DENVER - The No. 11 Arizona State men's basketball team fell in the 2023 NCAA Round of 64, 72-70, to the No. 6 TCU Horned Frogs at Ball Arena in Denver Friday night.
Sun Devil Men's Basketball (23-13, 11-9 Pac-12) fought until the buzzer with one of the nation's best. ASU took a seven point, 44-37 lead into the halftime break, but No. 6 TCU (22-12, 9-9 Big 12) got back into the game with a second half run. A last second runner in the lane by TCU's JaKobe Coles was the difference, eliminating the Sun Devils from the NCAA Tournament.
DJ Horne paced the Sun Devils in scoring for the 10th time this season, capping a remarkable stretch where he averaged 15 points per game over the final 13 contests. Warren Washington contributed 11 points and eight rebounds while Desmond Cambridge Jr. finished his college career with a 10-point output.
Arizona State ends the 2022-23 season with two-ranked wins, 23 total victories and an at-large bid to March Madness.
NOTABLES
Arizona State allowed the first seven points of the night before Frankie Collins navigated through traffic with a nifty layup at 17:36.
Warren Washington nailed two free throws out of the first media timeout at 15:22, making it 15-6 Horned Frogs. Following a TCU miss, Jamiya Neal entered the scorebook with a two-dribble jumper from the right side, making it 15-8.
Washington collected his second rebound and immediately gave way to a fadeaway jumper by Alonzo Gaffney, 15-10 ASU trailed. TCU's motion offense was unable to find separation and Washington snatched another board. The Sun Devil run continued; Neal banged his first trey of the game and it was 15-13, an 9-0 Sun Devil run. TCU snapped the stretch with a pair of free throws.
Desmond Cambridge Jr. got his defender in the air and darted a dime to Gaffney for a layup, 17-15 TCU going into the media timeout.
ASU's stifling defense continued out of the break. Duke Brennan came out to the block and contested a jumper, forcing the TCU rebounder to foul Gaffney and turning it over to the Sun Devils with 11:06 in the stanza. Luther Muhammad validated the defense with a long two pointer at 10:37 and the game was tied at 17.
Muhammad made his second straight shot - a triple - for ASU's first lead at 9:55. The Sun Devils led 20-19.
Both sides began to trade buckets before Collins floated his third field goal off the top of the glass at 6:23, 26-25 Sun Devils.
After Horne traded a triple with Chuck O'Bannon, Cambridge Jr. drilled a 28-footer with 4:14 left, giving Arizona State a 32-30 lead. Brennan snared the next board and he hit both, extending ASU's game-high lead to four, 34-30, with 3:54 on the clock.
After a TCU dunk, Cambridge Jr. buried his long-range triple at 1:14 and it was 40-35 Sun Devils. The Horned Frogs got a bucket back, but Horne did his best Cambridge Jr. impression with his own long range three pointer at :33.
Gaffney followed with a thumping rejection on a TCU trey. He was fouled at the other end and hit one shot, giving ASU a 44-37 lead into the break.
SECOND HALF
Collins opened the second half scoring for the Sun Devils with a mean slam dunk at 18:46, extending the ASU lead to 46-37.
The onslaught continued. TCU airballed a triple and Cambridge caught flight on a fast break for a double-clutch reverse slam dunk. It was a 6-0 Sun Devil run over :46 seconds and the Horned Frogs called timeout trailing 52-41 with 16:31 left. It was ASU's largest lead of the game.
Knotted at 54, Horne banged a huge trey to snap an ASU drought, his third of the night, and Arizona State kept the lead at 57-54 with 8:48 remaining. Horne knocked in two free throws, extending the lead back to five at 59-54.
A three pointer snapped the ASU run, but the Sun Devils responded. Washington hit the defense with a drop step and-one basket. He knocked in the free throw, making it 65-57 with 4:38 on the clock.
After Collins was called for an offensive foul, TCU tied the game on a three pointer with 1:50 to play. Both teams turned the ball over before a foul on the floor with :34 ticks on the clock. Damion Bough hit two free throws for a 69-67 Horned Frog lead.
Out of a timeout with :21 seconds left and trailing by three, Horne buried a game-tying three pointer, his fourth, with :15 left and tied the game at 70. TCU won the game on a floater with two seconds left.
