Facing a deficit that would cause irreparable damage to its résumé, ASU basketball overcame a poor first half to beat Cal on Senior Day.
Princeton. Utah. Washington State. Three teams that serve as more than blemishes on Arizona State’s record. All losses, the outcomes have left the Sun Devils’ chances at consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances in question.
On Sunday, trailing California by six at halftime, it seemed the final nail in the coffin was a mere 20 minutes away. Surely, ASU’s previous shortcomings as well as a loss to the Golden Bears would be enough to sink the Sun Devils.
Extended periods of time are often defined by a few moments. Staring down a loss that would define the season, coach Bobby Hurley‘s team responded, playing arguably its most important stretch of basketball this year.
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The Sun Devils made their first eight shots of the second half, a flurry of offense to ignite ASU and stun Cal at Wells Fargo Arena, 69-59.
In the final home game of forwards De’Quon Lake and Zylan Cheatham, the latter was a symbol of the team’s frustration over the first 20 minutes.
Tied at six apiece, Cheatham slammed a ball against the court after a missed rebound just before the game’s first official timeout. While the score was knotted at six, Cal held an 8-2 edge on the glass through four minutes.
Despite the rebounding disparities, Lake and freshman guard Luguentz Dort kept the offense afloat. Dort scored 11 of his game-high 22 points in the first half.
That is, until an 11-2 run by Cal gave the Golden Bears a lead late in the half. With ASU shooting 26 percent for the half, a game intended to be highlighted by pomp and circumstance had turned ominous.
“Once they had the small advantage, they really went deep into the shot clocks and made us guard them late in possessions,” Hurley said.
Emerging from the locker room to conclude its final home game of the season, the team that exited back onto the floor resembled nothing of the one hobbling through the tunnels moments earlier.
Dunks by Dort and Lake sparked momentum and brought a crowd of 11,618 to its feet before Cheatham and guard Rob Edwards continued the fuel the offense. ASU made its first eight shots after only making seven the entire half prior.
By the time Edwards missed the team’s first shot of the half, ASU led by seven and nearly eight minutes had evaporated off the clock.
“We knew when we’d make a run,” guard Remy Martin said. “Once we got on a roll, we knew we could take this game.”
Martin noted his own offensive game was lacking on Sunday but was picked up by his teammates.
Edwards, who had 14 of his 16 points after halftime, was the catalyst in finding ways to score at all three levels. But, the Sun Devils’ efforts on both ends of the floor were among the best of the season.
The defense of ASU held Cal to 33 percent in the second half and countered by shooting 57 percent.
A lead that ballooned to as many as 15 points never got within single-digits, allowing the Sun Devils to maintain sole possession of second place in the Pac-12 standings while giving Cheatham and Lake a proper send off.
All quotes in this article were obtained firsthand by Devils in Detail unless otherwise noted.