Las Vegas – The red “low fuel” warning light starting blinking about midway through the second half. The ASU basketball team gave top tournament seed UCLA all they could handle on Thursday, but they ran out of gas at the end losing to the Bruins 80-75. The Vegas road trip is over.

ASU fell to UCLA 80-75 in the second round of the Pac-12 Tournament.

It’s too bad, because the Sun Devils were on the verge of becoming the darlings of the Pac-12 Tournament. They had a good story to tell with superstar freshman Jahii Carson lighting up Vegas, Pac-12 Scholar of the Year and double-double machine Carrick Felix, and the Pac-12 leader in blocked shots, Jordan Bachynski. But the fatigue from the overtime victory over Stanford less than 24 hours earlier caught up with the Devils. Legs were tired, layups were missed and jump shots were coming up short at the end of the game against UCLA.

Both teams got off to a slow start, but once they found their groove, ASU took the lead and was in control for most of the game until it mattered most. Carson continued his magic show on the strip driving to the basket, hitting jumpers and dishing out sweet passes. He finished with 21 points and 7 assists. Jon Gilling was on radar lock from behind the arc, nailing five 3 pointers. After sitting out most of the game against Stanford, center Jordan Bachynski had a strong performance with 22 points and 3 blocked shots. But it wasn’t enough as the Devils couldn’t keep up the pace for the entire game. Larry Drew led UCLA in scoring with 20 points and 4-4 from 3 point range.

Up next, ASU will have to wait to find out their future destination, but most likely it will be another trip to the NIT tournament. The other big question is whether or not Jahii Carson will return for another season at ASU. His NBA stock rises with every game he plays, so Sun Devil fans will have to hold their breath. 

Take me to Devilink

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