Arizona State escapes second-half hole, edges SMU

Jose Perez scored 20 points and Frankie Collins added 17 as Arizona State came back for a 76-74 win over SMU on Wednesday night at Tempe, Ariz.

The Sun Devils (6-2) overcame a 13-point deficit in the second half to win their fourth straight game.

SMU (6-4) is now 0-6 in its series with the Sun Devils.

After Arizona State's Bryant Selebangue missed two free throws with 1:05 left and his team up by four, SMU's Chuck Harris was fouled. Harris, a 90.5 percent free-throw shooter, made just 1 of 2 to cut the deficit to 72-69.

Kamari Lands' two free throws with 21 seconds remaining increased the margin to 74-69.

The Mustangs' Zhuric Phelps then converted a layup with nine seconds remaining.

Jose Perez made 1 of 2 free throws with seven seconds left to give Arizona State a 75-71 lead.

Harris was fouled two seconds later and missed the front end of a one-and-one.

Arizona State's Jamiya Neal made split two free throws with 3.8 seconds left to make it 76-71.

Phelps, who led SMU with 24 points and nine rebounds, made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to complete the scoring.

Harris had 17 points and six rebounds.

The Mustangs outrebounded Arizona State 44-34 and outscored the Sun Devils 42-22 in the paint but allowed 22 fastbreak points thanks to 15 turnovers.

SMU held Arizona State without a made field goal for almost five minutes and went on a 12-0 run to take a 63-50 lead with 11:28 remaining.

Tyreek Smith, Harris and Phelps made two layups apiece during the run, which included Arizona State missing five shots and committing a turnover.

The field-goal drought ended when Collins sank a 3-pointer with 11:06 left to cut the lead to 63-53.

The Sun Devils scored nine unanswered points to pull withing 64-62 with 7:54 remaining.

Phelps' layup — SMU's first field goal in nearly four minutes — ended the run with 7:36 left.

The Mustangs' 1-for-10 stretch from the field with eight turnovers resulted in Arizona State battling back to take a 72-66 lead with 2:47 remaining.

Two free throws by Alonzo Gaffney at that time capped a 22-3 run.

—Field Level Media