Arizona State barely survived a wild final minute against Colorado on Tuesday night. The lead changed several times as the Sun Devils nearly blew a double-digit second half lead. But they got it done in the end and earned an important 70-68 win, the team's second in its last three games played.
ASU entered Tuesday night's game against Colorado without freshman star Jayden Quaintance and eventually had to manage without one of its top scorers in BJ Freeman, who missed the second half with an unknown injury.
Adam Miller stepped up in their absences, leading the team with 18 points including four three pointers. Alston Mason (17 points), Shawn Phillips Jr. (13 points) and Basheer Jihad (11 points) followed up Miller's efforts on the floor in what was a low-scoring affair.
Scrappy effort gets ASU back on track in the Big 12
ASU's victory on Tuesday completed the regular season sweep of the Buffaloes, having won the last meeting 81-61 in Tempe. It's the first and only sweep the Sun Devils have earned this year in their first year as members of the Big 12 Conference.
At 12-8, the team isn't totally out of contention for a trip to the postseason. Entering the week, ESPN's Joe Lunardi placed ASU as one of the first four teams outside the field of 68 that will participate in the NCAA Tournament. That's mostly thanks to its big win over No. 23 West Virginia on Jan. 21 and playing No. 3 Iowa State close at home over the weekend.
Head coach Bobby Hurley's ability to manage a necessary win shorthanded proves this team has what it takes to compete in the toughest conference in the sport. He'll need to use this as a building block down the stretch where the Sun Devils will have very little room for error.