ASU Men’s Basketball: Sun Devils fall short in back-and-forth duel with Trojans

(Photo: Brady Klain/WCSN)

In a tightly contested 40-minute battle, the Arizona State Sun Devils (14-6, 5-3 Pac-12) were defeated by the USC Trojans (12-8, 5-2) 69-67 after freshman Luguentz Dort’s desperation three- taken with 0.6 seconds to shoot- missed off the backboard.

USC senior Bennie Boatwright’s triple with 14 seconds to play stood as the game-winner, as ASU decided not to call its last timeout and sophomore Remy Martin missed a contested three with six seconds left, essentially sealing theDevils’ fate.

“They set a good screen, they had been doing a lot of ball screens, it looked like a quick pin-down,” ASU coach Hurley said about Boatwright’s shot. “We didn’t get through the screen well enough, or the guy that set it just didn’t help enough. He did get a very good look, and credit to him he’s one of the better players in the league.”

Prior to the Trojans’ game-winning shot, senior forward Zylan Cheatham was fouled after rebounding a missed three by junior guard Jonah Mathews. With ASU in the bonus, Cheatham missed the first of a 1-and-1 free-throw opportunity, which allowed Boatwright’s shot to put USC ahead by two on the ensuing possession- the last of several lead changes throughout the course of the contest.

Cheatham notched his eighth double-double of the season, notching 10 points on 5-for-9 shooting and grabbing 14 rebounds, but was understandably devastated after missing his only free throw attempt of the game.

“It’s not his fault, he’s disappointed in himself that he didn’t make the free throws- he’s crushed in there because he cares a lot,” Hurley said. “So that’s always nice when you can see a guy that’s very emotional. He got so many rebounds again and put us in a position to win this game.”

The start was nearly déjà vu from two nights earlier, as USC scored eight of the game’s first 10 points.

But consecutive threes from junior guard Rob Edwards, the only ones he made in a six-point and four-rebound effort that saw him miss eight more attempts (three triples) from the field, quickly leveled the score and neither team led by more than five for the remainder of the opening half, with the Sun Devils taking a 38-35 advantage into the break.

However, momentum shifted in a second half that saw Aaron and Lawrence go silent, as the Trojans gradually pulled ahead by eight points over the first 6:23 of action. This was thanks to juniors Nick Rakocevic and Derryck Thornton’s combined 10 points over that stretch, largely facilitated by ASU turnovers.

USC> had troubles too. Thee Trojans found themselves in foul trouble with 12 minutes left having Boatwright already at four and freshman guard Kevin Porter Jr. along with Rakocevic each at three- despite a 52-44 lead. The Sun Devils had one of their best efforts from the stripe shooting 22-for-25, good for 88 percent as a team, compared to USC’s 11-for-18 effort, good for 61 percent.

But Hurley saw missed opportunities later in the second half for his team to impose its will when USC’s leading scorer was out of the game.

“I think where this game kind of got away from us was when Boatwright went out of the game with fouls- and we were plus-four (previously)- and then he sat for several minutes,” Hurley said. “We were doing some really bad things out there, and I think we were minus-12 during that stretch when Boatwright was out and we didn’t take advantage of him not being on the floor.”

Although USC led for significantly longer over the final 20 minutes than ASU, the Sun Devils hung around and never trailed by more than six points over the final 10 minutes. Then, Martin willed his team back in the driver’s seat late, going on an 8-0 run himself between the 6:20 and 3:48 marks to put ASU back ahead 65-62.

“I think we played a winning game tonight and we gave ourselves a chance,” Hurley said. “My message is if we keep playing this way…and you’re playing a team that’s playing very well coming off their win versus Arizona. Then you know you got to play well to win, and we played pretty well we just had a bad stretch in that second half and didn’t close the game out.”

Freshman forward Taeshon Cherry’s absence may have hurt the team as much as anything, as he had combined for 32 points thanks to 10-for-17 shooting from deep over his previous three games.

“He was in concussion protocol,” Hurley said. “He was examined today and still had some lingering effects from the concussion, and it’s very hard to project when those symptoms would go away and he would be able to play.”

White added seven rebounds to his team-high 11 points, and Martin joined Cheatham and Lawrence with 10 points, also adding a team-high seven assists and five rebounds. However, Cherry’s absence seemed to loom large in the team’s only loss since Utah in the Pac-12 opener with at least four players in double figures.

“We just hugged it out in there briefly,” Hurley said of his interaction postgame with Martin. “He’s a warrior, and again he was a big reason that we had a chance to win the game. He feels awful right now, that’s what sports is about, it’s tough when you’re on the wrong side of it.”

The Sun Devils are back in action when they host the Arizona Wildcats for part one of the Territorial Cup this Thursday night at 7 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.