Arizona State tops Cal with another 2nd-half rally
ASU head coach Bobby Hurley reacts at an official after a Northwestern three-pointer during the Jerry Colangelo Hall of Fame Series at the Footprint Center in Phoenix on Dec. 20, 2023. credits: Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK Arizona State rallied from 16 points down behind six 3-pointers in the second half to beat California 71-69 Sunday night in a Pac-12 game in Berkeley.
In the second half, Frankie Collins scored 17 of his career-high 25 points and Kamari Lands had all 11 of his points behind 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range.
Arizona State (8-5, 2-0) have consecutive comeback wins after coming back from down double digits against Stanford to win on Friday.
Dating back to coach Bobby Hurley's first season at Arizona State in 2015-16, the Sun Devils lead the Pac-12 with 43 comebacks after trailing at halftime.
The Golden Bears (4-9, 0-2) took the lead at 3-2 with 18:13 left in the first half and did not trail until Collins made a layup with 3:12 left in the game to put Arizona State ahead 64-62.
Fardaws Aimaq converted a three-point play with 1:58 left to give Cal a 65-64 lead.
Collins answered with a jump shot but Jaylon Tyson was fouled and made both free throws to put the Golden Bears back ahead 67-66 with 1:35 left.
A tied-up ball then turned the ball over to California.
But after Cal's Jalen Cone missed a 3-pointer, Alonzo Gaffney dunked following an offensive rebound gave Arizona State a 68-67 lead with 43 seconds remaining.
California then committed its 10th turnover of the second half and Collins drove for a layup to give Arizona State a 70-67 lead.
Cone then made two free throws with six seconds left.
Collins was fouled two seconds later and made one of two free throws to put Arizona State ahead 71-69.
A 3-point attempt at the buzzer by Tyson fell short.
Tyson finished with 20 points and nine rebounds and Aimaq finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds.
California led 35-25 at halftime behind 10 points from Tyson and nine by Keonte Kennedy.
An 8-2 start to the second half by the Golden Bears, including 3-pointers by Tyson and Aimaq, gave the Golden Bears a 43-27 lead.
Arizona State did not record an assist until 9:28 remained when Jamiya Neal passed to Gaffney for a 3-pointer that cut the lead to 54-42.
Arizona State then outscored California 16-6 behind 11 points from Lands — including three 3-pointers — to cut the lead to 60-58 with 4:49 left and set the stage for the final comeback.
—Field Level Media