ANOTHER CLOSE GAME WIN
ASU is 38-19 (.667) in two-possession games since 2019-20, as the 38 wins leads the nation (Wisconsin has 37). ASU is 3-0 in games decided by three points or less this season, and is 5-2 in games decided by six points or less vs. Stanford since 2019-20. ASU finishes its Pac-12 jaunts to Stanford with a 3-1 mark in its final four trips, with all four games decided by five points or less. It marked the second straight win at Maples, the first time since 2008-09 and 2009-10 it won back-to-back at Stanford.
CONFERENCE OPENING WIN
Friday marked the second straight conference opening win for ASU, the first time it has done that since the James Harden days, as it won conference openers in 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons. ASU had to come back at the half in both games, as it trailed by 15 at Colorado last year at the half on Dec. 1, 2022.
QUOTING BOBBY HURLEY
“I don’t think we guarded the line well enough in the first half. They’re a good team…I told the guys coming in that they played two overtimes versus Arkansas and played very well versus Michigan, and very well versus San Diego State, so it’s a team that I feel is better than their record. I feel that this is where the game ends here for me, whether it’s in my favor or not, since I’ve been coaching in this league. We play very close, tight games for whatever reasons. I appreciated how we defended late in the game; we were able to get some deflections and just make some clutch shots.
“We’re still a work in progress; today was a really good step. We ran our offense with purpose, we moved well on defense; it was one of our higher-deflection games of the season. We’re putting together two ends of the floor for the first time in a while, coming off a three-game losing streak. Stanford got it up 10, then 8, and there were times when they were always inching away, but we were able to make a response. We were able to use our quickness to get a couple of key defensive deflections late in the game. After Christmas now, it’s like we’re zero and zero, and let’s see what we can get done in the conference.”
THAT FIRST HALF
The Cardinal was 6-of-14 (.429) from the three-point stripe in the first half and led 32-22 before ASU closed it to 32-28, but a 5-0 run to close the half as ASU didn’t score in the final 3:16 gave Stanford a nine-point lead at recess.
SHAUN PHILLIPS
Shaun Phillips played for the first time since Nov. 16 after being sidelined with a foot injury and posted six points and two blocks in 11 minutes.
OTHER GAME NOTES
ASU attempted a season-high 32 three-pointers…ASU had season lows in free throws made (eight) attempted (14) and steals (five).
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Steve Rodriguez
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