(Photo via: Max Zepeda/WCSN)
With 8:58 remaining in the game, Arizona State Men’s Basketball was on the ropes, facing the VCU Rams, who held the lead throughout most of the game. Senior guard David Shriver buried a 3-pointer, extending the lead to 11. For the final nine minutes of the match, the Sun Devils did not allow another Rams field goal.
ASU (3-1), buoyed by a 23-7 run to close the game, defeated VCU (2-1) 63-59 to win its first game of the Legends Classic.
With the Rams failing to make a field goal in the last ten minutes of the game, the only thing that kept them in the game was their near-perfect night from the free throw line, shooting 17-18. The performance from the charity line was spoiled by their failure to put the ball in the bucket, totaling four made second-half field goals.
ASU’s shooting also struggled after halftime, going on multiple dry spells without a made field goal. The shooting droughts by both sides might be explained by the absence of sophomore forward Marcus Bagley due to a hip pointer and VCU was without junior guard Adrian Baldwin Jr due to a hand injury.
Following his 23-point performance against Texas Southern, sophomore guard Frankie Collins once again stepped up in the absence of Bagley, tallying a team-high 15 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Early in the second half, the Sun Devils were without a field goal in about six minutes of action, but Collins checked in, scoring seven points on three straight possessions to pull his squad within six.
Sparked by Collins’ run, senior guard DJ Horne and freshman guard Austin Nunez both drilled threes, tying the game at 56. Following Wednesday’s solid performance against Texas Southern, Nunez stepped up again, scoring 10 points, sinking both of his 3-point attempts.
Nunez was not the only freshman contributing big minutes for the Sun Devils, as freshman forward Duke Brennan was effective late in the game after senior center Warren Washington fouled out of the game.
With ASU in the midst of another scoring drought, Brennan stepped up on the defensive end, turning a block into a transition foul and free throws. Brennan split the free throws but grabbed his own rebound, putting it back up to give the Sun Devils a 59-57 lead.
Horne iced the game at the charity stripe, completing the Sun Devils’ improbable comeback.
Their reward will be a championship game against the No. 20 Michigan Wolverines, where Collins spent his freshman campaign.
“I’m not really scared to play anybody,” senior guard Devan Cambridge said on Nov. 10 after ASU defeated NAU. “We want that Michigan game you heard it here, for Frankie.”
