ASU Men’s Basketball: Blakes’ big night not enough in loss to Cougars

(Photo: Scotty Bara/WCSN)

ASU couldn’t pick up their first road sweep of the season, losing to Washington State 74-68. Junior guard Gerry Blakes led the way for ASU with 21, while Senior guard Dexter Kernich-Drew had 27 for the Cougars.

WSU came out hot making four of their first five shots, and dominating the lead time thanks to the wing scoring from senior guards DaVonte Lacy and Kernich-Drew, combining for 21 of WSU’s 29 halftime points. Along with those two seniors, only two other Cougars scored in the first half.

Arizona State on the other hand had seven of their nine participants score in the first half, led by guard Tra Holder. The freshman had eight at the half along with three assists. Sophomore forward Savon Goodman had a dominant first half on the glass, collecting nine rebounds to go with his six points.

The turnover bug was present for the Sun Devils in the first half, which is one of the big reasons why the Cougars were able to stay in the game. Ten times the Sun Devils turned the ball over before half, yet led by five at the intermission, 34-29.

Much like the Arizona game, the second half was led by Holder and sophomore forward Savon Goodman. A nifty behind the back pass from Goodman to junior forward Eric Jacobsen followed by a drive to the basket and a foul from Holder gave the Sun Devils a three point lead with 14:58 remaining.

Despite the 13 lead changes in the first half, the first ten minutes only saw one lead change, and the biggest lead for either team was only five points. After the ten minute mark however, the Cougars caught fire and made five of seven shots, building up a 56-51 lead with 8:20 remaining.

Stopping the Cougs run was senior forward Shaquielle McKissic with a drive to the basket, finishing with the finger roll and drawing the foul, converting on the free throw.

As the Sun Devils’ struggled to score later in the game, the Cougars seemed to improve, holding on to a six point lead with 3:30 left in the midst of a two for nine shooting drought for ASU.

The WSU lead was extended to eight with just under two minutes remaining, until junior guard Gerry Blakes hit a big three pointer to cut the lead to five with 1:32 left in the game. The next offensive possession, Blakes came down and fearlessly attacked the rim to finish the bucket and draw the foul, picking up an old fashioned three-point play, making it 68-66 WSU.

Kernich-Drew, who had setting his new career high, put the nail in the coffin for WSU, draining a three with :39 seconds left in Jacobsen’s face.

Player of the game: Savon Goodman

Blakes kept ASU in the game when all hope was seemingly lost, and had one of his best offensive performances of Pac-12 play. Although his heroics didn’t mean much in the long run, he showed heart and energy all game, finishing with 19 points.

Stat of the game: 36 points in the paint

This would be one of the games this season where ASU isn’t inferior in terms of size in the post, and they definitely took advantage outscoring the Cougars in the paint by 10 points.

Biggest Concern: Bo Barnes’ Injury

The senior guard left in the first half after his leg got tangled up with a WSU player and injured his ankle and never returned to the game.

 

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