ASU men's basketball is keeping its games close lately but can't quite finish with a win.
The Sun Devils (10-13, 3-7 Pac-12) fell to the No. 13 Oregon Ducks 71-70 in Eugene Thursday, their sixth loss in seven games.
Both teams came out sluggish shooting the ball, making just one third of their total field goal attempts in the first half. ASU junior guard Shannon Evans was the only player on either side to hit double digits at 11 points.
ASU led 28-25 at the break, giving the Sun Devils hope for a road upset over a top 25 team for the first time since topping UCLA in 2009.
Evans did even more in the second half, leading the ASU with 17 points in the final 20 minutes to give his team a chance.
But junior forward Dillon Brooks did him one better, scoring 21 points in the second half on 7-of-10 shooting, willing a stagnant Duck offense to a late lead with a jump shot to put Oregon up five points with 53 seconds left.
DILLON. BROOKS.
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) February 3, 2017
12 straight points for No.13 @OregonMBB for the 5 point lead over Arizona State. #PAC12 https://t.co/b05lXETaMN
ASU scored four straight points and was ready to foul Oregon with 2.9 seconds left, but ASU whiffed, giving the Ducks their 39th consecutive home win.
The Sun Devils will play a half hour down the road from Eugene Saturday when they take on Oregon State in Corvallis — which is still searching for its first win in Pac-12 play. The game will take place 3 p.m. local time on Pac-12 Networks.
Reach the reporter at mtonis@asu.edu or follow @Tonis_The_Tiger on Twitter.
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