Buckets weren't easy to come by but ASU eked out a victory over North Dakota State 60-57 Saturday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena thanks to a Carrick Felix buzzer beater. Felix also lead the way for the Sun Devils with 15 points. Kyle Cain and birthday boy Trent Lockett also chipped in 13 and 12 rebounds respectively. Taylor Braun was the high-man for NDSU with a game-high 16 points.
The first half wasn't a particularly pretty one for either team but the Bisons had the shooting edge with at 37% over the Devil's 30.8% despite NDSU's 2-12 shooting from behind the arc. And not much changed after the short locker room intermission, with both teams shooting a combined 3-19 from downtown in the second half. But each team got big threes when it mattered most.
First was NDSU's Mike Felt sinking a highly-contested desperation heave that tied the game at 57 with only 1.8 seconds remaining. The next (and final shot) was Felix's dead-eye deep ball that came on a beautifully drawn-up play from Coach Sendek.
None of that would have been possible though if it wasn't for ASU buckling down and get some much needed stops in the final two minutes despite some terrible defensive lapses earlier in the game. The Devils also dominated NDSU in the rebound category of the box score, totaling 45 including 14 offensive compared to the Bison's 32 total.