The Arizona State men's basketball team dropped its first contest of the season, 67-66 in overtime, at 2022 SWAC Champion Texas Southern Sunday afternoon.
ASU received a career high 23 points from Frankie Collins. Warren Washington also became the first Sun Devil with a double-double this season, scoring 10 points with 14 rebounds, a career high on the glass.
KEY MOMENTS
- Texas Southern was held without a basket from 11:04-7:11 in the first half and 1-7 from the floor.
- The Sun Devils closed a 9-0 run with a Horne triple with 7:53 left in the opening half.
- Devan Cambridge posted a personal 5-0 run in :23 seconds featuring a three-pointer and an alley-oop with less than four minutes to play, pushing ASU ahead by five.
- Frankie Collins scored nine straight Sun Devil points in 3:13 to put ASU ahead 43-37 with 10:21 to play in the second half.
- Texas Southern went on 6-0 run early in overtime and sealed the win on a tip-in with :04 left in the five-minute extra period.
FIRST HALF
Arizona State forced Texas Southern to start just 2-5 from the floor in the opening minutes of the game including a rejection by Alfonzo Gafney with 16:43 left. Warren Washington continued ASU's paint protection with another stiff block with 14:42 left.
From 13:41, Arizona State held Texas Southern scoreless for 2:37 including a 1-7 mark from the floor and three turnovers during the stretch.
Collins went flying into the paint for a layup with 9:27, tying the game at 10 before Washington and Desmond Cambridge knocked in buckets for a 4-0 Sun Devil run into the under-eight media timeout at 8:00. In 1:27, Texas Southern went 0-3 from the floor with two turnovers as ASU shot in front.
Horne made a triple from the right corner at 7:53 to extend the Sun Devil advantage to seven, ASU's first trey of the game.
Over the final 6:02 of the first half, the Sun Devils went on an 11-7 scoring stretch to push them ahead by four going into the break. Texas Southern was held to just 6-21 from the floor and 1-5 from long distance in the first half. ASU also led in turnovers, points off turnovers and steals.
SECOND HALF
Texas Southern started the second half on an 8-0 run through the first 1:43 and forced a Sun Devil timeout.
ASU quickly countered, going on 11-1 scoring stretch of their own, starting a fastbreak bucket from Muhammed and a mid-range by Horne, taking the game into the under-16 media timeout tied at 33.
Collins then began his own personal mission. He went on his own 9-0 run from 12:53-9:40 left in the game. It started with a swooping layup and aggressive throwdown with 11:14 left in regulation to put the Sun Devils ahead by six, 40-34. He then knocked in his first trey of the game to bring him up to 11 points with 10:21 to go.
With the game tied, Horne missed a game-winner with :08 left, sending the game to overtime.
OVERTIME
The Sun Devils started the overtime scoring with a Washington alley-oop dunk with 4:44 to play in the five minute period before a trey from Texas Southern on the next possession. Washington's slam gave him the first Sun Devil double-double of the season.
A 6-0 run over 2:15 put Texas Southern in front 63-59 with 2:29 left in overtime before a beautiful and-one bucket from Collins brought him up to 19 points and the Sun Devils within one.
Texas Southern took the lead for good on a tip-in with less than five seconds remaining.
QUOTABLES
COACH HURLEY
On second half...
"The momentum shifted, I think, as Henry was making shots. They gained some confidence from that. Our shots just weren't falling, so it was the perfect storm. They did a great job of not giving up and backing out of it."
On Austin Nunez and Frankie Collins...
"I liked the play of Austin Nunez. To come off the bench as a freshman, I thought he was a real spark for us and hit some big shots. When Texas Southern had their run to start the second half, we went to our bench and Austin had a good response for us. Frankie Collins had some night moments out there, checking the boxes in a lot of categories."
NOTABLES
- Collins' 23 points are a career high, the second time in his first three ASU appearances he's notched his best-ever scoring total.
- Collins also passed his Sun Devil career high in rebounds with five in the first half alone, before earning a new career high eight total boards.
- ASU has held opponents to 2-of-25 shooting from long distance in the first half this year and 15-of-57 (.210) overall.
- Warren Washington's 10 points and 14 rebounds were good for ASU's first double-double of the season. The 14 boards are the most by a Sun Devil this season and his career high (11). He also equaled his career high in blocks (four).
- Arizona State locked in from the charity stripe for the first this season, clicking off an 8-of-8 tally in the first half and 15-17 (.880) overall, by far their best performance of the season.
- The Sun Devils led Texas Southern 26-12 in bench points.
UP NEXT
The Sun Devils head east, facing VCU at the Legends Classic on Tuesday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. Tipoff is set for 6:30 MT/8:30 ET. ASU will play either Pitt or Michigan in the second round.
ASU VS. TEXAS SOUTHERN (ASU LEADS 3-1)
at Texas Southern 67, ASU 66 (Nov. 13, 2022)
ASU 98, Texas Southern 81 (Dec. 28, 2019)
ASU 83, Texas Southern 71 (Dec. 1, 2018)
ASU 103, Texas Southern 77 (Nov. 25, 1995)