Three takeaways from ASU basketball’s 12-point comeback win

Arizona State led for just the final 31 seconds of the game, but that was all it needed in its 76-73 victory over Stanford. The Sun Devils opened Pac-12 play with a major win on the road Friday night.

ASU dug itself an early hole and trailed by 11 points at halftime. The Sun Devils made runs throughout the second half to cut into that lead, but most Stanford had a response for.

With just over five minutes remaining, ASU trailed by 10 points. The Sun Devils went on a 9-0 scoring run to cut the deficit to one point and outscored Stanford 17-4 in the final five minutes.

Here are three takeaways from ASU’s thrilling comeback victory.

Three takeaways from Arizona State basketball’s comeback win over Stanford

Defense shines down the stretch

Defense has been a pillar and the backbone of ASU basketball since head coach Bobby Hurley arrived. When the Sun Devils can play their brand of tough, scrappy defense, it leads to turnovers and fast break points, which is ASU at its best.

During the Sun Devils’ three-game losing streak, opponents were shooting 46.5 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from 3-point range. Through the first eight games of the season, ASU was 6-2. Opponents were shooting less than 40 percent from the field and just 27.6 percent from 3-point range.

With that being said, the numbers were not very pretty Friday night, but the defense got stops when they needed to. Stanford shot over 47 percent in the game and nearly 42 percent from 3-point territory. But in the final five minutes when ASU made its run, the Sun Devils forced three turnovers and held Stanford to just two field goals.

Turnovers have been a game-saver and gamebreaker for the Sun Devils this season. They’ve allowed ASU to dig itself out of holes with its full-court press but also led to the offensive struggles at times. The Sun Devils force an average of over 14 turnovers per game. Friday night ASU forced 13 turnovers, but only four came in the first half. The defense forced nine turnovers in the second half, and its most important three in the final five minutes.

The defense stiffened up late in the game, but if ASU wants to continue winning in conference play, it will need to keep that defensive intensity up for the entire 40 minutes of the game.

Second half team strikes again

Hurley’s squad is not afraid of trailing at halftime, as they’ve now won 42 games during his tenure when trailing at the half, which leads the Pac-12. Some nights it seems like the plan is to trail at half just to unleash the full-court press to lead a thrilling comeback.

ASU outscored Stanford by 12 points down the stretch, led by a group effort. Graduate student forward Alonzo Gaffney made three of his five field goals in the game in the final three minutes, scoring seven points. Graduate student guard Jose Perez made only three field goals in the game but drove in for a crucial layup and earned a steal on the other end in the final four minutes.

Redshirt junior guard Adam Miller had five crucial points on a tough layup and a 3-pointer. Junior guard/forward Jamiya Neal had a rough night shooting, going just 3/11, but had defensive plays of the game down the stretch with a block and a steal which led to a free throw that stretched ASU’s lead to three points in the final seconds. Last but not least, junior guard Frankie Collins recorded his second steal of the game before hitting the game-winner on a dazzling, high-arching, step-back jumper.

All five starters got involved down the stretch to help ASU come from behind to pick up a win in the first Pac-12 conference game of the season.

ASU made timely shots down the stretch

Scoring has been a struggle at times this season for ASU, whether it be shot-making or shot-creating. For most of the night that continued Friday, but as they’ve done before, when it mattered most the Sun Devils started knocking down shots.

ASU had shot just over 40 percent from the field this season coming into Friday night. In the first half Friday, the Sun Devils shot less than 35 percent from the field. In the second half, ASU shot nearly 56 percent, helped by making seven of its final eight shots.

The Sun Devils scored at least 76 points for the fifth time this season. In those other four games, ASU shot over 50 percent in the second half in three of them. In the one game, the Sun Devils fell short in, they scored 17 points in the second half at the free throw line.

Everyone who’s watched Bobby Hurley’s squad knows they’re a second-half team, but they’ll need to start playing two complete halves to do anything in conference play. Starting games strong will be key for the Sun Devils going forward, so the second half turns into closing-out victories rather than comeback victories.

Next, ASU will face the California Bears on Sunday at 6 p.m. MST. ASU will look to complete a sweep of its first road trip and start conference play 2-0 before it returns home.

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