Sun Devils escape late against Cougars

Tonight the Sun Devils captured their fourth consecutive conference win, holding off the Washington State Cougars 63-59.

Arizona State point guard Jahii Carson had one of his top performances as he led all scorers with 25 points. With 11 seconds remaining in the game, Carson hit the dagger as he drove past defenders and laid it in to give the Sun Devils the game-winning four point lead.

Sun Devil forward Carrick Felix also recorded his third consecutive double-double, finishing with 11 points and 11 boards. All of his points came in the second half.

Washington State’s interior defense was solid all game until late in the second half, when the Sun Devils were able to penetrate and get key baskets. Despite this defensive breakdown, Cougars guard Royce Woolridge tied the game for Washington State at 58 with a little over a minute to go.

Washington State looked to take the lead, but a costly turnover in their half of the court resulted in a Carson three-point play. A minute later, Carson sealed the deal with another lay-up.

In the first half, Washington State kicked things off with a 13-4 start. The Sun Devils, on the other hand, came out of the gate shooting 2-15 from the field and 0-8 from behind the arc. It wasn’t until Gordon drained a pull-up jumper at 8:30 that the team started to get things going. Point guard Chris Colvin and forward Jonathan Gilling then hit back-to-back threes to reduce the defecit to one point. With under 7 minutes left in the half, Gordon drained another three to tie the game at 15. Then, in a 90-second sequence, the teams hit a combined five threes, giving Washington State a 24-17 lead. As the first half came to a close, Gordon drained two more threes to make it a 28-26 game at the half in favor of the Cougars.

Woolridge led all Washington State scorers with 16 points, also contributing four assists and three rebounds.

The Sun Devils (17-4, 6-2 Pac-12) will next face off against the Washington Huskies (12-9, 4-4 Pac-12) on Saturday at 9 p.m.

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