BJ Freeman’s two free throws with six seconds left secured a 93-89 victory Wednesday night for Arizona State over visiting Cal Poly.
Freeman, who finished with 13 points and five assists, was one of six Arizona State players who scored in double figures.
Freshman forward Joson Sanon led the Sun Devils (5-1) with a season-high 22 points. Adam Miller finished with 16 points, Alston Mason had 14 points and five assists, Basheer Jihad scored 11 points and freshman Jayden Quaintance had 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Cal Poly (3-3) nearly matched its win total of last season, when it finished 4-28.
Jarred Hyder had 27 points while shooting 9 of 18 from the field, 7 of 14 from 3-point range, for the Mustangs. Isaac Jessup had 17 points and Kieran Elliott added 14.
Arizona State led by as many as 13 points in the second half, but Cal Poly rallied to cut the deficit to 81-80 with 2:50 left on a layup by Mac Riniker.
Jihad’s two free throws with 1:41 to go gave Arizona State an 84-80 lead.
Koonce then made two free throws to pull the Mustangs within two.
Sanon answered, making a shot on a drive while being fouled. He sank the free throw for the three-point play to put the Sun Devils ahead 87-82 with 1:03 left.
Elliott followed with a basket in the lane.
Mason made one of two free-throw attempts to give Arizona State an 88-84 lead with 32 seconds left.
After a missed 3-point attempt by Koonce, Quaintance was fouled. Quaintance made 1 of 2 shots at the free-throw line to increase the lead to 89-84 with 21 seconds left.
Hyder made a 3-pointer before Sanon responded with two free throws with 13 seconds remaining to keep Arizona State ahead 91-87.
Hyder was fouled attempting a 3-pointer, and he made 2 of 3 free attempts with 8 seconds left.
Freeman then made his game-clinching free throws.
Arizona State went on a 13-1 run to take a 19-7 lead with 13:04 left in the first half, and the Sun Devils went into halftime up 46-38.
–Field Level Media