Sun Devil Men's Basketball (23-13, 11-9 Pac-12) fought until the buzzer with one of the nation's best. ASU took a seven point, 44-37 lead into the halftime break, but No. 6 TCU (22-12, 9-9 Big 12) got back into the game with a second half run. A last second runner in the lane by TCU's JaKobe Coles was the difference, eliminating the Sun Devils from the NCAA Tournament.
DJ Horne paced the Sun Devils in scoring for the 10th time this season, capping a remarkable stretch where he averaged 15 points per game over the final 13 contests. Warren Washington contributed 11 points and eight rebounds while Desmond Cambridge Jr. finished his college career with a 10-point output.
Arizona State ends the 2022-23 season with two-ranked wins, 23 total victories and an at-large bid to March Madness.
NOTABLES
- Arizona State finishes the season at 23-13. It's tied for the most wins under Head Coach Bobby Hurley.
- In fact, Sun Devil Men's Basketball has now won 20 games for the fourth time in the last six years.
- ASU's offense closed the season in dazzling fashion, making 60 total shots in the last two games of the season. It is the second-most field goals made in a two-game span this year (35+25=60)
- Bobby Hurley is 3-2 in his ASU career against the Big 12. All three of his wins have come against Kansas teams, with two victories over the No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks in back-to-back years.
- A key in the contest was turnovers. ASU forced single-digit turnovers for the first time since ASU beat Creighton on Dec. 12. The Sun Devils have forced double-digit turnovers in 33 of the last 36 contests and 60 games of the last 67 dating back to last season.
- Desmond Cambridge Jr. has scored in double figures in 25 of ASU's 36 games this season. He had 10 in his final NCAA game against the Horned Frogs.
- He also has 31 straight games with a made three pointer. It is the longest streak for any Sun Devil since Jonathan Gilling had 29 straight games with a made three pointer in the 2012-13 seasons and the longest since at least the 2002-23 season.
- In a pivotal part of the season down the stretch, DJ Horne has turned up his scoring.
- He dropped a game-high 17 points for the Sun Devils, leading all scorers.
- Sun Devil Men's Basketball finishes 9-3 when Horne makes at least three three-pointers. He was 4-5 from long distance against the Horned Frogs and finished the season eight of his last 10 from three point range. He also went 4-5 against Nevada.
- He finished the season averaging 15 points per game over his last 13 contests with all but two outputs in double digits.
- Arizona State finishes the season with 13 games this season having least a 60% A/FGM ratio. It is the most in a single season since ASU had 13 such-games in the 2015-16 campaign.
- In fact, 515 of ASU's 910 field goals this season have come on assisted baskets. That's good for 56.59%. It is the highest percentage of assists to made field goals in a season since 471 out of 836 field goals were assisted on in the 2013-14 season (56.34%).
- Additionally, ASU has had at least a 60% A/FGM ratio in four of five games to end the season, with the exception of TCU.
- Arizona State outgunned the top fast break team in the nation, beating TCU on the run 10-9.
- The Sun Devils outscored their opponents on the fastbreak in five of the last six games to end the year.
- ASU outscored its opponent on the fastbreak in 24 of 36 games this season.
- Warren Washington had double-figure scoring in six of the last nine games this season. ASU was 6-1 when Washington made at least four field goals.
- In ASU's last two games of the season, ASU had a combined four first half turnovers.
- After starting the first half 6-7 from the floor, the Sun Devil defense clamped down on TCU's offense, holding the Horned Frogs to 6-24 to end the frame.
- ASU hit its last five shots in the first half.
- TCU jumped out to a 7-0 lead, but the Sun Devils responded. ASU rattled off a 9-0 run over 3:15 from 15:41-12:26, knotting the game at 15.
- The Sun Devil defense held TCU without a field goal over nearly seven minutes from 15:01-8:58.
- Sun Devil Men's Basketball went on a 6-0 run over :46 in the second half, taking a 52-41 lead.
- Arizona State went 7:46 without a basket from 16:34-8:48 in the second half, causing TCU to find its way back into the contest.
- DJ Horne banged in a huge trey with :15 remaining to tie the game at 70.
- TCU's JaKobe Coles hit the game-winning floater with two seconds remaining to win the contest.
