What a difference a week makes.
Less than seven days ago, the ASU men’s basketball team was heading to Los Angeles for the Pac-10 Tournament ready to make a statement to the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee that it belonged in the field of 65.
Now, its season is over.
After being stunned by Stanford in the Pac-10 Quarterfinals and missing out on the Big Dance, ASU hoped to rebound in the NIT as a No. 1 seed. And for most of Tuesday night’s contest against Jacksonville, it looked like that was going to happen.
But things fell apart down the stretch, leading to a shocking 67-66 loss to the Dolphins at Wells Fargo Arena.
With 9.8 seconds to play, ASU’s all-time leading free-throw percentage shooter, senior guard Derek Glasser, was at the line with one made foul shot needed to make it a 67-64 game.
He missed.
That gave eighth-seeded JU (20-12) an opportunity to pull off the upset, and the bank was open at Wells Fargo Arena.
Senior guard Ben Smith banked in a 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds on the clock to give the Dolphins their first postseason win since 1974.
“I can’t even put it into words,” Smith said. “I didn’t call bank, but when it started going up, I saw it had a chance. It’s postseason play; this is what college basketball is all about.”
While the Sun Devils’ (22-11) season abruptly came to an end, the jubilation in the other locker room could be heard through the walls.
“The last two games were the toughest in my career here,” ASU junior guard Jamelle McMillan said. “We didn’t take care of business. As a consequence, we have to deal with this.”
When ASU looks back at the loss, it will likely wonder how it even let JU have a shot at the win in the first place.
“We had our moments and out chances to put the game away,” McMillan said. “If you don’t capitalize, anything is possible. As a result, we came out on the short end of the stick.”
With 3:59 left on the clock, ASU led 60-49. It seemed like the game was all wrapped up, but somebody forgot to tell those pesky Dolphins.
“We didn’t put it away the right way — there is no question about it,” ASU coach Herb Sendek said. “If we make our free throws, if we convert a couple better press offense situations, then we aren’t having this conversation.”
After junior forward Rihards Kuksiks made a pair of free throws with 1:25 left to make it a six-point game, all the Sun Devils had to do was take care of the ball and make foul shots.
They couldn’t find a way to do either.
Smith nailed a jumper to make it 62-58 with 1:06 left, and then came the haunted full-court press from JU. The Dolphins used the press to create turnovers all game long, but they took it off when it seemed as if ASU has figured it out.
But on the inbounds play after the Smith jumper, JU went back to the press and forced a turnover that eventually led to another Smith basket that cut the lead to 62-60.
McMillan was then fouled and sank both free throws with 34 seconds left, and Smith turned the ball over to ASU.
The game was in the Sun Devils’ control yet again, but McMillan could only hit one of two free throws after another foul, and JU junior forward Ayron Hardy got a layup with 12 seconds left to cut the Sun Devils’ advantage to 65-62.
The Dolphins immediately went back to the press, and ASU couldn’t figure it out again. Smith got the steal and dished it to sophomore guard Chris Edwards, who was fouled by McMillan. Edwards hit both free throws, and it was down to a one-point game with 10 seconds left.
“I just don’t think we made some good decisions,” Sendek said of the turnovers from JU’s press. “We really rushed on that last one. It happened in a blur. We just didn’t take care of the ball. We made very hasty decisions.”
This time, ASU got the ball in bounds and in the hands of the best free throw shooter in school history. If Glasser could make both foul shots, the worst scenario possible was overtime. He made the first, but missed the second.
The door was open ever-so-slightly, but it was the perfect size for the 5-foot-10 Smith to fit through. He dribbled down and banked in the winning shot, stunning the Sun Devils and ending their season.
“It is a difficult way to lose at the end and end a season,” Sendek said. “It doesn’t take away from the season our guys had, and you have to give Jacksonville credit for making a play at the end.”
While ASU’s season is over, the Dolphins’ is not, thanks to a gigantic second half from their leading scorer in Smith.
Smith had just three points on 1-of-8 shooting at the break, but the second half made up for it, as he tallied 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting after intermission.
“My mentality is just like my team’s mentality,” he said. “Even when it is not going good for you, you just have to keep fighting. I knew I could make those shots — I just had to keep taking them. Eventually, they started going in.”
After the game, Smith was literally shaking with excitement, because he knew how much this win means to the JU program.
“It means a lot,” Smith said. “I don’t even know how much it means right now. I’m just so excited. It is a step in the right direction.”
The same can’t be said for ASU. The last two games were a step backwards when so much was on the line.
Sendek said he didn’t get the feeling that the Sun Devils’ minds weren’t in the game because of not making the NCAA Tournament. He said they simply didn’t execute.
“I thought our preparation was really good,” Sendek said. “I didn’t think guys were going through the motions. We didn’t play our best again.”
Kuksiks led ASU with 21 points and six rebounds, while junior guard Ty Abbott added 15 points.
Reach the reporter at andrew.gruman@asu.edu
