Connect with us
Burn+

Arizona State Sun Devils

Arizona State Holds On To Defeat Colorado, 76-73

Arizona State was home against Colorado. The Sun Devils came into this game on a three game win streak after wins over Stanford, California, and Utah.

Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!

Colorado was on a six game win streak prior to getting blown out by Arizona in their previous game. Were they able to get back on the winning track against Arizona State?

First Half

The game got off to a slow start offensively for both team. There score was tied at 10 with 13 minutes left as both teams struggled to get in a rhythm. Colorado started to separate themselves with a 8-0 run.

The Buffaloes were up 18-10 with 10:45 left in the half. Colorado was 5/10 from the field and 1/3 from three point range. ASU was 4/13 from the field and 1/5 from three point range.

The Sun Devils responded with a 11-5 run to cut Colorado’s lead to 23-21 with 7:56 left in the half.

The run was started with a long two-point jumper from Kamari Lands. This was followed by back to back threes from Frankie Collins and Alonzo Gaffney.

Colorado was in the bonus with 7:40 left in the half. The danger of putting the Buffaloes on the free throw line did not deter ASU from being aggressive on defense.

The Sun Devils were in a full court press as they forced Colorado into turnovers which lead to easy transition buckets for them. The score was tied at 31 with 4:08 left in the half.

ASU forced Colorado into seven turnovers in the first sixteen minutes of the game. The Sun Devils scored 12 off of turnovers.

Arizona State continued to play well and took the lead. They were up 39-31 with 2:43 left in the half after six straight points by Adam Miller.

The half ended with ASU up 44-38.

Stats of the Half

The leading scorer for Colorado was K.J. Simpson with 14 points. He shot 4/7 from the floor, 2/3 from behind the three point line, and made all four of his free throw attempts.

ASU was led by Adam Miller who also had 14 points. Miller shot 5/8 from the floor and 3/5 from three point range.

Colorado had 10 turnovers in the half compared to only four for the Sun Devils. ASU turned those 10 turnovers into 20 points. That was the key to ASU having the lead going into halftime.

Second Half

The half started with the teams scoring back and forth. Colorado’s game plan was to take advantage of their size by getting the ball inside to their senior center Eddie Lampkin Jr.

ASU did a good job of making sure he didn’t get to advantage of his size by swarming him whenever he got the ball near the rim. The Sun Devils were up 49-45 with 15:50 left in the game.

Jamiya Neal was huge for the Sun Devils to start the second half with his energy on both ends of the floor.

Neal scored seven points in the first nine minutes of the second half which helped put the Sun Devils ahead, 56-50 with 11:16 left.

ASU continued to play well on both ends as they extended the lead to 63-53 with 9:09 left in the game. Colorado responded with a 8-0  run to cut the lead to 63-61 with 6:37 left.

Colorado and ASU would exchange baskets over the next few minutes. The score was tied at 68 with 3:40 left in the game.

Game was tied at 70 with 1:04 when Miller was fouled on a lay-up attempt. He made both free throws. On the following possession for Colorado, K.J. Simpson drove to the rim and his lay-up attempt was blocked by Alonzo Gaffney.

This forced Colorado to foul Frankie Collins. Collins made both free throws. Colorado came down and attempted a quick three point shot that was no good.

The Buffaloes fouled Jose Perez. Perez made one of two free throws. K.J. Simpson came down and hit a three. ASU was up 75-73 with 8.3 seconds left.

ASU had the ball and it was passed to Collins on the inbound. Collins was fouled right away. He made one of two to put ASU up 76-73 with seven seconds left.

Arizona State decided to foul Simpson and put him on the free throw line. He missed the free throw and ASU won 76-73.

The Sun Devils are now 10-5 on the season and 4-0 in conference play. Colorado fell to 11-4 and 2-2 in the Pac-12.

Stats of the Game

The leading scorer for Colorado was K.J. Simpson who finished the game with 23 points, five rebounds, and four assists. He shot 8/17 from the floor and 3/6 from the three.

ASU was led by Jamiya Neal who had a huge second half. He finished the game with 19 points and seven rebounds.

The key to the win was the points off of turnovers. Arizona State scored 27 points off of turnovers compared to only 12 for Colorado.

Up Next

Colorado will be at California on January 10th while ASU will also be on the road at Washington on January 11th.

Related Topics

More in Arizona State Sun Devils