HENDERSON, Nev. – Things looked bleak for Arizona State at halftime. The Sun Devils faced a double-digit deficit, down 55-38 to Santa Clara at the Dollar Loan Center. Additionally, moments before the break, Coach Bobby Hurley was ejected after being issued two consecutive technical fouls.
Yet, miraculously, a flip switched in the second half. Assistant coach Nick Irvin led the Sun Devils (9-2) from down as many as 19 points to an 82-79 victory over Santa Clara on Saturday evening, tying the school record for the largest second-half comeback in school history. It also marked the largest second-half comeback for the program in the Hurley era.
The group’s depth was tested on Saturday with Sun Devil junior guard Bryce Ford out of the lineup. In his place, sixth man, senior guard Anthony “Pig” Johnson, got the start.
Along with the rest of the team, Johnson had a rough first half. He picked up two early fouls just four minutes into play.
Without a key defensive stopper on the floor, Santa Clara went on an 8-0 run to make it 30-21 early.
A 13-1 run in less than two minutes forced a visibly angry Hurley to call a timeout with the Broncos leading 35-22.
Throughout the first half, festering anger built up for Hurley, as he turned to argue with officials after disagreeing with a host of plays.
The Broncos ended the half on a 9-0 run.
With just seconds left in the first period, and Santa Clara already pulling away, an adamant Hurley exploded on the sideline after what he felt was an offensive foul on the Broncos, which wasn’t called. In the middle of the possession, referees stopped play to hand Hurley a technical foul. ASU’s head coach did not stop after receiving his first ‘warning’ and was given a second technical foul, subsequently ejecting him from the game.
For Santa Clara, sophomore guard Christian Hammond stood out as its bright spot. At the half, he had 18 points on perfect shooting from the floor.
Furthermore, the Broncos caused havoc on the defensive end, holding a 17-4 advantage in the turnover category at the break.
To get back in the contest, ASU flipped that advantage around, winning the second half turnover battle 12-6.
Momentum started to shift when Santa Clara’s 3-point attempts stopped falling, and ASU’s defense generated open layups and dunks.
Irvin spoke on the halftime adjustments on defense in a postgame interview with TNT.
“Pressure busts pipes. Let’s put some pressure on them and see how they can handle it,” Irvin said.
With Irvin’s relentless energy, characterized by loud clapping and endless perspiration, a reinvigorated ASU squad brought a different intensity to the last 20 minutes of action.
The Maroon and Gold achieved a 23-4 run in the second half.
Defensively, Arizona State turned its aggressiveness up and adjusted its strategy. The Sun Devils stopped doubling ball handlers and let their length slow down Santa Clara’s three-ball.
Their new approach stifled Hammond, who notched just four points and one 3-pointer in the second half.
Santa Clara got a taste of its own medicine when sophomore forward Marcus Adams Jr. tied the game with a three, assisted by Johnson.
ASU tied the game 66-66 with eight minutes remaining.
Next, Arizona State fed freshman center Massamba Diop in the low post. The seven-footer drew a foul on his seven-foot center matchup, sophomore Bukky Oboye, causing him to foul out.
Diop finished one rebound short of a double-double with 18 points.
Once ASU gained the lead, it never let it go.
A clutch baseline out-of-bounds basket by sophomore guard Noah Meeusen sealed the win for Sparky.
Former Arizona State coach Herb Sendek could not get a win over his old team in his 1000th career game coaching.
For ASU, Irvin’s energy and adjustments proved to be successful as the Sun Devils won the second half 44-24.
The victory helped the Sun Devils improve to 9-2 on the season, matching last year’s 9-2 start. ASU’s last non-conference games are against former Pac-12 foes – at UCLA and home against Oregon State. Up next, Sparky heads to Westwood to take on the Bruins at 8:30 MST.
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