Sun Devils struggle in 66-57 loss to UCLA

Arizona State fell short Thursday night as they lost 66-57 to the UCLA Bruins at Wells Fargo Arena. A competitive game turned bad for the Sun Devils with around six minutes remaining as the Bruins pulled away giving ASU their twentieth loss of the season.

Jonathan Gilling had one of his better shooting performances and he led the Sun Devils with 17 points. Chris Colvin was big for ASU dishing out a career-high eight assists and scoring 10 points. Trent Lockett added 13 points and six rebounds.

The Sun Devils grabbed an early lead in the first half behind the play of Chris Colvin. Colvin marked six assists in the first half. The shooting of Lazeric Jones allowed the Bruins to slowly make their way back to take the lead. A good stretch by ASU late in the half brought the deficit to one point and the score was 25-24 UCLA at the half.

UCLA jumped ahead and maintained a lead throughout the second half but the Sun Devils hung within striking distance. The Bruins once again chipped away and took a double digit lead midway through the half. ASU had their chances to pull the game close again but UCLA made important shots to secure the victory.

ASU shot 40.8 percent (20 of 49) from the field, 41.2 percent (7 of 17) from behind the arc. ASU grabbed 32 rebounds to UCLA's 26.

The Bruins shot 50 percent (26 of 52) as a team, 31.3 percent (5 of 16) from three. They were led by guard Lazeric Jones who put up 20 points.

ASU seemed to move the ball better at times tonight but did not have the bounces go their way in the paint as multiple chances from around the hoop bounced out. As usual though, the Sun Devils just did not seem to have enough to take down another Pac-12 opponent.

By Dushan Mladenovic
Sun Devil Media Relations