By Lindsay Gaesser, SDA Media Relations
College Station, Texas—The Arizona State men’s basketball team fell to Texas A&M, 72-71, Saturday afternoon at Reed Arena. Freshman Tra Holder led the Sun Devils with a career-high 14 points and five assists. Off the bench, seniors Jonathan Gilling and Bo Barnes each posted 12 points.
“The storyline is our 17 turnovers, several of which led to easy baskets at the other end," said ASU head coach Herb Sendek of the Aggies' come-from-behind win. "A&M did a good job in the second half of keeping us off balance, switching back and forth between man and zone. I think at times we struggled with that, especially the pressure they applied out of their zone. Having said that, I think our team did a lot of good things this afternoon and we have a chance to be a good team this year."
The Sun Devils set the tone of the game right from the start, opening with back-to-back threes from junior Willie Atwood and freshman Kodi Justice. But the Aggies slowly chipped away at the early lead, taking advantage of five ASU turnovers within three minutes to put TAMU on top. The Sun Devils regained the lead with a three-pointer by Gilling.
ASU widened the lead with a 7-0 run, making six of eight from the field. Hot from beyond the arc, senior Shaq McKissic knocked one down, while Gilling had a pair of his own. Gilling was three for four from downtown in the first half.
By the time they hit the locker room, the Sun Devils were ahead by 11. In the first half, ASU outshot TAMU .640 to .480, and .540 to .200 from three-point range.
The Sun Devils hit the court like gangbusters in the second half. Justice, Gilling, and Barnes each knocked down three-point buckets, expanding the lead to 13 points. But the Aggies weren’t out of it just yet.
Generating points from seven ASU turnovers, TAMU went on a 12-0 scoring run to take its first lead since early in the first half. The Sun Devils were cold, sinking only one of nine. Barnes ended ASU’s six-minute scoring drought with a jumper.
In the final minutes of the game, both teams jockeyed for the lead. With the score tied at 69, ASU had the ball with 1:20 left on the clock. TAMU’s Alex Caruso came up with a steal, but failed to put the Aggies on top when he missed a wide-open dunk.
The Sun Devils got the ball back with less than one minute remaining, but Caruso came up with another steal, this time giving the Aggies the lead with an uncontested layup. Freshman Tra Holder then tied the game at 71 with two free throws and 34 seconds on the clock.
With five seconds left in the game, TAMU’s Kourtney Roberson drew a foul on his way to the basket. Sinking one of two, Roberson gave the Aggies a one-point lead, to win the game, 72-71.
“I think a lot of it had to do with miscalculated turnovers," said Sendek. "Like I said, you have to give A&M a lot of credit. I think their team came out to play in the second half.”
Next up, the Sun Devils return home to host Pepperdine, Saturday, Dec. 13, at 12 p.m. MST. The game will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks.