Arizona State University traveled to Washington State University, looking to overcome a tough overtime loss a few days earlier.
WSU was without leading big man and junior forward Josh Hawkinson. Hawkinson was a game-time scratch with an ankle injury.
This was the second and final match up of the season between the two Pac-12 teams, the first of which resulted in a 84-73 ASU win.
The ASU offense was bolstered early by junior guard Andre Spight. Spight, the junior college transfer, started his scoring run with a lay-up with 13:09 left in the first half.
Spight then proceeded to knock down two consecutive threes to put the Sun Devils up 15-14 with a little over 10 minutes left in the half.
Spight added one more three to his stat line, finishing the half strong with 11 points on 4-6 shooting from the floor.
With 11 points at the half, Spight found himself tied with ASU sophomore guard Tra Holder for the game high in points.
ASU junior forward Obinna Oleka also put together a solid first half performance with 10 points, three of which came from a deep buzzer-beating shot to seal the first half lead.
The Sun Devils went to the locker room with a 40-32 lead over the Cougars.
ASU continued success to start the second half, scoring the first seven points of the half to increase their lead, now holding a 47-32 advantage.
The Sun Devils team never looked back, continuing to add to their lead through timely passing and three point shooting. When the final buzzer sounded, the score read 67-55 in favor of the Sun Devils.
Even with the absence of the Pac-12 reounding leader Josh Hawkinson, the Cougar line up still managed to keep the Sun Devil rebounding attack at bay, only to be out rebounded 38-37.
However, the one area the Cougars did seem to lack in was scoring, or rather an efficient scorer. The Cougars' second half was defined by its inability to put the ball in the basketball, shooting a mere 40% from the field.
With the win, the Sun Devils move to 13-11 as they sit in 11th place in the Pac-12 conference, showing a disappointing 3-8 conference record.
The Sun Devils travel back to Tempe this week, taking on USC in Wells Fargo Arena, Friday Feb. 12th at 6:00 pm.
Reach the reporter at Braxton.Fox@asu.edu or follow @braxton_fox_II on Twitter.
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