(Photo: Brendan O’Keeffe/WCSN)
Arizona State Men’s Basketball kept the momentum going as it won its fourth game in its last five tries, defeating Colorado 82-65 on Thursday night in Boulder.
ASU began the game down five points in a matter of a few minutes, but after drawing to within two midway through the first half, the Sun Devils went on an 11-0 run to take a nine-point lead and never looked back.
The guard play of ASU was key to that run and the game. Senior guard Marreon Jackson hit a pair of threes and sophomore guard DJ Horne finished off the run with a three-pointer. Jackson came up with two steals during the run as defense led to offense.
The Buffaloes cut it to three later on in the half thanks to dominance inside by senior forward Will Loughlin and sophomore guard Keeshawn Barthlemy.
An 11-3 run ended the half over a five minute stretch. ASU sophomore guard Jay Heath’s layup began the late surge, then he stole the next pass and went coast-to-coast to extend the lead to seven. The run kept going with senior forward Kimani Lawrence hitting a pair of free throws. Junior forward Jalen Graham threw down a dunk and Jackson hit a three to extend the lead to 13. The Sun Devils lead at the half 37-26.
Graham and Heath continued their hot hand into the second half, knocking down the first two shots of the half to push the lead to 15.
ASU kept the rebounding advantage the entire way, grabbing 38 rebounds to Colorado’s 26. The rebounding advantage limited the second-chance points to just four for the Buffaloes.
Redshirt junior guard Luther Muhammad stepped up in the second half, scoring eight quick points off the bench. The Sun Devils, however, had trouble stopping Colorado forward Jabari Walker to start the second frame. Not necessarily hitting jump shots, the sophomore was a problem in terms of getting to the free-throw line.
The Buffaloes kept trying to inch back but ASU always had an answer. A 5-0 by Colorado cut the Sun Devils’ lead to 55-41 with 10:44 remaining, causing ASU Head Coach Bobby Hurley to take a timeout.
Out of a timeout, Muhammed hit another three thanks to Graham’s assist. Following a quick shot and miss, the Sun Devils ran the length of the floor in four seconds and Lawrence finished off the break to put ASU up 19.
Leading by 16 with just over nine minutes to play, the Sun Devils would put the exclamation point on a night where they shot 49% from the field and a season-high 53% from three-point range.
The first two buckets were in the paint from Heath and Graham, a category ASU won 40-28. Back-to-back threes from Heath pushed the score to 72-46, the largest lead of the game and a 10-0 run in just two minutes.
Things got chippy late in the game with the lopsided score. Freshman forward Jamiya Neal and Colorado freshman guard Julian Hammond III exchanged words and were assessed technical fouls.
The rest of the game went off without a hitch as Colorado finished on a 16-8 run. Hammond, Walker and senior forward Evan Battey forced ASU into multiple turnovers, hitting threes and getting to the free throw line in transition. Hammond scored seven of the 16 points for Colorado in the run.
ASU will head to Salt Lake City on Saturday to finish off its Mountain West road trip against Utah.
