ASU trampled by Colorado, 61-52

(Photo: ASU Athletics)

In a game that was characterized by slow, sluggish play with stagnant offensive movement for Arizona State (19-7, 8-5), the Sun Devils could never muster enough to come back and fell to Colorado (20-7, 9-5) Wednesday night in Boulder 61-52.

ASU came out in the second half on a 6-0 run to take a 32-27 lead but Colorado came storming back immediately with an 18-4 run of their own to retake a 45-36 lead that the Buffaloes never lost again.

It took ASU 10 minutes to cross the 10-point threshold as guard Jahii Carson and company struggled to score on the Buffaloes and power forward Josh Scott, who finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds.

The first half was full of back-and-forth action with neither team gaining more than a four-point edge. Although the Sun Devils didn’t have their best half statistically, they were somewhat lucky to only be down just 28-27 at halftime. Colorado then took control in the second half playing more disciplined basketball and tight defense on guard Jermaine Marshall and center Jordan Bachynski.

Forward Jonathan Gilling got hot late in the game and helped dwindle the Colorado lead to just 51-48 with 3:31 to play. But, a quick 6-0 run by the Buffaloes quickly put any thoughts of an ASU comeback to rest.

The Sun Devils lost the game underneath and were outrebounded 48-27. The Buffaloes also had 12 second-chance points compared to zero for an ASU squad  which also shot just 31 percent from the field and 7 of 25 from beyond the arc.

Carson helped keep the game somewhat close throughout with 18 points and seven rebounds while Gilling’s late streak of threes gave him 10 points on the night. Marshall cooled off after his 29-point outing against Arizona accumulating just seven points against the Buffaloes Wednesday night.

Alongside Scott, Askia Booker added 18 points, six rebounds and three assists for Colorado and Xavier Johnson added 11 points as well.

Despite the loss, ASU still sits comfortably in the NCAA tournament thanks to the upset win over Arizona last Friday night. Colorado moves into a third place tie and have surprised many with their perseverance without superstar Spencer Dinwiddie.

ASU now heads to Salt Lake City for a Sunday matchup with the Utah Utes. The game is set to tip at 6 p.m. MT on ESPNU.

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