TEMPE – Sun Devil Men's Basketball (11-11, 5-6 Pac-12) fell short against Cal (9-13, 5-6 Pac-12), 81-66 Saturday afternoon at Desert Financial Arena.
Four Sun Devils reached double-figures with Jamiya Neal scoring 14 points including three assists. Alonzo Gaffney scored 14 on the night, including six rebounds and two steals. Frankie Collins also had 13 points and two rebounds, while Shawn Phillips had 13 points and seven rebounds.
The Sun Devils racked up eight steals, making that the 15th time they have had eight steals or more this season. Bryant Selebangue, Kamari Lands, and Alonzo Gaffney accounted four two each, playing a factor into forcing 13 turnovers by Cal.
TOP-10 SUN DEVIL STEALS IN A SEASON
76 – Lafayette Lever, 1982
74 – Eddie House, 2000
74 – Lafayette Lever, 1981
73 – James Harden, 2008
73 – Marcell Capers, 1993
70 – Stevin Smith, 1994
70 – Stevin Smith, 1993
69 – Ron Riley, 1995
68 - Frankie Collins, 2024
NOTABLES:
FIRST HALF:
Adam Miller cashed both free throws at the line to give the Sun Devils their first points on the board, trailing 8-2 with 16:04 remaining in the half. Jose Perez set to shoot two free throws after the first media timeout, trailing 10-2 to the Golden Bears with 15:28 remaining in the half.
After an offensive rebound from Adam Miller, Jose Perez finds Jamiya Neal on a backdoor cut to finish at the rim, trailing 10-5. Shawn Phillips finds Jamiya Neal in the corner to knock down a three, trailing 15-10 with 11:28 remaining. The Sun Devils trail the Golden Bears 18-10 with 10:49 remaining in the half.
After a 9-0 run was completed by the Golden Bears, Shawn Phillips was able to back his man down into the post turning into a two handed contested dunk. The Sun Devils trail 26-14 with 7:09 remaining in the half.
Jose Perez finds Bryant Selebangue under the basket to complete the assist, ASU trailing 27-18 with 5:00 remaining. The Sun Devils trail the Golden Bears 29-18 with 3:55 remaining in the half.
Jamiya Neal knocks down a three to decrease the Sun Devils deficit to 29-21 with 2:33 remaining. Alonzo Gaffney cashes a three from the top of the perimeter to cut ASU's deficit to 36-26 with 35 seconds left in the first half. The Sun Devils trail the Golden Bears 38-26 at the end of the first half.
SECOND HALF:
After the Golden Bears completed a 6-0 run to open up the second half, Frankie Collins drove to the paint and finished at the rim contested, trailing 44-28 with 17:52 remaining in regulation. Alonzo Gaffney puts back a ferocious two hand dunk after Jamiya Neal's missed jump shot. ASU trails 46-35 with 15:36 remaining in regulation.
Jamiya Neal finds Kamari Lands at the top of the perimeter to sink a three, closing the deficit to 47-38. Frankie Collins kisses the glass off a floater, leaving the Sun Devils trailing 55-42 with 12:30 remaining in regulation. ASU trails 58-42 with 11:47 remaining in the half.
After several second-chance rebounds, Shawn Phillips was able to finish at the rim with an and-1 call, trailing 58-45 with 10:50 remaining. Cal's 10-3 run leaves ASU trailing 68-48 with 6:53 remaining in regulation with a timeout taken by Bobby Hurley.
Shawn Phillips grabs his own board and slams it home to decrease the Sun Devils deficit to 68-50. Frankie Collins blows by his defender leading to a contested layup falling in. The Sun Devils trail 74-56 heading into the final media timeout with 3:02 left in regulation.
Frankie Collins drills a three after confusing the defender with a fake pass, leaving ASU trailing 77-59 with 2:06 remaining. Again, Frankie Collins is able to blow by his defender and finishes with a nice touch. The Sun Devils trail 79-63 with 58.5 seconds remaining in the half. With both teams agreeing to let the clock tick to the buzzer, the Sun Devils fall short to the Golden Bears 81-66.
UP NEXT:
Sun Devil Men's Basketball will travel to Boulder to play Colorado on Thursday, February 8 at 6 p.m. MST. Coverage can be seen on Fox Sports 1 as well as Radio Arizona Sports 98.7 FM (KMVP); Sirius XM 373.
SUN DEVILS ON SOCIAL
For exclusive content, the latest updates, and more information on the Sun Devil Men's Basketball program, follow our Twitter/Instagram accounts (@SunDevilHoops), like our Facebook page (facebook.com/SunDevilHoops/), and visit our website (thesundevils.com). Make sure you are following Coach Hurley on Twitter @BobbyHurley11.
