Senior Shaquielle McKissic slams the ball for two points in the second half against Colorado on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015 at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. The Sun Devils went on to with against the Buffaloes 78-72. (J. Bauer-Leffler/The State Press)After a disappointing game all-around Thursday against No. 8 Utah, the ASU men's basketball team responded with a hard-fought victory at home on Saturday.
The Sun Devils (9-9, 1-4 Pac-12) weathered a late barrage by Colorado (9-8, 2-3 Pac-12) to win 78-72 for their first Pac-12 win of the year.
ASU shot 55 percent from the field in the win, by far the best the team has shot in any conference game this season, but coach Herb Sendek said that the shot selection was about the same as the other games.
"Quite frankly I don't think the shots were any different than games where we didn't make as many and didn't win," Sendek said. "Tonight the ball went in the basket. If that's an oversimplification, so be it."
The Buffaloes, who were without junior forwards Josh Scott and Xavier Johnson, got off to a good start, but could not gain a real advantage. The Sun Devils and Buffaloes played close for most of the game, resulting in 11 ties and 19 lead changes over the course of the game.
Senior forward Shaquielle McKissic ended the first half with a flurry for ASU, hitting a three-pointer in the corner and then stealing the ball for a breakaway, buzzer-beating dunk to give ASU a 29-28 halftime lead.
McKissic, who finished with 16 points, was the main catalyst in the Sun Devils pulling away with a lead in the second half.
McKissic said that he was nervous after missing his first couple of shots, but got into a groove.
"It started off kind of rough," McKissic said. "But once I got that first dunk when (senior forward) Bo (Barnes) threw me the alley-oop, my juices got flowing and I got more steals, more rebounds and it felt real good."
McKissic's signature moment in the game was his dunk over freshman forward Tory Miller, which sent Wells Fargo Arena into a frenzy.
McKissic said that was his favorite of his dunks in the game and recalled what was happening as he prepared to leap.
"Once (senior forward) Jon (Gilling) passed it, he was coming from the weak side, I already knew he was too late," McKissic said. "I didn't think he was going to still jump and it was just kind of one of those things."
Sendek said that it brings energy to the crowd and lifts the team as well.
"The fans love it, people love it," Sendek said. "And today he had a couple that were kind of breathtaking. He's a great athlete and he's at his best when he's attacking the basket."
With 1:14 remaining in the game, ASU was up by 10 points and it looked as though the win was in the bag. Colorado had different plans and almost made a remarkable comeback.
The Buffaloes made four three-pointers in the final minute of the game, but the Sun Devils made clutch free throws down the stretch to hold off the surging herd. Two makes by junior guard Gerry Blakes with 19 seconds left, followed by a missed three-pointer sealed the deal for an ASU win.
Sendek said he was a bit nervous coming down the stretch when Colorado kept making shots, but it turned out alright in the end for his team.
"It was going in for them too, especially the way things had been going for us, when they banked that three in from the top," Sendek said. "But sports are crazy."
ASU travels to play Cal (11-7, 1-4 Pac-12) on Thursday, Jan. 22 in Berkeley, California.
Reach the reporter at mtonis@asu.edu or on Twitter @Tonis_The_Tiger
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