ASU is 4-0 in the Pac-12 for the first time in 16 years
TEMPE — Jamiya Neal scored 19 points and Arizona State withstood a late charge from Colorado to earn a 76-73 victory in Tempe, Ariz., on Saturday night.
With the win, the Sun Devils, who are 10-5 overall, improved to 4-0 in Pac-12 play for the first time since the 2007-08 campaign.
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Neal also had seven rebounds, while Adam Miller scored 18 points and Frankie Collins finished with 12 for Arizona State.
Tristan da Silva, who missed the previous three games with an ankle injury, returned to the lineup on Saturday and scored 17 points for Colorado (11-4, 2-2 Pac-12).
Fellow starter Cody Williams missed his seventh straight game due to a wrist injury.
KJ Simpson led the Buffaloes with 23 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists.
After Colorado rallied from a 10-point, second-half deficit, da Silva missed a 3-pointer with the game tied at 70 with 1:27 left.
Miller was fouled and made the ensuing two free throws to give Arizona State a 72-70 lead with 1:04 remaining.
Soon after, Simpson’s shot on a drive to the basket was blocked by Alonzo Gaffney.
Simpson then fouled Collins, who made two free throws to increase the Sun Devils’ lead to 74-70 with 25 seconds left.
Javon Ruffin then missed a 3-pointer for Colorado before Arizona State’s Jose Perez made 1 of 2 free-throw attempts.
Simpson’s 3-pointer with 10 seconds left pulled the Buffaloes within 75-73.
After Collins made 1 of 2 foul shots with seven seconds left, Simpson missed the front end of a one-and-one situation with three seconds remaining, and time expired as the ball rolled out of bounds.
Colorado built an 18-10 lead with 10:45 left in the first half, but Arizona State responded with a 10-2 run to tie the game at 20. Collins and Gaffney each hit a trey during the outburst.
Miller had two 3-pointers and scored nine points during a 15-2 Sun Devils run that opened up a 39-31 lead for the hosts with 2:45 left in the half.
Simpson scored Colorado’s next seven points, including a 3-pointer with 52 seconds left in the first half, to make it a three-point game, but Arizona State took a 44-38 lead into the break.
The Sun Devils were up 63-53 with 9:11 left in the game following a 14-5 surge. Colorado then rattled off eight unanswered points to begin the comeback. Layups from Simpson started and ended that run.
–Field Level Media
