Arizona State basketball forces OT, falls on road to Washington

Arizona State basketball erased a 14-point deficit to force overtime in the closing second of regulation but fell 69-66 against Washington on Thursday night.

Point guard Frankie Collins hit a critical 3-pointer from the corner with 44 seconds with ASU (15-6, 6-4) down 52-48 to cut the deficit to one.

Freshman guard Austin Nunez went for the game-tying three-pointer ahead of the buzzer down 54-51 and got fouled. He hit all three free throws with the home crowd roaring down to force overtime. Nunez even made the final shot after UW (13-9, 5-6) head coach Mike Hopkins called timeout to ice him.

Frankie answers the call 🤩

Huge shot from the corner by @Frankiecollins0

He trims the lead to 52-51

📱 https://t.co/e2CqN48mxE pic.twitter.com/XXxA8cAwIE

— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) January 27, 2023

Washington regrouped and outscored the Sun Devils 5-0 to start overtime as ASU’s offensive woes continued.

It finished the game shooting 30.7% from the field having gone 9-for-32 from 3.

But the Sun Devils did not go away. Collins had an opportunity to tie the game with an open three-pointer with four seconds remaining but missed. The rebound was knocked out of bounds off Washington, giving ASU a second to work with.

Desmond Cambridge Jr. — who scored 26 points — heaved a turnaround 3-pointer in the corner which missed everything.

ASU jumped out to a 12-0 lead through the five minutes of the game but fell behind 32-20 at the break. UW went on a 20-4 run, and ASU did not lead beyond the 6:39 mark of the first half.

The Sun Devils entered Thursday on a two-game skid after getting swept by UCLA and USC last weekend. ASU was on the doorstep of the AP Top 25 before the L.A. schools came to Tempe, and with 10 games left in the regular season, every contest is amplified ahead of March Madness.

ASU will face Washington State on Saturday in an attempt to end the losing streak.

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