Arizona State’s Closing Lineup Completes the Comeback Victory

(Photo Credit: Alyssa Buruato/WCSN)

Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley has been mixing up his lineup with 11 newcomers, but it appears he’s found a closing lineup, which was responsible a comeback victory against the UMass Lowell.

The Sun Devils (2-1) only had the lead for 25 seconds, but were ahead when it mattered most. Sophomore forward Kamari Lands replaced sophomore center Shawn Phillips Jr. in the second half, and that adjustment created an agile lineup that put pressure on the River Hawks (3-1) with a 1-2-2 press, allowing ASU to score 12 unanswered points in the last two minutes and come out with a 71-69 win.

Lands was a starter in first two games of the season — pacing the team in scoring with 12.5 points per game — but only played six minutes in the first half on Thursday. Hurley said the starting lineup decision had nothing to do with Lands’ performance, but he that he has a plethora of options for his starting five.

“I do think at this moment, as of today, in my opinion, we have six starters,” Hurley said. “One guy is not going to start and it happened to be [Lands]. I’m not saying that’s how it’s going to go the whole time. I just felt we needed to change something.”

Despite his lack of playing time in the first 20 minutes, Lands scored all ten of his points playing the entire second half. Arizona State was outscored 22-12 in the paint during the first half, which resulted in Phillips Jr. being the odd man out of the closing lineup. The Sun Devils played without a true center for most of the second half, as senior forward Alonzo Gaffney filled the role of a stretch five and led the press that forced five turnovers in the last two minutes of the contest. But the 1-2-2 full-court pressure was not just for the end of the game.

“I’m at the top of the press, but it’s a team effort,” Gaffney said. “The ball is not going to just stay in that one corner. My first initial trap would determine our defense for that possession. But as the game goes on, we’ve got other guys at the top of the press like [junior guard] Jamiya [Neal] or [Lands] and they can do the same thing, so we piggyback off each other.”

Gaffney at the center position not only makes the team more spry on defense, but it also opens up the offense. Perez scored 14 of his team-high 20 points in the second half and he alluded to how it’s not a coincidence that the offense opens up with that second-half lineup.

“Especially when [Gaffney] is at the five, we have straight shooters,” Perez said. “I feel like I can post up, get a mismatch and whatnot, and just get to my favorite spot. In order to oppose, a team’s going to play me single coverage or double, and I’m a willing passer. Just make the right play at all times, that’s what I try to do.”

Perez demonstrated his self-anointed ‘willing passer’ comment with a team-high four assists. The guard also played 35 minutes, a part of the reason why he experienced cramps in the last minute of the game. Junior guard Frankie Collins also endured some cramping midway through the second half, but he was able to come back in and make the game-winning up-and-under layup.

The graduate student replaced Lands in the starting lineup after coming off the bench against Texas Southern on Nov. 11. The graduate student joined the squad just weeks before the season started, but there was a reason why Hurley wanted Perez in Tempe and has already entrusted him as a key player for the team.

“There’s a reason we saw so much in him,” Hurley said. “Not only watching his film before he came to us, but also watching him in practice, to see the impact he can have. That’s why he’s in the starting lineup as quick as he is just because he’s a unique player. He can score. He can get to the free throw line and he’s a willing passer. He needs to have the ball and other guys will too. We’re still learning to trust each other and share the ball the right way and play the right way on the offensive end.”

Perez is relatively new to the squad, but he is in his fifth season of college basketball, and that experience helps him become a leader right away. Even though this is only the third game of the season, the new Sun Devil understands the importance it will have later in the season.

“I told them in the huddle this is a ‘save our season’ type of game because this is one of the games in March that will kill you in the NET [rankings] and whatnot,” Perez said. “I feel like leadership with [Gaffney], [Neal], [Collins], myself, [Lands], we didn’t want to lose at home. We wanted to give the fans something to go home to and I feel like we came out with a win. That’s all that matters.”