Nov. 18, 2009
By Thomas Lenneberg
TEMPE, Ariz.- The men's basketball team, playing for a trip to New York City and a berth in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament, held off TCU in the final seconds to come away with a 52-49 victory Tuesday night in Tempe.
Guard Ty Abbott hit a floater in the lane with 21.7 seconds left to put the Sun Devils up by one and center Eric Boateng finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds, his first career double-double.
Abbott's shot gave ASU a 50-49 lead and a long three-pointer by TCU with six seconds left careened off the rim and out of bounds. Guard Derek Glasser then added two free throws in the last moments to give the Sun Devils the win.
Boateng, who was 9-for-11 from the floor in 33 minutes played, asserted his dominance from the opening tip until the final whistle. He began the game with a thunderous ally-oop and scored 11 points in the final 9 1/2 minutes to help the Sun Devils (3-0) stay undefeated on the young season. The 6-10 senior finished with a career high in points, rebounds, field goals made, field goals attempted and minutes.
Up 24-23 at halftime, the Sun Devils remained ahead for the majority of the second half before falling behind by eight with just under four minutes left in the game. However, Rihards Kuksiks quickly answered with his second three-pointer of the night to bring ASU to within five.
Trent Lockett then stole the ball and reached the foul line on the next possession. He missed the backend of the pair of free throws, but Boateng snatched up the offensive rebound, got fouled and hit both shots from the charity stripe to cut the Sun Devils' deficit to two.
Boateng intercepted a TCU pass the next time down court and then dropped in a lay-up on the offensive end, evening the game at 48 points apiece with less than two minutes to play.
Abbott, who is still recovering from knee surgery, scored eights points, including the game-winner, in a season-high 22 minutes. Kuksiks added 12 points and Lockett finished with three points and 11 rebounds in his first career start.
The Sun Devils outscored TCU 22-12 in the paint and out-rebounded the Horned Frogs by 10.
ASU will face the Duke Blue Devils on Nov. 25 in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Coverage will begin at 7 p.m. (MT) on ESPN2.