By Cal Aboud, SDA Media Relations Student Assistant
BOULDER, CO. -- The Arizona State men’s basketball team fell 79-69 at Colorado in a 40-minute back-and-forth battle Sunday afternoon at Coors Event Center. Sophomore guard Tra Holder led the Sun Devils with 16 points, while big man Eric Jacobsen neared a double-double, finishing with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Looking to bounce back from consecutive road losses, the Maroon and Gold needed to get off to a quick start in Boulder. In a seesaw first half highlighted by six lead changes, both teams’ success would hinge on a series of sizable runs. After the Buffs drew first blood, the Sun Devils would grab an early lead with a Holder induced five-point turnaround.
Colorado would respond rallying on a 5-0 push of their own, before netting a barrage of perimeter attempts to move ahead by as much as a 14-points, 26-12 at the 10:10 mark.
As they have done ever so often over the course of the season, Bobby Hurley’s gritty squad would battle back. Gerry Blakes would score 15 in a matter of minutes, as the Sun Devils would outscore Colorado 20-5 over a seven-minute stretch, to grab a 32-31 lead, with 2:49 remaining in the 1st half.
The Buffs would ultimately retain the lead courtesy of a 7-3 push, putting the Sun Devils behind 38-35 at recess.
In a second half reminiscent of the first, the opposing teams in a war of attrition would continue to tightly contest for the lead.
With the score square at 45-45 with 14:41 remaining, a Colorado three would trigger on a 8-0 run for the host Buffaloes. Arizona State would continue to nip at the heels of the surging Buffaloes, pulling within three on four different occasions, but would never retain the lead.
Arizona State would make one final push down the stretch. An Eric Jacobsen bucket at 2:10 would put the Sun Devils within six of Colorado, 75-69, before a series of free throws would a cap a 79-69 victory for the Buffs.
Showing vast improvement from poor offensive outings at Arizona and at Utah, Arizona State closed shooting 48 percent (24-50) from the field, 43.8 percent (7-16) from beyond the arc, and 71.4 percent (10-14) from the charity stripe.
In total, four Sun Devils scored in double-figures, including the aforementioned Holder and Jacobsen.
Senior guard Gerry Blakes scored 15 off the bench, going 3-of-5 from three, while Obinna Oleka added 10 points.
Despite being outrebounded 35-25, the Sun Devils operated effectively under the rim, netting a number of high-percentage shots, en route to outscoring the Buffs 30-18 in points in the paint.
The Sun Devils close the regular season playing host to Stanford (Mar. 3/9 p.m.) and California (Mar. 5/6 p.m.). Thursday’s matchup with Stanford is slated to be nationally televised on Fox Sports 1. Tim Healey and Kyle Dodd will have the Sun Devil Radio call on the Sun Devil Sports Radio Network (620 a.m.), presented by Midfirst Bank.
Arizona State fell 75-73, in its first meeting of the season with Stanford on Jan. 23.