Keyshawn Hall began wrapping up a 40-point night with a short jumper with 1:26 to play that took two bounces off the rim before finding the bottom of the net as Central Florida downed Arizona State 95-89 on Tuesday in Tempe, Ariz.
Hall’s good luck gave the Knights (12-4, 3-2 Big 12) an 89-86 lead, and Darius Johnson knocked down two free throws within the next 1:04 to essentially put the Sun Devils (10-6, 1-4) away for good.
Alston Mason drilled a 3-pointer for Arizona State with 10 seconds to go, but the shot was sandwiched by four free throws from Hall, who set a career high in points.
Though the lead changed hands several times in the second half, UCF was the more composed team down the stretch. Johnson finished with 17 points and seven assists.
BJ Freeman led Arizona State with 26 points, while Jayden Quaintance supplied 20 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots before fouling out.
After a wild first half in which Hall scored 29 of his points on 11-of-13 shooting, the Knights went up by 12, 65-53, thanks in part to four 3-pointers in less than four minutes to open the second half.
The Sun Devils didn’t fold, though. They later scored 11 unanswered points to go in front 71-69. Freeman soon hit a trey for a 76-72 Arizona State lead.
UCF kept shooting from deep to keep the game close, and Hall returned to the court with just over seven minutes to play after taking a breather because of foul trouble. His return sparked the Knights after his impressive first half.
Despite having Hall scoring at will, Central Florida never led by more than eight in the first 20 minutes of action. The Knights did, however, close the first half on an 8-2 run to take a 49-47 lead into the break.
Arizona State held a four-point edge before UCF’s strong finish in the first half.
–Field Level Media
