Arizona Wildcats lose in overtime at ASU, 95-88

TEMPE — Playing without injured guard Brandon Williams, Arizona suffered its third straight loss and first-ever to fourth-year ASU coach Bobby Hurley, 95-88 in overtime Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena.

The Wildcats returned center Chase Jeter from a back injury that cost him two games while Williams sat out because of a sprained knee he suffered against UCLA last Saturday.

But while playing shorthanded for the third straight game, Arizona nearly pulled out the win in regulation after Justin Coleman hit a step-back 25-footer to tie the game at 83.

The Wildcats fell behind quickly in overtime and never led in the extra period, however.

MORE: 'Inept' defense the culprit in Arizona Wildcats' third straight loss

The loss dropped UA to 14-8 overall and 5-4 in the Pac-12. ASU improved to 15-6 and 6-3.

The Sun Devils shot 55.6 percent while Remy Martin led ASU in scoring with 31 points, and Zylan Cheatham had 11 points and 22 rebounds. For UA, Coleman and Ryan Luther each had 19.

ASU scored the first seven points in overtime, getting a layup from Cheatham and two free throws and a 3-pointer from Martin, whose top-of-the-key shot gave ASU a 90-83 lead with 2:58 remaining. During those first two minutes, Coleman missed a jumper and Jeter missed two free throws for the Wildcats.

ASU all but clinched it after Alex Barcello missed a pair of free throws with the Sun Devils leading 94-88 with 21 seconds left in overtime.

The game was tied at 76 entering the final two minutes of regulation, but Romello White converted a three-point play to put ASU ahead 79-76, and two free throws from Rob Edwards gave ASU a five-point lead. With 1:03 left, Brandon Randolph put in a layup as he fell from the right side of the baseline, while Coleman stepped back to hit a 25-footer that tied it at 83 with 25 seconds left.

ASU couldn’t put together a play on its final possession, with Luguentz Dort missing a 3 as time appeared to expire. An officiating review put 0.4 seconds back on the clock, but UA’s inbound pass from Luther batted off the hands of Jeter at midcourt and the game went into overtime.

FIRST HALF:

Trailing 36-33 at halftime, UA hit 12 of its first 19 shots in the second half to take leads of up to seven points with just over six minutes left. Luther keyed the Wildcats’ comeback when he hit a pair of corner 3s from the left side to give UA a 64-59 and 67-61 lead, but a pair of 3-pointers from ASU’s Martin later cut UA’s lead to 71-68 and then 72-71 with 4:29 left.

Wells Fargo Arena started to then reach ear-splitting levels as Martin passed up a contested 3-point opportunity in the right corner, instead driving the baseline for a layup to give ASU a 73-72 lead, and especially after Dort fed Cheatham for an alley-oop slam.

Cheatham’s emphatic dunk gave ASU a 75-72 lead with 3:17 left to play.

With 2:42 left, Dylan Smith fouled out, leaving Arizona without one of its hotter shooters down the stretch and in overtime. Smith was 3 for 5 from 3-point range, leaving with a total of 11 points scored.

In the first half, Arizona shot just 32.4 percent from the field after hitting 30.4 percent over their losses at USC and UCLA last weekend, although the Wildcats managed to make 7 of 16 3-pointers and score eight second-chance points off eight offensive rebounds.

ASU shot 42.3 percent with Edwards scoring 12 points and forward Cheatham collecting 11 rebounds.

Out because of a sprained knee he suffered last Saturday at UCLA, Williams went through early warmups as a decoy while Hurley watched before the game. Williams then returned for final warmups 30 minutes before the game in sweatpants and sat on the bench, while UA then announced he would not play.

It is the second known time of Williams' career that he has suffered an injury to his right knee, which was also injured during the bulk of his junior season in high school because of a congenital issue. Williams had surgery to repair the area in Jan. 2017, and returned to the court late last fall as a high school senior.

Jeter missed both of the Wildcats’ games in Los Angeles after suffering a hard fall that led to back spasms on Jan. 19, against Oregon State, but returned four minutes into Thursday’s game. He missed all four shots he took in the first half, but collected four rebounds and had an assist, scooping up a missed shot from Smith and feeding it back to Smith, who made his second try.

UA coach Sean Miller started Luther and Ira Lee in the post, while Smith took Williams’ spot.

The Wildcats took early leads of 5-2 and 7-4 but ASU went ahead 9-7 after Ira Lee missed a dunk and Edwards hit a 3-pointer on the other end.

The Wildcats then kept ASU scoreless for two and a half minutes but also sputtered offensively, only to tie the game briefly at 14 on a shot from Smith. The Sun Devils then held two-possession leads most of the rest of the half but Luther hit a 3-pointer with four seconds left to cut ASU's lead to three.