Three takes from Arizona State’s comeback win over California

Arizona State basketball gets the road win Sunday night against the California Golden Bears 71-69. Arizona State has now swept the Bay Area as they also defeated Stanford in their previous game in a nail-biter.

Here are three takeaways from Sunday night’s game.

Three takes from ASU’s victory over California

Trust Frankie Collins

Junior point guard Frankie Collins scored 17 of his game-high 25 points in the second half alone. Collins was 10/17 on field goals with a .588% on field goals. He was 3/5 on three-pointers along with having four rebounds and was 2/3 on free throws.

The Sun Devils simply don’t win this game without Collins, and head coach Bobby Hurley praised him for his play after the game. According to Hurley, that was Collins’ best game in an ASU uniform, and it’s hard to disagree.

More second-half magic

Arizona State didn’t start the first half in the way they would have liked, only scoring 25 points while allowing the Golden Bears to score 35 points. ASU’s offense was only 9/29 on field goals and 4/13 on three-pointers.

ASU also went the entire first half without an assist, which is simply unheard of.

However, something snapped within ASU in the second half as they came back into the game making 16-36 on field goals and 6-18 on three-pointers, scoring 46 points and allowing Cal to only score 34.

For ASU to have any sustained success in the Pac-12, they need to start playing complete games and not only one good half.

Welcome back Kamari Lands

Collins wasn’t the only one who had a great night, as sophomore guard Kamari Lands started a 9-0 run in just 17 seconds by knocking down a three-pointer while ASU was down 56-42 in the second half. Lands was second in points for the Sun Devils with 11 and had five rebounds.

His success in Berkely was a welcoming sight has he’s been in a slump ever since early November. The transfer also hit double figures against Stanford. Hopefully, ASU can continue to get production out of their sixth man in conference play.

ASU will have their first game of 2024 at home against the Utah Utes on Thursday, Jan. 4.

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