Syracuse shoots past Arizona State for First Four win

[March 15, 2018]  Freshman forward Oshae Brissett recorded 23 points and 12 rebounds to lead Syracuse to a 60-56 victory over Arizona State in a battle of No. 11 seeds on Wednesday at the NCAA Tournament's First Four in Dayton, Ohio.

Sophomore guard Tyus Battle added 15 points for the Orange (21-13). Junior guard Frank Howard scored 12 points as Syracuse overcome a seven-point deficit with a closing 18-7 burst.

The Orange face sixth-seeded TCU on Friday in a Midwest Regional first-round game at Detroit.

Senior guard Kodi Justice scored 15 points and senior guard Shannon Evans II added 14 for the Sun Devils, who lost for the sixth time in the past seven games. Arizona State (20-12) got 11 points from senior guard Tra Holder and 10 from sophomore forward Mickey Mitchell.

Evans missed a go-ahead 3-point attempt with four seconds left. Howard then made two free throws with 0.4 seconds remaining to seal the win for the Orange.

"Everyone just plays hard, everyone wants to win," Brissett said in a postgame interview on truTV. "We're all dialed in. We come out every game ready to play."

Arizona State was just 3 of 10 from the free-throw line. The Sun Devils opened the season with 12 straight wins and then went 8-12 the rest of the way.

The Sun Devils trailed by two at halftime but scored the first eight points of the second half as Holder and Evans drained 3-pointers, and Holder hit a jumper to give Arizona State a 36-30 lead.

Syracuse recovered and Brissett drained a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 44-42 with 7:51 left. However, junior forward De'Quon Lake scored a basket and Justice drained a 3-pointer as the Sun Devils held a 49-42 edge with 7:05 remaining.

Just as quickly, the momentum turned and the Orange scored eight straight points, taking a 50-49 edge on Brissett's three-point play with 4:12 left.

Justice drained a 3-pointer 10 seconds later to give Arizona State a 52-50 lead. Brissett tied the game with a jumper with 2:49 left.

Battle connected on a 3-pointer to give Syracuse a 55-52 lead with 1:51 remaining, and Justice hit a short jumper to pull the Sun Devils within one. Junior center Paschal Chukwu made two free throws with 39.3 seconds to play to give the Orange a three-point edge.

Mitchell scooped a shot in with 15.6 seconds left to move Arizona State within one. Chukwu split two free throws with 14.7 seconds to play to give Syracuse a 58-56 edge.

Battle scored 10 points in the first half, and the Orange held a 30-28 advantage at the break.

--Field Level Media

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