ASU comes back from 13 points down to snag fourth consecutive victory
TEMPE — Jose Perez scored 20 points and Frankie Collins added 17 as Arizona State came back for a 76-74 win over SMU on Wednesday night at Tempe, Ariz.
The Sun Devils (6-2) overcame a 13-point deficit in the second half to win their fourth straight game.
SMU (6-4) is now 0-6 in its series with the Sun Devils.
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After Arizona State’s Bryant Selebangue missed two free throws with 1:05 left and his team up by four, SMU’s Chuck Harris was fouled. Harris, a 90.5 percent free-throw shooter, made just 1 of 2 to cut the deficit to 72-69.
Kamari Lands’ two free throws with 21 seconds remaining increased the margin to 74-69.
The Mustangs’ Zhuric Phelps then converted a layup with nine seconds remaining.
Jose Perez made 1 of 2 free throws with seven seconds left to give Arizona State a 75-71 lead.
Harris was fouled two seconds later and missed the front end of a one-and-one.
Arizona State’s Jamiya Neal made split two free throws with 3.8 seconds left to make it 76-71.
Phelps, who led SMU with 24 points and nine rebounds, made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to complete the scoring.
Harris had 17 points and six rebounds.
The Mustangs outrebounded Arizona State 44-34 and outscored the Sun Devils 42-22 in the paint but allowed 22 fastbreak points thanks to 15 turnovers.
SMU held Arizona State without a made field goal for almost five minutes and went on a 12-0 run to take a 63-50 lead with 11:28 remaining.
Tyreek Smith, Harris and Phelps made two layups apiece during the run, which included Arizona State missing five shots and committing a turnover.
The field-goal drought ended when Collins sank a 3-pointer with 11:06 left to cut the lead to 63-53.
The Sun Devils scored nine unanswered points to pull withing 64-62 with 7:54 remaining.
Phelps’ layup — SMU’s first field goal in nearly four minutes — ended the run with 7:36 left.
The Mustangs’ 1-for-10 stretch from the field with eight turnovers resulted in Arizona State battling back to take a 72-66 lead with 2:47 remaining.
Two free throws by Alonzo Gaffney at that time capped a 22-3 run.
–Field Level Media
