Boulder, Colo. – After a back-and-forth battle in the final minutes, the Arizona State men’s basketball team (15-14, 7-9) fell to Colorado, 87-81, Sunday night.
Suffering their first loss in two weeks to Utah on Thursday, the Sun Devils needed to get off to a quick start Sunday night in Boulder. They did just that shooting .56 (14-25) from the field in what proved to be an exciting first half. Seniors Jonathan Gilling and Shaq Mckissic each scored nine points, respectively. Gilling, one of the most prolific three point shooters in ASU history, was a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc early.
Forward Savon Goodman who is averaging 10.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game on the season, was restricted in the first half, picking up three personal fouls early.
The first half saw nine lead changes and a string of runs from both teams. At one point the Buffaloes led by nine. The Sun Devils managed to battle back, and went on an 11-0 run late in the half, highlighted by a pair of threes from Gilling. Despite being out-rebounded 11-to-17, the Sun Devils entered halftime down only two points.
Colorado dominated offensively in the second half shooting an exceptional .682 (15-22) from the field. The Sun Devils struggled to convert from the foul line managing only 25 points on 39 attempts. Foul trouble continued to hamper ASU as big man Eric Jacobsen fouled out late in the game, while Goodman and guard Gerry Blakes each had four fouls.
The game came down to the wire, and at one point ASU jumped out to a 72-70 lead off of a corner three by Bo Barnes. However, Colorado regained the lead off of a set of scores from big man Josh Scott and never looked back, coming away with the win.
Despite the loss, ASU had a number of tremendous individual performances and had four players ( Goodman, McKissic, Tra Holder, and Jacobsen) finish in double-figures. Holder finished with 14 points and a game-high eight assists. It is the seventh time in nine games that Holder has posted 10 or more points. McKissic also played well, going 6-for-10 from the field and scoring 18 while grabbing three rebounds.
Up next, the Sun Devils host the Stanford Cardinal, Thursday, Mar. 5, at 9 p.m. PT. The game will be televised on FOX Sports 1.
