After big comeback win, Arizona State seeks more against Cal

Field Level Media|published: Sat 30th December, 22:17 2023

Dec 20, 2023; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Bobby Hurley reacts from the sideline during the first half of the game against the Northwestern Wildcats during the Hall of Series at Footprint Center. credits: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Arizona State, coming off a comeback win at Stanford on Friday in which it led for only the last 31 seconds, hopes to keep its momentum going at California on Sunday in Berkeley, Calif.

The Sun Devils' win, which snapped a three-game losing streak, was highlighted by seven straight points by Alonzo Gaffney. The stretch included a dunk with 1:34 left that tied the game at 73.

Frankie Collins' pull-up jumper with 31 seconds left gave the Sun Devils their first lead of the game.

Arizona State (7-5, 1-0 Pac-12) trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half.

"We were able to use our quickness to get a couple of key defensive deflections late in the game," Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said. "After Christmas now, it's like we're zero and zero, and let's see what we can get done in the conference."

Hurley leads the Pac-12 with 42 comebacks after trailing at halftime in his tenure dating to the 2015-16 season.

Transfers Adam Miller (from LSU) and Kamari Lands (Louisville) led Arizona State with 13 points each.

California (4-8, 0-1) lost 100-81 at home against No. 4 Arizona on Friday night, nine days after defeating visiting UC San Diego.

Jaylon Tyson had 22 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the year and Jalen Celestine added 14 points.

The Golden Bears outscored Arizona 55-46 in the second half while making 55.9 percent of their shots, including 7 of 17 shots from 3-point range.

California missed its first 10 shots from beyond the arc and finished 2 of 14 from there in the first half.

"(Arizona) just played hard; they're always going to come out with that championship-level intensity," Celestine said. "The first half, we just didn't match it, and we can't wait for the second half to do it."

California first-year coach Mark Madsen said he was impressed with how his players "battled back" in the second half.

"We fought, we scrapped, we had tenacity," Madsen said. "I was proud of how the guys responded in the second half. We put two halves together like that, we're going to be the team we want to become."

—Field Level Media