Nov. 26, 1997
Sun Devils Barely Miss Upset of No. 2 Kansas
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| Jeremy Veal scored 29 points in near-upset of Kansas. (file photo) |
NEW YORK - Billy Thomas scored 14 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, including a three-pointer with 11 seconds to play, as second-ranked Kansas escaped with a 90-88 victory over Arizona State in the semifinals of the preseason NIT at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Paul Pierce scored 28 points and Raef LaFrentz added 16 for Kansas (5-0), which will play 25th-ranked Florida State in Friday's championship game. The Jayhawks are 14-1 all-time in this tournament and 11-0 under coach Roy Williams.
Jeremy Veal scored 29 points and Eddie House 22 for Arizona State (3-1), which will face number 11 Connecticut in the consolation game.
The Sun Devils had a chance to win in the final seconds of overtime, but Veal missed an NBA-range three-pointer and time expired without a second shot.
"The game plan that (Arizona State coach) Don Newman drew up was to play as best we can," said House, who was 9-of-16 from the field. "We went out there and ran with them. I thought it (Veal's shot) was going to go down. Jeremy was hitting the whole game."
Kansas scored the first four points of overtime as LaFrentz had a basket and Thomas snuck behind the defense for a layup. But Veal drilled a pair of three-pointers in a 37-second span to give Arizona State an 84-82 lead with 2:42 to play.
Thomas calmly answered with a three-pointer of his own from the right side for a short-lived 85-84 Jayhawks' lead, but reserve Reggie Hester had two baskets to give the Sun Devils an 88-85 edge with 1:33 left.
Pierce sank two free throws 19 seconds later to cut the gap to one point. Ahlon Lewis missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 58.2 seconds left, but Urit Kelly grabbed the offensive rebound. House missed a shot with 21.9 seconds left and Kansas worked the ball upcourt to Thomas, who fired a three-pointer from the left wing which hit the rim, bounced up and off the glass before dropping for the game-winning points.
"I felt like it was good when I shot it," admitted Thomas. "But then I thought it was going to be short. Then it hit the rim, and I got that soft Spalding bounce."
Arizona State forced overtime with a pair of three-pointers in the final 87 seconds of regulation. LaFrentz gave Kansas a 76-72 lead with an up-and-under move that led to a layup, but Veal buried a three-pointer from the right wing to make it a one-point game.
Again, Kansas turned to LaFrentz, who bulled his way into the lane for an eight-footer to make it 78-75 with 24.5 seconds to play. After each team called timeout to set up the final play, House took a three-pointer from the top of the key that bounced off the rim twice before falling in.
But no referee appeared to signal the basket as a three-pointer. Sun Devils forward Mike Batiste, thinking his team was down 78-77, fouled Pierce with 3.8 seconds left. Pierce, who made 11-of-13 free throws heading into the game, missed both to set up overtime.
Neither team was able to make a run in the first half as Arizona State's team speed frustrated the slower, bigger Jayhawks. Pierce had 13 points and Veal 10 as the two squads played to a 35-35 tie at halftime.
Kansas shot 53 percent (35-of-66) from the field and held a 37-29 edge in rebounds. Ryan Robertson had 11 assists before fouling out and Thomas made 5-of-8 three-point shots.
"I think we found our character," said LaFrentz, who seemed to be on his way to a second straight subpar performance before playing well in the fourth quarter and overtime. "Every Kansas team has heart. It (overtime) is a time you play and leave everything out there."