Entering Sunday’s game as an 18.5-point underdog at Gonzaga, the Arizona State Sun Devils took the No. 6 Bulldogs to the wire but fell 88-80 on Sunday.
Basheer Jihad had 22 points and 10 rebounds, Alston Mason scored 19 points and BJ Freeman had 12 for ASU.
Sun Devils guard Amier Ali rebounded an errant 3-point try by Jihad and hit a short jumper to tie Gonzaga just before the halftime buzzer, and the Sun Devils gave the Bulldogs all they could handle for much of the second half.
A layup by BJ Freeman tied the game at 71, but Khalif Battle’s two free throws with 4:25 remaining in the second half broke the tie and Gonzaga held on to win.
A Mason layup cut the deficit to two but Battle buried a 3-pointer to push the advantage to 78-73.
Braden Huff paced Gonzaga with 21 points, Battle had 19 points and seven rebounds, Ryan Nembhard scored 13 while Michael Ajayi had nine points and 12 boards.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ASU basketball gives No. 6 Gonzaga big-time fight but falls short
