Trailing by as many as 16 early in the second half, the Sun Devils (8-5, 2-0 Pac-12) doubled up Cal in scoring, 32-15 over the last 9:30 to come back from 15 down and win their first two games in conference play for the second consecutive season, the second time they did it by winning their first two on the road (in 1987 ASU defeated WSU 66-65 in OT on Dec. 20 and followed that with 87-78 win at Washington on Dec. 22).
The Sun Devils made the biggest dent in the deficit during a span of only 17 seconds. With ASU trailing 56-42, Kamari Lands hit from downtown to start a 9-0 run. Collins came up with a steal and and-one following a basket and subsequent Cal foul. Lands then bookended the run with his second 3-pointer and just like that the Sun Devils were within five, 56-51.
Lands, who scored 11 points (all coming in the second half), started ASU’s next big scoring run with a pair of free throws that pulled ASU to within four, 60-56 with 5:13 remaining.
A hoop and foul by Jose Perez and a free throw by Adam Miller capped the 8-2 run and tied the score at 62-62 with 3:49 remaining.
Down by one with under a minute remaining, a dunk by Alonzo Gafney put the Sun Devils in front 68-67.
The Sun Devils did not trail again as Collins converted a Cal turnover into a jumper that expanded ASU’s advantage to 70-67 with seven seconds remaining.
Early on, the Sun Devils were not able to carry over the same success that offensively that enabled them to overcome a 10-point deficit in the final minutes of ASU’s 76-73 win at Stanford on Friday.
After scoring 17 points in the final five minutes of Friday’s win, it took ASU more than 14 minutes to score at least as many points on Sunday. That threshold was crossed after Miller’s 3-pointer cut Cal’s lead to 25-18 with 5:42 remaining in the first half.
The Bears (4-9, 0-2) outscored ASU 18-10 in the paint, 9-2 in points off turnovers and 7-0 in second chance points on their way to a 35-25 lead at the half.
QUOTABLES
“To go on the road and win two is not easy, no matter where you are playing,” Head Coach Bobby Hurley remarked postgame. “Not sure anybody else in the conference was able to accomplish that this week. I feel great for the guys, they never gave in.”
“When we went to the five guards, we were able to spread them out,” Coach Hurley added. “Frankie was able to attack. It was his best game that I have seen him play here top to bottom. Even though we weren’t playing well, he was our main source of offense. The steals, shot making, and attacking the basket. It was creative stuff.”
“That is the best game that I have played since I got here,” Frankie Collins mentioned after the game. “I was just trying to do whatever it took to help us win.”
“This had to do with how we won the game at Stanford,” Collins observed. “It carried over to tonight. Once we were down, we just knew that it is never over.”
UP NEXT
The Sun Devils return to action this weekend when they play their first Pac-12 home games of the year: vs. Utah on Thursday (9 p.m. MST) and vs. Utah on Colorado (6 p.m. MST). Click here to purchase tickets.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Steve Rodriguez
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