The second half of Pac-10 play started the same way the first half concluded.
While the fine details of the script might have been different, the end result was the same.
Going the final 7:25 without a field goal, ASU dropped its eighth straight conference game, falling 66-62 to California at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley Thursday night.
“We just have to be able to close games,” ASU assistant coach Lamont Smith said in a postgame radio interview. “It is winning time in the last seven minutes in the ball game. We have to make winning plays.”
Trailing 52-50 in the second half, ASU connected on three shots from beyond the arc in just 57 seconds to take a 59-52 lead.
The final 3-pointer of the run turned out to be the last made field goal for the Sun Devils.
The problem was there were still over seven minutes to play.
Cal scored its next six points from the free throw line to cut ASU’s lead to just 60-58 with 4:56 to play.
After Cal freshman guard Allen Crabbe missed a free throw, junior forward Harper Kamp grabbed the offensive rebound and dished it to sophomore guard Brandon Smith, who nailed a 3-pointer from the corner to give the Golden Bears a 61-60 advantage.
On the other end, sophomore Trent Lockett missed a pair of free throws. The deficit extended to three points after two more Cal free throws, this time from junior guard Jorge Gutierrez.
Lockett then connected on a pair of free throws to cut it to 63-62 and ASU got a stop on the defensive end.
ASU got three shots to take the lead, but couldn’t convert.
The dagger came when Crabbe hit a three with just 13.5 seconds left to put the Golden Bears up by four.
“We made some unfortunate plays,” Smith said. “We had some fouls in the backcourt that sent them to the line. We missed a block out that led to a three. It is hard to come out in the win column if you don’t make those plays.”
Lockett led the Sun Devils with 18 points and McMillan added 14 points, tying his career-high in a Pac-10 game.
Every starter was in double figures for Cal, led by Gutierrez’s 18 points. Senior Markhuri Sanders-Frison added 13 points and seven rebounds and Smith chipped in 11.
The Golden Bears shot 29 free throws, making 24 of them, while ASU got to the free throw line just 12 times.
In the end it was another gut-wrenching loss for ASU and the Sun Devils must bounce back emotionally yet again.
“They are real tore up,” Smith said of the locker room mood. “Our group will bounce back. They have done it all year long. They care tremendously. I know they will bounce back.”
Reach the reporter at andrew.gruman@asu.edu
