Arizona State, it seemed, rolled into Pullman with confidence. A win over your rival will usually do that. But as the Sun Devils traveled north, they seemed to lose most of what helped them knock off Arizona last Saturday.

Behind 21 turnovers and a 53-percent clip from the free-throw line, ASU couldn’t extend its win streak to a trio, falling 67-65 to Washington State (13-9, 4-5 Pac-12). The difference was a CJ Elleby triple with four seconds remaining.

Until that point, though, it felt like the Sun Devils (12-8, 3-4 Pac-12) had another comeback in them. To knock off Arizona, the Sun Devils overcame a 22-point deficit, with the Wildcats accounting for the largest blown lead in Pac-12 history. On Wednesday, ASU rallied back after the Cougars had built up a 15-point lead early in the second period.

And with less than 20 seconds to play, the Sun Devils had notched the lead. They were 18 seconds away from what would have been their first three-game winning streak since the middle of December. Instead, Elleby dashed their hopes -- at a midweek win and possibly a chance at the NCAA Tournament.

Here are four takeaways from the game:

1.) CJ Elleby too much for the Sun Devils

After freshman forward Jalen Graham missed the second half of his two free throws, Washington State burst down the court and put the ball in the hands of their best player. Forward CJ Elleby made a few moves on Remy Martin to create space then threw up a deep 3-pointer. Bang. The Sun Devils couldn’t corral a shot attempt at the end, securing the Cougars win. It was fitting the victory would come off the fingertips of Elleby, who was the Pac-12’s fifth-leading scorer heading into Wednesday. The 6-foot-6, 200-pound sophomore, who had a double-double in WSU’s victory in Tempe last season, scored a game-high 27 points and 12 rebounds on Wednesday. He calmed down a bit in the second half, scoring just 11 points in the final frame, but his length and athleticism were a problem for the Sun Devils all night.

2.) Jalen Graham comes up big at the end

In the offseason, the Sun Devils had let out that forwards Jalen Graham and Romello White were playing together in practice. Until the Washington State game, it had largely been absent from Hurley’s offensive configurations. But against the Cougars, Hurley threw his freshman and junior forwards in the game to play alongside each other. He had done it before but Wednesday was the first time it occurred during meaningful minutes. In the end, the pair combined for 24 points and 17 rebounds. On top of that, Graham scored the Sun Devils’ final five points of the game, including knocking down a free throw with 18 seconds left that gave ASU a one-point lead.

3.) Turnovers an issue

Heading into halftime, the Sun Devils had already racked up 15 turnovers. That put them on pace for 30 for the game, which would have been six more turnovers than ASU had ever had under Bobby Hurley. The inexplicable mistakes and miscues were the Sun Devils’ kryptonite on this late Pac-12 Wednesday showdown. The game actually ended for ASU when freshman Jaelen House took the inbounds pass following the winning three-pointer and turner the ball over with less than a second left. It’s inexcusable not to see starting point guard junior Remy Martin handle the ball in this situation. You rather go down with the ball in his hands than a freshman’s.

In the end, ASU finished with 21 turnovers -- the third-most in the Hurley-era -- meaning that it went from committing 15 in the first half to six in the second half. Chalk it up to Hurley’s halftime speech or more disciplined play, it doesn’t matter. The Sun Devils started to take cleaner shots in the second half. They moved the ball around the arc and tried to funnel it into the paint. The results of their effort showed. In the second half, ASU outscored WSU 34-30 and shot better from the field.

4.)Sun Devils play a dozen guys

Perhaps the most indicative notion of the Sun Devils’ fortune on Wednesday was that Khalid Thomas and Caleb Christopher -- who have combined for 130 minutes this season -- played in the crunch time of the first half, tallying a total of 10 minutes for the game. It seemed like Hurley’s way of sending a message that he didn’t like what he was watching from ASU’s traditional rotation. On top of that pair, Hurley threw in guard Elias Valtonen, who had played once in the previous four games, recorded three minutes of game time. It seemed like the time where Hurley was trying every sort of configuration and lineup he could to try and find some sort of success.