Arizona State Head Coach Bobby Hurley:
Opening Statement:
"A disappointing effort. We were hoping to play better after Stanford lost, but that wasn't the case. We didn't play well in the first half at all. It was just both ends of the floor. We talked about their big three. They got three guys that really statistically have had a great season. We wanted to try and neutralize at least one of those three guys and just chop a couple of points off their season averages, being we're on our home floor but that didn't happen. We had the same amount of field goals as they did, they just shot a better percentage from the field and from three, 50% from three. So we really didn't do the job we needed to do defensively. We really only had like one legitimate chance when we caught it to 11, and Kamari Lands was in the open court and I guess on his own, fell down and wasn't able to get a clean shot at the basket. Other than that, once that didn't go our way, things spiraled again."
On how the team played today
"We were not connected as a team in the first half. It was five individuals out there playing. I mean, some guys didn't play well and you gotta be on the same page. We could not get the group to function as a team in the first half. I'll coach that second half game all year long or every game the rest of my life. If that's the team in the second half that we have, how we battled, it wasn't perfect. We put them on the free throw line too much. We didn't defend as good as we're capable of. We had okay breakdowns, but it was a team that, in my opinion, felt like it was all pulling in the same direction, regardless of good things or bad things happening."
On Kamari Lands' performance today:
"He's trying, that's all you can ask for from these kids. We talked to him about rebounding and playing better defense. He had five defensive rebounds, so he was better at that end of the floor for us tonight. He's a guy that will continue to play more as we keep going."
Arizona State Forward Alonzo Gaffney
On what first half felt like:
"We didn't have the energy that we came out in the second half with. He (Bobby Hurley) was just talking about our effort, the effort wasn't there in the first half from a defensive standpoint, defending the three-point line. We just need to be better. "
On what was different today versus the first meeting of the season with Cal:
"We didn't have the momentum at the end to push through and try to get enough steals and turn them over and get points on the board. We did not put enough points on the board."
On shot selection:
"We just gotta put the ball up in the basket, we missed a lot of open shots."
Four Sun Devils reached double-figures with Jamiya Neal scoring 14 points including three assists. Alonzo Gaffney scored 14 on the night, including six rebounds and two steals. Frankie Collins also had 13 points and two rebounds, while Shawn Phillips had 13 points and seven rebounds.
The Sun Devils racked up eight steals, making that the 15th time they have had eight steals or more this season. Bryant Selebangue, Kamari Lands, and Alonzo Gaffney accounted four two each, playing a factor into forcing 13 turnovers by Cal.
TOP-10 SUN DEVIL STEALS IN A SEASON
76 – Lafayette Lever, 1982
74 – Eddie House, 2000
74 – Lafayette Lever, 1981
73 – James Harden, 2008
73 – Marcell Capers, 1993
70 – Stevin Smith, 1994
70 – Stevin Smith, 1993
69 – Ron Riley, 1995
68 - Frankie Collins, 2024
NOTABLES:
- ASU forced 13 turnovers against Cal. Cal ranks with the fewest turnovers in the nation (30) since January 10th
- Frankie Collins has scored in the double digits in 20 of 22 games this season.
- Shawn Phillips Jr.'s 13 points off the bench this afternoon matches his career high previously set against Georgia while at LSU.
- Jamiya Neal now has 13 games this season scoring in double figures.
- The Sun Devils out-rebounded the Golden Bears 21 to 18 in the second half.
FIRST HALF:
Adam Miller cashed both free throws at the line to give the Sun Devils their first points on the board, trailing 8-2 with 16:04 remaining in the half. Jose Perez set to shoot two free throws after the first media timeout, trailing 10-2 to the Golden Bears with 15:28 remaining in the half.
After an offensive rebound from Adam Miller, Jose Perez finds Jamiya Neal on a backdoor cut to finish at the rim, trailing 10-5. Shawn Phillips finds Jamiya Neal in the corner to knock down a three, trailing 15-10 with 11:28 remaining. The Sun Devils trail the Golden Bears 18-10 with 10:49 remaining in the half.
After a 9-0 run was completed by the Golden Bears, Shawn Phillips was able to back his man down into the post turning into a two handed contested dunk. The Sun Devils trail 26-14 with 7:09 remaining in the half.
Jose Perez finds Bryant Selebangue under the basket to complete the assist, ASU trailing 27-18 with 5:00 remaining. The Sun Devils trail the Golden Bears 29-18 with 3:55 remaining in the half.
