ASU men’s basketball struggled with control Wednesday night, committing a season-high 21 turnovers in a 67-65 loss to Washington State.
Four Sun Devils scored in double digits including redshirt junior forward Romello White, who double-doubled with 15 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.
WSU sophomore forward CJ Elleby scored 27 points with 12 rebounds and delivered a game-winning 3-pointer for WSU with four seconds remaining.
The Sun Devils (12-8, 3-4 Pac-12) entered Beasley Coliseum facing a Cougars team (13-9, 4-5) that had amassed a 9-2 record at home, including a victory against No. 11 Oregon on Jan. 16.
ASU’s biggest defensive challenge was Elleby, who came into the contest ranked fifth in the Pac-12 with 18.4 points per game.
Elleby, a Seattle native, delivered a dominant first half performance, notching 16 points and five rebounds with nine attempts from the free-throw line.
ASU committed 15 turnovers in the half, including 10 through the game’s first 11 minutes. Ahead of Wednesday’s game, the team was averaging 12.7 turnovers per game on the season.
WSU relied heavily on the 3-pointer in the first half and launched 14 of its 29 shot attempts from deep, connecting on 4 of them to build a quick lead over the Sun Devils thanks to a strong defensive effort.
Junior guard Remy Martin led ASU with 10 points and senior guard Rob Edwards had nine as the team headed into halftime trailing 37-31.
The second half was a wild exchange of scoring bursts by both teams. The Cougars started with a 9-2 run before ASU responded with a 13-1 run of its own to tie the game up.
WSU then notched a 7-0 run to pull ahead but the Sun Devils erased it by fighting back with 11 straight points to pull ahead by two with one minute and 14 seconds to go.
It was the team’s first lead since just over seven minutes into the first half and freshman forward Jalen Graham contributed a couple of key buckets down the stretch.
However, Elleby had a chance for the Cougars, hitting a mid-range jump shot to tie the game up 64-64 with under a minute remaining.
With the clock ticking, Graham put the Sun Devils up by one with a made free throw, but Elleby struck again, this time draining a step-back 3-pointer from the right wing to reclaim a two-point lead with four seconds left in the game.
ASU would be unable to respond, committing its 21st turnover on the final possession to end the game.
The team will have a few days off before heading to Seattle to take on the University of Washington Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. MST.
Correction: Due to editor error, this story has been updated to reflect WSU's home record prior to their win against ASU.
Editor's note: A previous version of this story did not include senior guard Rob Edwards' first name or position on first reference.
Reach the reporter at hcroton@asu.edu or follow @thecrote on Twitter.
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