Glass drops career high 40 points in loss to ASU, 100-94

Just one day after setting an impressive career high of 26 points in the win over Chaminade, Washington State freshman Ace Glass raised the bar even higher with a masterful 40-point performance. However, it was still not enough to send his team to the Maui Invitational championship game, as Washington State fell to the Arizona State Sun Devils, 100-94.

Despite the heroic performance from Glass, WSU (3-4) couldn’t slow down the ASU (6-1) offense in the second half, which shot 64.3% from the field in the game’s final 20 minutes and recorded 1.53 points per possession.

WSU raced out the gates with a barrage of three-pointers. Eemeli Yalaho got the party started with a trey and Glass followed suit with a pair of threes himself to give WSU an early 9-0 lead. Just as quickly as WSU seized the early momentum, ASU swung things right back with a 14-0 run thanks to a trio of WSU turnovers, two of which were traveling violations.

The rest of the first half was highly entertaining basketball, as neither team could seemingly miss. The Sun Devils finished the half shooting 53.6% from the field and 41.7% from downtown. While impressive, the story was WSU’s best first half of the season, shooting 60.7% from the field and splashing 10 of 15 three-point attempts. Glass led the way, picking up where he left off last night, with 16 first-half points on 5-7 shooting from the field to give WSU a 48-42 halftime lead.

But the true highlight of the half was Simon Hildebrandt throwing down a massive dunk over ASU’s Allen Mukeba.

WSU started the second half just as quickly as they started the first. A trio of two-pointers from ND Okafor, Tomas Thrastarson, and Glass pushed WSU up to their largest lead of the game at 12. But the Sun Devils wouldn’t go away so easily. Trailing by 11, Anthony Johnson got the Sun Devil bench up with a vicious slam to answer the one Hildebradt threw down in the first half.

The slam proved to be just the spark ASU needed, being the catalyst for a 12-2 run that slashed WSU’s double-digit lead all the way down to just a single point. But WSU’s offense held strong and continued to do just enough to keep ASU from flipping the lead.

Not only was WSU getting timely shots, but the continued drives to the hoop drew ASU fouls that put WSU in the bonus pretty early in the second half, with 9:25 still to go.

Finally, after clinging to a one-possession lead for nearly seven straight minutes, ASU broke through and swung the lead back with a dunk to go up 76-75 with 6:51 remaining. WSU’s offense was quick to answer yet again, getting a clutch and-one from Yalaho to retake the lead on the next possession.

Even though WSU was able to earn the bonus and subsequent double bonus quickly, they struggled to convert at the free-throw line. Outside of Glass, WSU shot four of eight from the charity stripe in the second half. The inability to cash in at the charity stripe put WSU in a precarious position that allowed ASU to build a lead out to six with 5:02 remaining.

WSU’s hero of the first half, Glass, wasn’t going to let WSU fade away, though. Over a five-and-a-half-minute span, Glass scored 9 of WSU’s 13 points, including a big three-pointer to pull WSU back within a possession and give him 30 points on the night. Moe Odom answered with a three-pointer of his own to put ASU back up six.

ASU continued to extend the lead, getting it out to seven with 1:18 to play on a pair of free throws. Rihards Vavers kept WSU’s hopes alive with a three-pointer on the next possession, but Odom struck a dagger in the Cougs with a ridiculous fadeaway three over Okafor that all but sealed a date with the USC Trojans in the Maui Invitational championship game.

But that didn’t matter to Glass. He kept things close with a trio of free throws to give himself 35 points and pull WSU within four. He answered Johnson’s putback layup with his sixth three-pointer of the night to get to 38 points and move WSU within a possession. After Johnson made only the back half of his two free-throw attempts, Glass was fouled on the opposite end of the court, sending him back to the free-throw line. Glass knocked home both free throws to become the first player since Noah Williams to score 40 points for the Cougars and the first player to score 40 in the Maui Invitational since Adam Morrison did it for Gonzaga in 2005. Only two other players had scored 40+. Chrosphe Varidel for Chaminade in 2013 and Terrell Lowery for Loyola Marymount in 1990.

Johnson and Odum knocked home the last four free throws for ASU to get them to the century mark and send ASU to the championship game.

WSU will look to secure 3rd place in the tournament tomorrow when they play the Seton Hall Pirates around 2:30PM PST.