TEMPE, Ariz. — The baskets in the Desert Financial Arena were not very forgiving for the Bearkats on Wednesday evening.
Sam Houston looked off target most of the night in a 78-61 loss to Arizona State. The setback ended the Kats' modest three-game winning streak as they fell to 4-4 on the season in their fifth road contest in the last six games.
Damon Nicholas Jr. had another solid performance for Sam Houston with a team-high 15 points.
Davon Barnes finished with 13 points, and
Kian Scroggins posted a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The Kats fell in a double-digit deficit early, mainly because they couldn't get shots to fall not because they weren't getting good looks. Sam Houston shot just 31 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes of the game.
The Sun Devils were close to blowing the game open, up 29-12 with five minutes to go in the half when the Bearkats finally got a spark offensively.
Souleymayne Doumbia, who had missed the past three games due to injury, and Scroggins made back-to-back layups. Nicholas blocked an ASU shot on the other end, and
Davon Barnes drilled a 3-pointer to cap a 7-0 to make it 29-19.
The remainder of the half was back and forth until the Sun Devils were able sneak a basket in right before the break to go in on top 38-25.
The game began to unravel in the second half as Arizona State went on a 9-4 run to increase its lead to 63-40 with just under nine minutes left in the game.
The Kats return home to face former Southland Conference rival Lamar at Johnson Coliseum on Sunday at 5 p.m.
