ASU Edges Texas A&M
TEMPE, Ariz.- Jeremy Veal's baseline jumper with nine seconds remaining lifted the Sun Devils to an 83-81 win over Texas A&M. ASU overcame a 17-point first-half deficit to raise its record to 7-3 on the season. Bobby Lazor led the Sun Devils with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
"I told Jeremy Veal he'd be in that situation again," said ASU head coach Don Newman about his senior guard who missed a similar shot earlier in the season against Kansas. "When it comes down the stretch, I feel very comfortable with Veal being the terminator."
Veal may have provided the lethal injection, but Lazor steadied the Sun Devils all night with his play. It was Lazor's sixth 20-point game on the year while he posted career highs in rebounds, blocks (six), steals (four) and minutes (38). He even buried his second three-pointer of the season to give ASU a 80-76 lead with 3:54 remaining.
That four-point margin was ASU's largest lead of the game as the Sun Devils came out looking like a team who had last played nine days earlier and just took final exams. The Aggies jumped out to a 4-0 lead and never looked back in building a 35-18 edge just past the half-way mark of the first half.
That lead held steady until ASU closed out the half with a 16-3 run to close the gap to three at the half. Lazor and sophomore reserve Jason Patton kept ASU's heads above water with 14 and 13 first-half points, respectively. The rest of ASU's team was cold, shooting for a combined 7-for-21 in an up-and-down game that saw the two teams combine for 32 first-half turnovers.
The second-half was nip-and-tuck as ASU took its first lead of the game on a Veal jumper less than four minutes after halftime. From that point on, no team led by more than four points and there were seven lead changes and three ties.
It all set up Veal's heroics as the Pac-10's top scorer overcame a bad shooting night (6-of-16) to come through when needed.