ASU men’s basketball (4-2) earned a remarkable 67-65 win in Tuesday’s thriller against Princeton, as junior Khalid Thomas sank a game winning three-pointer with 3.2 seconds remaining.
Junior guard Remy Martin led the way with a career-high 33 points in what was a wild back and forth effort between the two teams.
Martin was aggressive right out of the gates, scoring 10 of ASU’s first 14 points in the first half.
He finished the evening 13-23 from the field including 3-6 from three-point range and scored 23 of his 33 points in the second half.
Princeton held the lead through the entire first half, making an efficient 52% from the field. ASU then flipped the script after halftime, connecting on 14-26 shots including seven three-pointers. There were seven lead changes throughout the second half.
With 20 seconds remaining in the game, freshman Tosan Evbuomwan scored a go-ahead layup to give Princeton a 65-64 advantage.
Following a timeout by Sun Devils head coach Bobby Hurley, Martin made a furious drive to the hoop and kicked a perfect pass out to a wide open Thomas, who produced nothing but sweet string music on his outside jumper.
“I was just ready to shoot,” Thomas said. “I knew my guys trusted me to be in the right spot and be able to make the right shot.”
Princeton dropped their fifth straight contest of the season despite a strong showing from leading scorer senior Richmond Aririguzoh, who notched 16 points and 18 rebounds.
Redshirt junior Romello White was one of three Sun Devils to score in double digits, adding nine rebounds in what has been a stellar season on the glass thus far.
After this victory, ASU will have a week off before hitting the road again to face the University of San Francisco on Dec. 3.
The team will then return to Desert Financial Arena for a three-game homestand, starting with a matchup against the University of Louisiana on Dec. 7.
Correction: Due to editor error, an original version of this story incorrectly stated that Khalid Thomas's winning three-pointer was scored with 0.05 seconds left in the game. The story has been updated to correct this error.
Reach the reporter at hcroton@asu.edu or follow @thecrote on Twitter.
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