Turnovers seal ASU’s fate in 2OT marathon loss at No. 12 Texas Tech

After its offense performed maybe the best it had all year for much of a classic, ASU was doomed by turnovers in the second overtime of a 111-106 marathon defeat at No. 12 Texas Tech on Wednesday.

Point guard Alston Mason fouled out 1:15 into the second overtime, likely the only reason he didn’t play all 50 minutes in the contest. He had 16 points and six assists while running the offense for 46 minutes (two turnovers in regulation and two in overtime).

 

Thrust into initiation roles, BJ Freeman and Adam Miller then each committed their lone turnover apiece in the final three minutes. Joson Sanon and Shawn Phillips Jr. mishandled a dribble-handoff that Texas Tech’s JT Toppin poked away with 33 seconds left.

Toppin had 41 points (17-for-22 shooting) and 15 rebounds. He was the second ASU opponent to post at least 40 (UCF’s Keyshawn Hall) this season.

Freeman and Miller were outstanding before their late turnovers, combining for 43 points and six assists while playing in their first games since respective one-game suspensions.

Miller took over late in regulation, drilling a deep 3 with 32 seconds left and giving ASU (12-12, 3-10) a 90-88 lead on a floater with 10 seconds left. However, ASU failed to box out on the ensuing Texas Tech (19-5, 10-3) miss, allowing a game-tying putback with 0.8 seconds remaining to force overtime.

Texas Tech offense goes the long haul vs. ASU

The game included 14 ties and 18 lead changes, with each team leading for more than 22:30 of game time (4:00 of a tie game). Both teams put forth blistering offensive performances, as ASU closed the gap between the nation’s 104th- and 11th-best offenses in the country, according to KenPom.

 

ASU made 18 of its final 26 shots in regulation and was 13-for-25 from 3 over all of regulation, but missed its only two attempts in the overtimes.

It had just six turnovers in regulation before matching that total in a quarter of the time in the overtimes. The defense wasn’t able to make up for it, as the Red Raiders made six of their final 10 shots as well as nine free throws in the second overtime to pull away from a shorthanded group.

ASU was without freshman big Jayden Quaintance (ankle), freeing up an already physical Texas Tech to play its kind of game. Toppin thrived, and the Red Raiders won the rebounding margin 38-27.

Freshman wing Amier Ali was among those who stepped up for in Quaintance’s absence, scoring a career-high 18 points on 6-for-7 shooting with four made 3s.

Now on a four-game losing streak, ASU next will host TCU on Saturday at 6 p.m. MST.