Jamiya Neal knocks down a three to decrease the Sun Devils deficit to 29-21 with 2:33 remaining. Alonzo Gaffney cashes a three from the top of the perimeter to cut ASU's deficit to 36-26 with 35 seconds left in the first half. The Sun Devils trail the Golden Bears 38-26 at the end of the first half.
SECOND HALF:
After the Golden Bears completed a 6-0 run to open up the second half, Frankie Collins drove to the paint and finished at the rim contested, trailing 44-28 with 17:52 remaining in regulation. Alonzo Gaffney puts back a ferocious two hand dunk after Jamiya Neal's missed jump shot. ASU trails 46-35 with 15:36 remaining in regulation.
Jamiya Neal finds Kamari Lands at the top of the perimeter to sink a three, closing the deficit to 47-38. Frankie Collins kisses the glass off a floater, leaving the Sun Devils trailing 55-42 with 12:30 remaining in regulation. ASU trails 58-42 with 11:47 remaining in the half.
After several second-chance rebounds, Shawn Phillips was able to finish at the rim with an and-1 call, trailing 58-45 with 10:50 remaining. Cal's 10-3 run leaves ASU trailing 68-48 with 6:53 remaining in regulation with a timeout taken by Bobby Hurley.
Shawn Phillips grabs his own board and slams it home to decrease the Sun Devils deficit to 68-50. Frankie Collins blows by his defender leading to a contested layup falling in. The Sun Devils trail 74-56 heading into the final media timeout with 3:02 left in regulation.
Frankie Collins drills a three after confusing the defender with a fake pass, leaving ASU trailing 77-59 with 2:06 remaining. Again, Frankie Collins is able to blow by his defender and finishes with a nice touch. The Sun Devils trail 79-63 with 58.5 seconds remaining in the half. With both teams agreeing to let the clock tick to the buzzer, the Sun Devils fall short to the Golden Bears 81-66.
UP NEXT:
Sun Devil Men's Basketball will travel to Boulder to play Colorado on Thursday, February 8 at 6 p.m. MST. Coverage can be seen on Fox Sports 1 as well as Radio Arizona Sports 98.7 FM (KMVP); Sirius XM 373.
SUN DEVILS ON SOCIAL
For exclusive content, the latest updates, and more information on the Sun Devil Men's Basketball program, follow our Twitter/Instagram accounts (@SunDevilHoops), like our Facebook page (facebook.com/SunDevilHoops/), and visit our website (thesundevils.com). Make sure you are following Coach Hurley on Twitter @BobbyHurley11.
Arizona State Head Coach Bobby Hurley:
Opening Statement:
"A disappointing effort. We were hoping to play better after Stanford lost, but that wasn't the case. We didn't play well in the first half at all. It was just both ends of the floor. We talked about their big three. They got three guys that really statistically have had a great season. We wanted to try and neutralize at least one of those three guys and just chop a couple of points off their season averages, being we're on our home floor but that didn't happen. We had the same amount of field goals as they did, they just shot a better percentage from the field and from three, 50% from three. So we really didn't do the job we needed to do defensively. We really only had like one legitimate chance when we caught it to 11, and Kamari Lands was in the open court and I guess on his own, fell down and wasn't able to get a clean shot at the basket. Other than that, once that didn't go our way, things spiraled again."
On how the team played today
"We were not connected as a team in the first half. It was five individuals out there playing. I mean, some guys didn't play well and you gotta be on the same page. We could not get the group to function as a team in the first half. I'll coach that second half game all year long or every game the rest of my life. If that's the team in the second half that we have, how we battled, it wasn't perfect. We put them on the free throw line too much. We didn't defend as good as we're capable of. We had okay breakdowns, but it was a team that, in my opinion, felt like it was all pulling in the same direction, regardless of good things or bad things happening."
On Kamari Lands' performance today:
"He's trying, that's all you can ask for from these kids. We talked to him about rebounding and playing better defense. He had five defensive rebounds, so he was better at that end of the floor for us tonight. He's a guy that will continue to play more as we keep going."
Arizona State Forward Alonzo Gaffney
On what first half felt like:
"We didn't have the energy that we came out in the second half with. He (Bobby Hurley) was just talking about our effort, the effort wasn't there in the first half from a defensive standpoint, defending the three-point line. We just need to be better. "
On what was different today versus the first meeting of the season with Cal:
"We didn't have the momentum at the end to push through and try to get enough steals and turn them over and get points on the board. We did not put enough points on the board."
On shot selection:
"We just gotta put the ball up in the basket, we missed a lot of open shots."