Arizona State (2-1) trailed UMass Lowell (3-1) for most of the game, with the only lead coming in the first half with junior guard Jamiya Neal hitting a wide-open 3-pointer.
After cutting the River Hawks’s lead to 65-57, Arizona State coach Bob Hurley called a timeout with 2:04 left to play. From then on the Sun Devils took control and forced four turnovers in the last two minutes to spark a 12-4 run.
Junior point guard Frankie Collins sealed it for Arizona State, driving inside for a nifty layup to complete the comeback.
“We got Frankie downhill and we wanted to set a ball screen somewhere near half court,” Hurley said. Bryant set a good screen, which kind of turned him loose and we wanted to attack the basket.”
The River Hawks had a little bit of time on the clock. Hurley decided to have junior forward Bryant Selebangue guard the inbounder, which paid off. The massive Selebangue deflected the inbounds pass and time expired before the River Hawks could even launch a shot.
Outside of the game-winner, it was a slow night for Collins with 9 of his 11 points coming in the 2nd half. It wasn’t just Collins though, as the Sun Devils were sluggish as a team while the River Hawks came out on a 10-5 run to start the game forcing Hurley to take a timeout with 15:26 left in the first half.
Collins did finish with eight steals on the defensive end, which tied a school record for steals in a game.
Coming out of the timeout it didn’t start off much better, with senior forward Abdoul Karim Coulibaly easily maneuvering his way for a layup to make it 12-5. The Sun Devils made two baskets after that along with a trip to the free-throw line to make it 14-10.
The River Hawks proceeded to go on an 8-0 scoring frenzy that wasn’t stopped until graduate student guard Jose Perez hit a contested fade away to get it to 22-12 at the 5:41 mark in the first half.
“In the last two games, we haven’t been shooting the ball well,” graduate forward Alonzo Gaffney said. “I guess a lot of guys are really thinking about the offense too much.”
The closest Arizona State got it to in the first half was four as Gaffney was sent to the line at the three-minute mark. Gaffney made one of his two attempts to make it 25-21.
The Sun Devils went into halftime down 31-22 and searching for answers on offense. Arizona State shot an abysmal 27% from the field.
At the beginning of the second half, both teams traded blows. The Sun Devils got it to within seven after the first two minutes of the half after a vicious two-handed hammer for Gaffney.
The River Hawks were able to get the Sun Devils into foul trouble which included a technical foul that resulted from Gaffney complaining to the officials resulting in a 38-28 hole.
Arizona State’s offense picked up though, with Perez finding his rhythm. Perez scored six of the Sun Devils next eight points to cut the lead to 43-34.
This was the beginning of Perez’s electric second half which included 20 points, three rebounds, and four assists.
River Hawk senior guard Ayinde Hikim answered right back as he scored five points to maintain the lead at 56-47 with 7:54 remaining in the game. Hikim finished second in scoring for the River Hawks with 17 points along with three rebounds and eight assists.
The Sun Devils were able to get it a four-point game with sophomore forward Kamari Lands drilling a pull-up three within the final six minutes. This would ultimately be the catalyst to set up the big run to win the game as Arizona State’s offense never slowed down after this point.
“It’s on me to make sure there’s more fire when we come out and play,” Hurley said. “We were settling a lot and they were getting every loose ball and making all the effort plays. We were not ready to play in the first half. So we have to figure out a way to play harder, to compete harder, and to work harder to get a better shot in the first half.”
ASU now has a week off before its Feast Week action. The Sun Devils will travel to Sin City for the Vegas Showdown.
The first game pits them against future conference foe Brigham Young on Thanksgiving at 10 p.m. MST.
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