Frankie Collins shows up big at the end as he drained a game-winning layup to give the Arizona State Sun Devils (2-1) a 71-69 win over the UMass-Lowell River Hawks (3-1). Frankie Collins forced three turnovers late and finished with 11 points.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Frankie Collins wins the game for #ArizonaState!! #ForksUp
pic.twitter.com/ooS6biU3d4— Burn City Sports (@BurnCitySports) November 17, 2023
This game was all UMass, but the full-court press at the end worked to perfection. Arizona State was able to come back from a late 12-point deficit thanks to incredible defensive play from everyone, especially Collins.
Jose Perez deserves a huge applause as well. He had 20 points and was one of the main reasons ASU could stay afloat in this game.
First Half:
UMass came out hot to start the first half. After Jamiya Neal started the game with a three, UMass-Lowell went on a 10-2 run, including a three by Abdoul Karim Coulibaly to take an early 10-5 lead. UMass-Lowell made some great shots, while ASU still had trouble making wide-open looks.
Alonzo Gaffney missed three wide-open looks in the first half from deep, but UMass-Lowell outhustled the Sun Devils early in this one. The River Hawks grabbed every loose ball. Arizona State was trying to make a lot of fancy passes, but they usually ended up as turnovers.
The Sun Devils finally put a couple of baskets together to get within four but could not keep it up. More missed shooting and bad turnovers led to UMass ballooning the lead to 12 midway through the first half. 22-10.
The Sun Devils got the run they needed. Jose Perez took an and-1, while Alonzo Gaffney made a deep three. Adding a couple of great layups, the Sun Devils cut the River Hawks lead to 5. The River Hawks shooting cooled down as well.
The River Hawks went on a 6-2 run to end the half to give them a 31-22 halftime lead. The Sun Devils finished with a 26% shooting mark. Jose Perez led the Sun Devils with six, while Coulibaly led the River Hawks with eight. The River Hawks shot 46% from the field. Four players had six points or more, including Coulibaly, Ayinde Hakim, Yuri Covington, and Cam Morris III.
Second Half:
Arizona State again went on a little run early in this one and got the score within 7, but every time ASU made a run, UMass would go on one of their own. ASU cut the lead to six at 43-37 but again went on a 7-2 run to get a 12-point lead back. Jose Perez has 8 points early in the second half and is doing everything he can to keep this team in the game, but ASU can’t make free throws or wide-open shots.
Once UMass made a bucket to go up 12 with 8:26 left in the half, Arizona State finally turned on the jets. It started with a three by Kamari Lands, then a layup by Jose Perez. Shawn Phillips made a dunk, and Kamari Lands hit another three on the fast break, and the lead was four. A layup by Hakim has brought the score to 60-54. The turnovers have finally started to come for ASU. They’ve already forced 11 this half, compared to only five in the last half. The crowd finally got on its feet.
The next minute of this game was back and forth. Coulibaly went on a 5-0 run himself, then Frankie Collins answered with a three. Ayinde Hakim split the defense en route to a floater before Jamiya Neal made a three. Two turnovers on the inbounds led to two easy ASU layups, and Arizona State cut the lead to 67-65 with 1:19 in the game. Another UML turnover led to an easy Frankie Collins layup to tie the game at 67 with 1:06 to play. That was four straight inbound turnovers for ASU to get them in this game, as the full-court press worked to perfection.
Frankie Collins forced another turnover with 36 seconds, with the game still tied at 67. The turnover led to a huge jumper by Jose Perez to give ASU their first lead since it was 3-0. Yuri Covington drove down the court and took a foul. He tied the game with two huge free throws. That didn’t last long as Frankie Collins drove down the floor again and made a game-winning layup to give the Sun Devils a 71-69 win.
Colins finished with 11 points, 5 rebounds, three assists, and 8 steals. Jose Perez led the Sun Devils with 20 points. Kamari Lands had 10 second half points and Jamiya Neal had 8.
This was a huge win to save the season for Arizona State. A loss here kills them in the NET. They were able to pull out the win. The Sun Devils move to 2-1 with this win, while UMass-Lowell drops to 3-1.
Arizona State heads to Las Vegas to take on BYU in the Vegas Showdown on Thursday.
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