Down 84-82 with 2.4 seconds remaining in overtime, Arizona State had a chance to force double overtime.
Unfortunately, sophomore center Shawn Phillips Jr. couldn’t get his floater at the rim to fall and the Sun Devils miracle comeback bid was over.
“Shawn Phillips is just distraught in the locker room right now,” Arizona State coach Bob Hurley said. “He competes and he works at it. And he had a chance there, but it’s not his fault.
That’s my fault if I can’t get these guys motivated to play. When we’re playing a game on ESPN, it’s a big deal. You have a good crowd, so it’s my fault.”
The Sun Devils’ struggles in the first half made the comeback that transpired seem like a pipe dream. Nothing came easy for them as they struggled to get inside the paint and get clean looks from long range.
In the first half, the team shot an abysmal 29% from the field and was outrebounded 26 to 16. This had Hurley furiously challenging his players multiple times to be more engaged and disciplined.
“We were just too casual out there and lackadaisical,” said Hurley. “There was no urgency, for twenty-three minutes. And it cost us.”
Trailing the Huskies 45-24 after halftime, Hurley made a bold gamble by benching his starters in favor of the second unit. His decision paid dividends immediately, with the Sun Devils going on a 7-3 run to open the half.
“Our second unit, they came in and did what they were supposed to do,” junior guard Frankie Collins said. “They gave us a spark, they got stops and we couldn’t get stops. They made some buckets, but we couldn’t make buckets. So shout out to them for coming in, being ready. And playing harder than we were and doing the little things to chip in the lead.”
Collins took it upon himself to fully ignite the Sun Devils comeback bid, scoring 19 of his 21 points in the second half, including a fast break layup that tied the game 75-75 in the last 7 seconds of the game. Collins also broke Arizona State’s all-time single-season record with 77 steals, which was previously held by Fat Lever during the 1981-82 season.
“I mean, it’s a great individual accomplishment but I just wanna win,” Collins said “I want to give thanks to everyone who’s supporting me. I’m grateful, but at the end of the day, it’s about winning. It’s a team sport. Just wish we could have had this one.
Despite his strong play in the second half, Hurley was critical of his starting guard, calling on him to lead by example and play at a high level more consistently.
“For us to win any games, the rest of the way, he’s gotta play better and he’s gotta lead our team better,” Hurley said. “In the first part of that game, he can’t allow what happened to happen again. That’s a big responsibility to take on. It’s not easy. There’s gonna be times when you have to go outside of yourself and do more than just play and worry about your own game. He needs to set the tone all the time. If he doesn’t, then, then we’re gonna have very little chance to win.”
The Sun Devils will regroup and focus on snapping their two-game losing streak on Saturday against Washington State (22-6).
“I think this is a good turning point for us,” Collins said. I know we lost, but we can learn from this. We see how it looks when we play the right way. And if we continue to do that, it’ll help us win these last four games.”
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