TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Danish freshman Jonathan Gilling scored a career-high 21 points and shot 5 of 6 from 3-point range as Arizona State stunned Arizona 87-80 on Sunday, dealing a potentially lethal blow to the Wildcats' hopes for an at-large NCAA tournament berth. Carrick Felix scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half for the Sun Devils (10-20, 6-12 Pac-12), who finished the game with six free throws in the final 30.9 seconds, four of them by Trent Lockett, who also scored 21. Jordan Bachynski had 11 points and blocked six shots for Arizona State. Kyle Fogg had 23 points for the Wildcats (21-10, 12-6) but was 7 of 17 shooting. Arizona's Brendon Lavender matched his career best with 18 points on 6 of 8 3-point shooting. Solomon Hill scored 16 points and Jesse Perry 15 for Arizona. The final seven-point margin was the biggest lead for either team. The Sun Devils, who shot 45 percent from the field and 67 percent from the free-throw line entering the game, shot 56 percent from the floor on Sunday, 60 percent (15 of 25) in outscoring the Wildcats 49-36 in the second half. Arizona State made 22 of 24 free throws, with Lockett going 8 for 8 and Felix 8 for 9. The game had no bearing on the matchups in the Pac-12 tournament. Arizona State plays Stanford in the first round on Wednesday. Arizona has a first-round bye as the No. 4 seed and will play the winner of the UCLA-USC game in Thursday's second round. Arizona State led 78-74 when Lockett tipped in his miss with 2:05 to play. But Chris Colvin fouled Fogg on a 3-point attempt, and the Arizona senior made all three free throws to cut the lead to 78-77 with 1:44 to play. Gilling, who banked in a 3-pointer on his first shot of the afternoon, sank his final 3 with 57 seconds left to give the Sun Devils an 81-77 advantage. Fogg drove the lane for a three-point play to make it 81-80 with 51 seconds to go, but the Wildcats couldn't score again. Lockett made two free throws with 31 seconds to play and two more with 20 seconds left to boost the lead to 85-80. Felix's two from the line with six seconds left finished off the scoring. Arizona's 8-2 spurt to end the first half put the Wildcats up 44-38 at the break, their biggest lead of the game. Gilling's third 3-pointer of the game tied it for the Sun Devils at 36-36 with 2:26 to play in the half. After Perry blocked Lockett's inside attempt, Lavender made a 3-pointer to put Arizona ahead 39-36. Lockett's layup cut it to 39-38, but Lavender sank another 3, and it was 42-38 49 seconds before halftime. Fogg's steal led to a layup, and Perry's breakaway dunk with 10 seconds to go made it a six-point game. Arizona State opened the second half with a 7-0 run, the last five points by Felix, to regain the lead 45-44. Fogg followed with a 3-pointer, and it was back and forth from there. A 6-1 spurt put the Sun Devils ahead 63-59 on Colvin's steal and layup with 8:27 to play. Lavender, though, made a pair of 3s, the second to tie it at 65 with 7:09 remaining. Felix responded with a 3-pointer to give Arizona State a 68-65 lead, but Arizona scored the next five points, the last three on a three-point play by Josiah Turner, his only points of the game, to put the Wildcats up 70-68 with 5:58 remaining. Arizona went cold from there. Felix and Lockett each made two free throws to give Arizona State a 72-70 lead, then Fogg missed an open layup and Bachynski scored inside to put the Sun Devils ahead 74-70 with 3:41 left. Wildcats freshmen Turner and Nick Johnson were a combined 2 of 11 shooting with seven turnovers. Arizona State, plagued by turnovers all season, committed only 10 to Arizona's 16, just the second time this season that the Sun Devils had fewer turnovers than their opponent.
Follow Bob Baum on Twitter @thebaumerphx

Comments