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  • Arizona State Basketball Fights Back To Defeat The UMass Lowell River Hawks, 71-69

Arizona State Basketball Fights Back To Defeat The UMass Lowell River Hawks, 71-69

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Basketball

Sun Devil Men's Basketball engineered an incredible comeback in the final minutes, defeating UMass Lowell 71-69 in a Thursday night thriller at Desert Financial Arena.

Frankie Collins scored seven of his 11 points in the final 2:05 of the game, including two layups in the final minute to tie the game and eventually score the game-winner to lead Arizona State (2-1) to victory.

In the final 2:16 of regulation the Sun Devils erased an 11-point deficit, making their final seven field goals, including two threes from behind the arc by Collins and Jamiya Neal to spark the 13-2 run to close the game.

The Sun Devils were paced by Jose Perez, who sunk his first six shots from the floor and finished with 20 points. He paced five players in double figures, with Jamiya Neal (12), Frankie Collins (11), Alonzo Gaffney (10) and Kamari Lands (10) also reaching the mark.

KEY MOMENTS:

  • Over a stretch of 4:04 from 11:27-7:23 in the second half, ASU went 5-8 from the floor. ASU only made up four points, outsourcing UMass Lowell 12-8.
  • The Sun Devils made it 67-64 at 1:18 on a layup by Neal is the smallest it had been since 8-5 at 16:21 in the first half, when UMass took the lead. A
  • Collins' layup cashed with 2.1 seconds left in the game, giving ASU a 71-69 game-winning lead.


NOTABLES:

  • Five donning the Maroon & Gold scored in double figures, a mark that was last achieved by ASU on March 15, 2023 against No. 11 Nevada in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament.  
  • After trailing at the half 31-22, Bobby Hurley engineered his 40th halftime comeback at the helm of Sun Devil Men's Basketball. The nine point deficit is the fifth largest in his tenure.
  • Jose Perez's 20 points is the most since March 8, 2022 when he was at Manhattan and netted 21 points against Rider in the MAAC conference tournament. He made his first six shots from the floor.
    • It's his 28th collegiate game with 20 or more points.
  • Frankie Collins finished with eight steals, eclipsing a previous career high of five that the junior achieved in the season opener against Mississippi State.
  • The Sun Devils' 49-point second half is the most in a second half since Dec. 18, 2022 against San Diego where the team posted 50-points against the Toros.
  • It's the second game this season where Collins has had five or more steals in a game.
  • The eight steals also tied a school record.
  • Alonzo Gaffney's four steals is his second straight game reaching the mark.
  • The Sun Devils 27 points off of turnovers are more than any game they had the entire 2022 season.
  • On the defensive end, the team's 13 steals marks the first time since Dec. 1 against Colorado and Dec. 4 against Stanford that they registered double-digit steals in back-to-back games.
  • The Maroon & Gold forced 21 UMass Lowell turnovers which is the most they've committed since Dec. 8, 2022 where they committed 20 against Massachusetts.
  • The 24 steals are the 
    • The teams' 24 steals are the most in a two-game span since the Sun Devils swiped 25 against Colorado (14) and Stanford (11).


MOST TURNOVERS FORCED (PAST FOUR SEASONS, STARTING WITH 2020-21)
23 by Houston Baptist (Nov. 29, 2020)
22 at Washington (Jan. 26, 2023)
21 vs. Umass-Lowell (Nov. 16, 2023)
21 by Stanford (Mar. 5, 2022)
21 by San Francisco (Dec. 19, 2021)
21 by Portland (Nov. 9, 2021)

FIRST HALF:
Jamiya Neal cashed in an opening three after Frankie Collins was able to find him on the inbound pass at 19:47. The River Hawks answered right back with a three of their own, whereas they outscored ASU 7-2 forcing an early timeout with 15:26 remaining with the River Hawks ahead 10-5.

UMass Lowell remained ahead at the 11:53 mark in the half 14-6, but two buckets by Jose Perez and Bryant Selebangue cut the deficit to four, 14-10, but an 8-0 run by the River Hawks extended their lead 22-10 before Jose Perez drew a three-point play to end the run cutting the lead to nine with 5:41 remaining.

Alonzo Gaffney drained an open three followed by back-to-back layups by Selebangue and Collins to go on a quick 7-3 span to make it 25-20 going into the final three minutes of the half.

UMass Lowell went into the half ahead 31-22 after a last second putback ended on a 6-2 span.

SECOND HALF:
Jose Perez cashed in two from the stripe then Neal swiftly got to the hoop cutting the lead to seven, 33-26 with 18:43. Following a slam by Gaffney, the River Hawks took advantage from the stripe, extending their lead 38-28 with 17:19 left. 

Perez drew another foul, cashing in on the jumper but was unable to complete the three-point play, as another layup by UMass Lowell put them ahead 40-30 at the 15:39 mark. The West Virginia transfer cashed in from deep putting his point total at 14, followed by ASU making three straight from the stripe cutting into the lead 43-37. 

UMass Lowell extended their lead to ten, 54-44 with 8:32 left in regulation after Perez notched another bucket forcing a River Hawk timeout which followed with a dunk. A Kamari Lands trey brought the deficit to nine, 56-47 at the 7;54 mark. 

Returning from the break, the Sun Devils managed to get within four points with 5:21 remaining in the game, but UMass Lowell made three of their next four field-goals to extend the lead back to 11, but a quick three from Collins forced an ASU timeout.

Following the stoppage, the River Hawks took a 67-57 lead, but a Neal three and two layups by Gaffney and Neal cut the lead to three, including the junior cashing the three-point play cutting the lead to two, 67-65. Another quick turnover by UMass Lowell prompted Collins to tie the game at 67 with a layup with 1:06 remaining.

After a scramble for the ball, Collins forced another River Hawk turnover with 36.6 in regulation. Jose Perez cashed in his seventh bucket of the night to reach the 20 point mark to give ASU a 69-67 lead, their first lead since 3-0 at the 19:47 mark in the first half.

UMass Lowell was fouled on an ensuing layup with 9.2 seconds left whereas they made both to tie the contest at 69-69. But Collins went coast-to-coast with a silky up-and-under to give the Sun Devils a 71-69 lead with 2.1 left as a steal by Collins sealed up the win for the Sun Devils.

UP NEXT:
Sun Devil Men's Basketball will roll the dice and head to Las Vegas to take part in the Vegas Showdown to faceoff against BYU. Tip-off is slated for 10 p.m. MST and can be seen on ESPN2 and can be heard on the radio waves on Arizona Sports 98.7FM with Tim Healey and Kyle Dodd on the call.