Despite Blakes’ career high, ASU Sun Devils come up short at Washington State: By the Numbers

The Arizona State Sun Devils put up a good fight Friday night, but they weren’t able to parlay an upset over Arizona last weekend into a second straight victory, even with five full days of rest.

The matchup at Friel Court was about as even as you’ll find, as the Sun Devils and Washington State Cougars went back and forth for most of the night, with the lead never going into double digits.

ASU put together a little run to go into the half with a five-point advantage, but Washington State worked its way back and took a lead about midway through the final half.

The Cougars closed out successfully, holding ASU off by a final of 74-71, snapping a two-game losing streak.

The Sun Devils fell back to .500 (12-12) and are just 4-7 in Pac-12 play. WSU improved to 11-13, and leapfrogged ASU by moving to 5-7 in conference.

Here’s a look at Friday’s tight game, by the numbers:

4

ASU guard Tra Holder finished in double-figures in points for the fourth straight game, as he put up 14 on 6-of-10 shooting. The 6-foot-1 freshman also posted four rebounds, three assists and one steal on the night.

9-4

The bench scoring was pretty lackluster for both teams. Two Cougars reserves were responsible for the team’s nine bench points, while forward Jonathan Gilling had three of the Sun Devils’ four points off the pine — guard Chance Murray had the other.

12

Eric Jacobsen scored in double-figures for the first time in his last six games, finishing with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting. The Sun Devils center also contributed six rebounds and one steal, but his 4-for-8 night from the free throw line did ASU no favors.

14

The lead changed hands 14 times on the evening, and the game was tied on seven different occasions. Washington State, though, held onto its advantage when it counted the most — for the final nine minutes and 43 seconds of the game, to be exact.

21

Junior guard Gerry Blakes single-handedly kept the Sun Devils within striking distance in the closing minutes, as he put up a career-high 24 points, including ASU’s final 16. He shot 10-for-21 from the field on the night, including 3-for-9 from behind the arc. He also added six rebounds and two assists during the memorable outing.

27

Cougars senior guard Dexter Kernich-Drew torched the Devils for a career-high 27 points, only missing three of his 12 field goal attempts. Kernich-Drew hadn’t scored more than 20 points since Jan. 8, 2014, and he came into the game averaging just 4.4 points per contest this season. Leading-scorer DaVonte Lacy also had a strong night for the home team, adding 17 points.

42-28

Despite coming up short on the scoreboard, ASU thoroughly dominated the rebound battle 42-28, led by sophomore forward Savon Goodman’s career-high 14. The Devils grabbed 13 offensive rebounds to the Cougars’ two. ASU also dominated in points in the paint by a 38-26 margin.

44.4%

Part of the reason the Sun Devils had so many rebounds, especially on the offensive end, was because of their mild shooting night. After finishing exactly 50 percent from the floor in the upset win over Arizona, ASU made just 44.4 percent (28-for-63) against the Cougars, who, in turn, converted a whopping 51.9 percent (28-for-54) of their attempts in the win.

62.5%-61.9%

The free throw shooting was not pretty Friday night. ASU made a meager 62.5 percent (10-for-16) of its attempts, while Washington went just 61.9 percent (13-for-21) from the foul line.