In the event you simply glanced on the 88-80 ultimate rating from Sunday’s matchup between No. 6 Gonzaga and Arizona State, it appears to be like just like the Zags took care of enterprise at dwelling.
Nonetheless, that was not the story of the tape for a lot of the sport — particularly within the second half.
The Solar Devils seesawed with the lead a number of instances, answering Gonzaga’s runs with runs of their very own and blocking a number of photographs on the rim.
At halftime, the 2 packages had been knotted at 38 and stayed locked in a single-digit battle for a lot of the second body.
Sophomore Braden Huff led the Zags with 21 factors, capturing 9-of-13 on the night time and proving an excessive amount of for the ASU protection to deal with late.
ASU’s Basheer Jihad was the game’s top scorer with 22 factors. The Ball State senior switch used all of his 6-foot-9 body to snag 10 rebounds.
It was a formidable present of energy from each groups. ASU was thrashed by 56 in a charity match in opposition to No. 7 Duke earlier than the season started, displaying an intense turnaround since then.
Gonzaga (2-0) now strikes on to host UMass Lowell on Nov. 15 whereas the Solar Devils (2-1) will head dwelling to the desert to face Grand Canyon on Nov. 14 in Tempe.
