(Photo: Scotty Bara/WCSN)
In another big comeback that came up short, the Arizona State Sun Devils fall to the California Golden Bears 75-70. Freshman forward Jaylen Brown finished with 17 points for Cal, and junior forward Savon Goodman had 13 for the Sun Devils.
The teams combined to make four of their first 13 shots, and ASU had two turnovers but only one field goal made at the first media timeout with 15:21 remaining in the first half. Of ASU’s first five points, three of them came from the free throw line.
ASU’s next bucket came with 13:41 remaining in the half when Goodman made a layup to make it 10-7 Cal to kill a nearly five-minute drought. The Bears responded with a three-pointer from redshirt junior guard Stephen Domingo the following possession to extend their lead to six.
With 12:11 on the clock, Cal picked up its seventh team foul of the half and ASU entered the bonus as sophomore guard Tra Holder knocked down one of two free throws. The Sun Devils struggled from the free throw line in the loss to Washington missing 13 attempts, and the Sun Devils made five of their first eight attempts in this game.
Approaching the halfway point in the first half, the Sun Devils missed all five of their three-point attempts and made one of their last seven shots. Similarly, Cal had four turnovers in less than four minutes.
Junior guard Andre Spight cut the Cal lead to one after hitting a three-pointer, but Cal responded with a three of its own thanks to junior guard Jordan Mathews. Just like that the drought had ended, and ASU had made three shots in a row, while Cal made five in a row including six of their last nine points coming from freshman forward Ivan Rabb. This led to an ASU timeout with 8:20 remaining and Cal led 24-18.
The Cal offense stayed hot through the five minute mark in the first half making nine of eleven shots, but thanks to eight points off the bench from Spight the Sun Devils were only down eight with four minutes left in the half despite shooting 36 percent compared to Cal’s 63 percent.
Cal led 38-30 at halftime led by its freshman duo of Rabb and forward Jaylen Brown who combined for 19 points. Spight led all Sun Devil scorers with eight.
The second half began almost identically to the way the first half ended, with ASU making two of their first six shots, and Cal knocking down its first three in a row. At the first media timeout with 15:41 left in the game, Cal held a 47-38 lead.
Rabb continued to dominate in the second half making his first two shots, and Spight continued to knock down shots in the second half as he nailed a three and drew a foul.
Just under the 10-minute mark, the Sun Devils were on a 7-0 run making three straight field goal attempts with an old-fashioned three-point play from junior forward Savon Goodman. Following another three-point play from Oleka, Goodman converted on another layup, and what was a 59-47 lead was cut down to 59-57 with 7:51 remaining.
The Cal lead was down to one point with 4:45 left in the game after Holder nailed a mid-range jump shot, but Cal responded again when it got close as junior guard Jabari Bird hit a jumper of his own to make it 64-61 Cal with just about four minutes left.
ASU finally tied it up with 2:25 left in the game when senior center Eric Jacobsen hit two free throws while forcing Rabb to pick up his fourth foul.
Down four with 34 seconds left, senior guard Gerry Blakes drilled a three from the corner to give ASU one last shot at getting their first lead of the game. Down one with 18 seconds left after Brown fouled out for Cal, the Sun Devils couldn’t pull ahead as Cal made all their free throws down the stretch.
Player of the Game: Savon Goodman
Goodman sparked the mid-second half run that brought the Sun Devils back into the game, and he is again starting to look like the Savon Goodman everybody was getting used to in the beginning of the season. Goodman finished with 13 points to go with his seven rebounds, and his energy under the rim was on full display being matched up with Rabb for most of the night.
Biggest Concern: Gerry Blakes
Despite the shot that gave ASU a final shot at stealing the game from Cal, Blakes is still struggling from the floor. Tonight, he just didn’t give himself much of a chance on the offensive end. He only took six shots and finished with seven points, and in a night where Holder didn’t play his best game it would have been assuring to have Blakes contribute on the offensive side.
Unsung Hero: Andre Spight
Spight had a big first half and was really the only source of offense the Sun Devils had in the first twenty minutes. Had he not come in and contributed off the bench, who knows where the Sun Devils would have been by the second half. He finished with 12 points.
Stat of the Night: 30 bench points
Largely due to Goodman and Spight, the Sun Devils bench played a huge part in this game where some of the starters had an off night from the floor.
What’s Next?
The Sun Devils play Stanford in Palo Alto on Saturday, January 23.
