Arizona State was 10-16 from beyond the arc at the end of the first half to lead the Cats 44-34. The Sun Devils got big time minutes from Jamelle McMillan who came in and went 3-4 from the field, hitting 3 three pointers. Also Rihard Kuksiks hit 3 three pointers in one minute.
Nic Wise had 10 points, Budinger had 9, and Jordan had 8 at the half.
Jordan Hill did not have a rebound in the first half. Unbelievable.
(AP Photo/Aaron J. Latham)
Arizona started out the 2nd half going 1-8 and quickly fell behind 48-37. They went on another one of their classic runs with a 20-4 gem over 8:00. At one point, the Cats were up by 2 with a little over 3:00 left to play. The game teetered back and forth with a couple of lead changes under 3:00. Nic Wise drove to the hoop with 1:00 to try and tie, missed the layup, only to have Jordan Hill clean it up and tie the game at 68 with 55 seconds on the clock.
With 22 seconds left in the game, Arizona ran a high screen for Budinger, set by Hill. Wise was at the top of the key to the right, delivered to Budinger, who had a beautiful pass to Hill down low. Jordan shot a running layup, which missed. The rebound fell right in front of the rim, right into Zane Johnson's hands as he was elevating, and all he had to do was drop the ball in the hoop. He didn't. He shorted it, and the rebound went to ASU. Arizona fouled Glasser, who went to the line for a 1-1. He missed the first basket, Hill comes away with the rebound, outlet to Nic Wise, who couldn't handle it at half court and turned it over.
Arizona had four guys (Wise, Budinger, Hill, Fogg) in double figures tonight and couldn't pull out the win. They are now 9-2 when four or more players are in double digits.
Great game tonight. We had our chances to tie it up a couple of times, but I thought it was a tremendous effort by the Cats. For the most part, I was happy with Pennell's game plan. We'll dive more into it tonight.
Great effort by the Cats tonight.