(Photo: Marlee Smith/WCSN)
Complete hysteria filled the Arizona State Men’s Basketball bench with a little less than a minute remaining.
With 58 seconds left in the second half, Sun Devils senior guard Alonzo Verge Jr. knocked down a pair of clutch free-throws, putting ASU up 74-72 on Washington. To prevent a Husky bucket off the inbound, head coach Bobby Hurley opted to take a timeout.
It was all smiles behind the masks on ASU’s bench even with the game on the line.
Despite their season’s circumstances, the Sun Devils have brought energy and heart all year, and Thursday was no different.
With 48 seconds left on the clock, Washington sophomore guard Marcus Tsohonis had his chance on a catch-and-shoot three-pointer to pierce the hearts of ASU, but his attempt would not fall. The long rebound was corralled, and as ASU senior forward Kimani Lawrence sprinted toward the baseline to secure his 18th board of the contest, a pair of purple jerseys careened into Lawrence during a timely tussle for the rock. The whistle blew as Lawrence’s teammates rushed to help him up.
Lawrence walked to the line and sank the first of his two chances at the charity stripe to put ASU up 75-72 with 42 seconds left. The second shot left room for suspense as the ball teetered around the iron before finally touching nylon, and the Sun Devils led by four.
Washington senior guard Quade Green attempted a quick two, but could not convert in a clogged paint. Lawrence forced the Huskies to foul intentionally after cleaning the glass once more.
Verge Jr. stepped to the line again and knocked down both shots pushing the Sun Devil lead to six with 28 seconds remaining.
Desperation sat in for Washington. The Huskies missed back-to-back open threes with time dwindling down. On what felt like the only rebound Lawrence didn’t snag out of the air, Washington sophomore guard Cole Bajema came down with the board, only to be stripped by Lawrence immediately. He then slung an outlet pass to a streaking Verge Jr., who slowed his own momentum in order to hand-off the ball to Lawrence for an easy lay-in.
The ASU bench jumped up and down and almost spilled onto the court after the fast break finish that put the Sun Devils up 80-72 with nine seconds left. Tsohonis attempted to air-brush the score with a last second futile field goal, but he missed. The defensive rebound fell into the hands of none other than Lawrence, and the senior chucked the ball to the sky and fell to the ground grinning from ear to ear. As he approached the bench, teammates surrounded Lawrence to celebrate his monster day which led ASU (9-11) to a 80-72 win over Washington (5-19).
“When we’ve had all of [our] guys out, he [Lawrence] is really taking his game to a different place,” Hurley said. “It’s been very exciting and rewarding to watch him play at that level.”
Lawrence finished the day with 21 points and 20 rebounds, becoming the first player in almost 25 years to record a 20-20 game for the Sun Devils.
“It’s crazy because [associate head] Coach [Rashon] Burno told me to try and get 20 rebounds today,” Lawrence said. “Hurley said it the other day. It just got in my mind as I was crashing the boards.”
Lawrence was not the only senior responsible for carrying the load on Thursday night. The scoring champion in the Pac-12, ASU’s Remy Martin had a 31-point night that displayed every bit of his scoring repertoire. Penetration, range, playmaking and savvy were all on full display for Martin. He sliced through the Husky’s 2-3 zone defense with a combination of dribble hand-offs, stop-and-pop jumpers and angled drives to the lane. Lawrence made his presence felt all night, and that combined with Martin scoring at an efficient clip pulled ASU to another win over the Huskies despite the Sun Devils missing freshman guard Josh Chistopher, freshman forward Marcus Bagley, sophomore guard Jaelen House and freshman forward Pavlo Dziuba.
“We not giving up on our season,” Lawrence said. “I know we are short-handed but there is still a lot of basketball to be played and there’s still a chance for us to play in the postseason.”
After shooting 7-29 (24.1%) from three-point range in their 97-64 loss to ASU just two days ago, the Huskies came out with the same emphasis and volume from deep, and this time the results were in their favor, as they knocked down 40.7% of their attempts from deep. The six threes from Washington in the first half combined with ASU’s lack of depth and pace were the cause of a 35-35 standstill at halftime.
The absence of their two highly-touted freshmen – Bagley and Christopher – has been a huge hit for the Sun Devils. But House has added defensive pressure, communication, pace and an extra ball-handling capabilities for an injury-riddled Sun Devil roster, and Thursday, House’s energy was not presence due to back soreness. Hurley said he could have been used dearly in the first half.
“It’s hard losing a guy that brings that defense, that fire, that communication and all the energy he plays with,” said Hurley. “Hopefully we can get [House] back for Saturday, [it’s] no doubt his presence was missed tonight.”
The first half saw struggles from Verge Jr., who is still adjusting to the new lineup. He shot 0-6 in the first half and struggled to find shots within the offense. Tough and heavily contested shots were exchanged for selfless assists and flashy playmaking opportunities as the first half concluded and second began. Verge took on much more of a passing mentality in light of career nights from his fellow seniors, as he finished with seven assists and a couple clutch free throws.
“He made big free-throws,” Hurley said. “I thought he had a couple of really good passes in the first half. They were blitzing ball screens some and he was able to get around the corner and find his teammates.”
The second half saw ASU opt almost exclusively to a five-man rotation. All five starters played close to 20 minutes after halftime, except for sophomore forward Jalen Graham, who was subbed out for a single minute.
The dominance continued for Martin and Lawrence as Graham tallied a quiet but solid six points in the second half. ASU was outscored 24-0 in points off the bench.
Injuries have muddied an already murky season for the Sun Devils, and they almost jeopardized what could have been seen as an easy win against Washington on Thursday night. But ASU’s senior leaders halted the upset, and the spirit shown by the Sun Devils in the face of injury and turbulence is perhaps undeniable. With the Pac-12 Tournament in two weeks, sustaining that momentum could be just as important as being cautious with injuries, and ASU will likely need to be running on all cylinders if they want a chance in Sin City.
