ASU men's basketball's (8-4) offense stalled in the second half in a 67-60 loss to Creighton (10-2) on Saturday night at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe.
Junior guard Alonzo Verge Jr. once again carried the offensive load for the Sun Devils, scoring 19 points after dropping 43 points against St. Mary's.
Redshirt junior forward Romello White produced another double-double for ASU, scoring 18 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
Both teams traded shots back and forth for much of the first half. ASU broke a 9-0 run late in the first half to build an eight point lead. Creighton immediately fought back to shrink the gap to 32-30 heading into halftime.
The Bluejays began the second half strong, going on a 16-4 run to take a 46-39 lead. The Sun Devils immediately countered with an 8-0 run, but had trouble producing offense after the spurt.
ASU's offense sputtered for a stretch late in the second half, missing five straight shots and eight of 10. Creighton capitalized on the cold spell, making six of eight shots in that same stretch.
After allowing St. Mary's to shoot 59% from the field the game before, ASU held Creighton to 44% shooting from the field. Despite the improved defensive performance, ASU was unable to capitalize offensively, shooting just 35% from the field.
The loss marked the first time the Sun Devils have dropped consecutive games this season.
Next, ASU will take on Texas Southern in Tempe on Dec. 28 at 1 p.m. MST.
Reach the reporter at jhorst2@asu.edu and follow @HorseySeven on Twitter.
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Jeffrey Horst is the digital editor-in-chief of The State Press. He previously served as the publication's sports editor and worked at Cronkite News and ArizonaSports.com.
