Senior forward Shaquielle McKissic steals the ball and brings it back down to the Sun Devil rim against Cal on Saturday, March 7, 2015, at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. The Sun Devils defeated the Golden Bears 74-70. (J. Bauer-Leffler/The State Press)
With just one game left in the regular season and so much left to be decided, the ASU men's basketball team had one more opportunity to put itself in the best position possible moving forward. On a day honoring those leaving the program, one senior separated himself to leave Tempe on a high note.
The Sun Devils (17-14, 9-9 Pac-12) beat Cal 74-70 Saturday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena on Senior Day. Senior forward Shaquielle McKissic stole the show in his final game at Wells Fargo Arena, scoring 21 points and grabbing seven rebounds.
Cal (17-14, 7-11 Pac-12) opened the game on an 11-2 run and were playing near flawless basketball. Cal led by as many as 10 points with 13:08 remaining in the first half, but could not sustain their dominant play. Senior guard Bo Barnes said that he could tell from the team's shootaround that the start of the game may not go how the Sun Devils wanted.
"I didn't say anything, but you could tell from the way we were warming up that we weren't ready to go and it showed the first three minutes," Barnes said. "We had to get focused back in and once we did we went on a huge run."
The Sun Devils composed themselves and stormed back to take the lead for the first time around eight minutes later and held the lead. During that stretch, ASU held Cal to 2-of-20 shooting. Coach Herb Sendek said the end of the first half was the best defensive stretch of the day.
"I think our ball pressure became better," Sendek said. "We got more locked in with our help defense. But still, at times today we allowed ourselves to be too man conscious, so we're just going to stay on it."
ASU finished its run in the first half holding a 35-32 lead, but on a roll.
In the second half, ASU sprung out to multiple double-digit leads, but Cal kept hanging around and kept the game within striking distance.
One of the reasons the Sun Devils could not pull away was free throw shooting. ASU missed seven free throws in a row in an eight minute span that allowed Cal to keep the game close.
McKissic said that has been a trend all season and has been a main reason why his team has lost so many close games.
"Free throws," McKissic said. "It's just one of those things. We don't have the tallest guys in the post and sometimes we get in foul trouble so we have to improvise in different situations. It's just a good thing that we're winning them down the stretch."
In the closing minute of the game, however, McKissic and Barnes combined to make seven of eight free throws to ice the win for ASU.
Barnes said the team's struggles weren't on his mind when he stepped to the line, but just what he needed to do.
"You just have to go up to the line, be confident and just know that the next one is going to go in," Barnes said.
The game was McKissic's third straight with 18 or more points in a row to close out the year. He contributed his recent surge to one of his fellow seniors.
"(It's because of) Bo Barnes," McKissic said. "He brings a lot of energy to practice and he just keeps telling me that he doesn't want it to end and every time he says that I dig deeper."
The next step for the Sun Devils is the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas, where they will, most likely, have to win four games in four days to advance back to the NCAA Tournament. Senior forward Jonathan Gilling said his team is focused on the task at hand and can't take any opponent for granted.
"The next one is the biggest opponent," Gilling said. "Whether it's going to be Washington or USC, it's going to be them. We can't think ahead of anything."
Reach the reporter at mtonis@asu.edu or follow @Tonis_The_Tiger on Twitter.
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