Arizona State allowed the first seven points of the night before Frankie Collins navigated through traffic with a nifty layup at 17:36.
Warren Washington nailed two free throws out of the first media timeout at 15:22, making it 15-6 Horned Frogs. Following a TCU miss, Jamiya Neal entered the scorebook with a two-dribble jumper from the right side, making it 15-8.
Washington collected his second rebound and immediately gave way to a fadeaway jumper by Alonzo Gaffney, 15-10 ASU trailed. TCU's motion offense was unable to find separation and Washington snatched another board. The Sun Devil run continued; Neal banged his first trey of the game and it was 15-13, an 9-0 Sun Devil run. TCU snapped the stretch with a pair of free throws.
Desmond Cambridge Jr. got his defender in the air and darted a dime to Gaffney for a layup, 17-15 TCU going into the media timeout.
ASU's stifling defense continued out of the break. Duke Brennan came out to the block and contested a jumper, forcing the TCU rebounder to foul Gaffney and turning it over to the Sun Devils with 11:06 in the stanza. Luther Muhammad validated the defense with a long two pointer at 10:37 and the game was tied at 17.
Muhammad made his second straight shot - a triple - for ASU's first lead at 9:55. The Sun Devils led 20-19.
Both sides began to trade buckets before Collins floated his third field goal off the top of the glass at 6:23, 26-25 Sun Devils.
After Horne traded a triple with Chuck O'Bannon, Cambridge Jr. drilled a 28-footer with 4:14 left, giving Arizona State a 32-30 lead. Brennan snared the next board and he hit both, extending ASU's game-high lead to four, 34-30, with 3:54 on the clock.
Cambridge Jr. aggressively erased a Horned Frog shot and gave way to one more free throw by Brennan, 37-33 ASU at 2:42.Cambridge Jr. from way downtown! ??
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 18, 2023
The Sun Devils lead TCU 32-30. #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/cvfNXEgn03
After a TCU dunk, Cambridge Jr. buried his long-range triple at 1:14 and it was 40-35 Sun Devils. The Horned Frogs got a bucket back, but Horne did his best Cambridge Jr. impression with his own long range three pointer at :33.
Gaffney followed with a thumping rejection on a TCU trey. He was fouled at the other end and hit one shot, giving ASU a 44-37 lead into the break.
SECOND HALF
Collins opened the second half scoring for the Sun Devils with a mean slam dunk at 18:46, extending the ASU lead to 46-37.
The Horned Frogs scored the next four points before Washington dropped in a basket. The Sun Devil defense forced a TCU turnover and Devan Cambridge showed out with a slam of his own.FRANKIE COLLINS WITH THE POSTER ??#MarchMadness | @SunDevilHoops pic.twitter.com/nV4F2QZKcQ
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 18, 2023
The onslaught continued. TCU airballed a triple and Cambridge caught flight on a fast break for a double-clutch reverse slam dunk. It was a 6-0 Sun Devil run over :46 seconds and the Horned Frogs called timeout trailing 52-41 with 16:31 left. It was ASU's largest lead of the game.
Following a 5-0 spurt by the Horned Frogs, Muhammad put in two free throws. TCU cut their deficit to just three at 10:12 with a triple from the right side, 54-51 ASU.DEVAN CAMBRIDGE REVERSE SLAM ??
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 18, 2023
The Sun Devils lead TCU 52-41. #MarchMadness | @SunDevilHoops pic.twitter.com/TyMps6Bcvd
Knotted at 54, Horne banged a huge trey to snap an ASU drought, his third of the night, and Arizona State kept the lead at 57-54 with 8:48 remaining. Horne knocked in two free throws, extending the lead back to five at 59-54.
A three pointer snapped the ASU run, but the Sun Devils responded. Washington hit the defense with a drop step and-one basket. He knocked in the free throw, making it 65-57 with 4:38 on the clock.
After Collins was called for an offensive foul, TCU tied the game on a three pointer with 1:50 to play. Both teams turned the ball over before a foul on the floor with :34 ticks on the clock. Damion Bough hit two free throws for a 69-67 Horned Frog lead.
Out of a timeout with :21 seconds left and trailing by three, Horne buried a game-tying three pointer, his fourth, with :15 left and tied the game at 70. TCU won the game on a floater with two seconds left.