Determined to return home to Tempe from the Pacific Northwest with a win under its belt following a tough loss to Washington, Arizona State (8-15, 4-9 Pac-12) fought off a resurgent Washington State (14-9, 7-5 Pac-12) in one of its strongest road wins of the season, defeating the Cougars 58-55 in Pullman.

The Sun Devils got off to a quick start, trading blows with the Cougars from the field for the first five minutes of the contest, but it would be Washington State who had the hot hand early. The Cougars sank three marks from three-point range on four shots in that short span of time. Arizona State wouldn’t let its opponent get too far ahead, as makes from graduate transfer guard Marreon Jackson and junior forward Jalen Graham kept the Cougar lead below six.

It was the ASU defense that would prove its worth beyond that of the offense, though, as after the early makes from deep, as the Sun Devils guarded the perimeter tightly through the end of the first half, only allowing two more makes on 13 attempts. Besides a three-pointer from sophomore forward Andrej Jakimovski, Washington State would only cash in points from the free-throw line in the final 10 minutes of the first half.

With just over eight minutes to play in the first half, redshirt junior guard Luther Muhammad would begin to show his worth, scoring six points in succession via layup, two free throws, and a midrange jumper. The six points were his highest-scoring outing since he scored eight in the late-game road loss to Stanford on Jan. 22.

For a six-minute period in the final ten minutes of the half, Washington State went on a horrid six-minute scoring drought, primarily due to stifling Arizona State defense on all three levels of the floor. The Cougars turned the ball over five times in the final 10 minutes of the first half.

Despite outshooting and outrebounding the Cougars, Arizona State trailed by two, a lucky break for the Sun Devils considering it had turned over the ball twice as much as its opponent.

In the second half, Arizona State tied the game at 29 via a Muhammad two-point jumper in 24 minutes; the Sun Devils had scored just as many points as it did in 40 minutes in its Dec. 1 loss to the Cougars in Tempe. Muhammad would cash in on another jumper and layup to reach his final total of 12 points on 5-8 shooting with eight rebounds, an assist, and a steal, not to mention some stout on-ball defense. His 12 points were an ASU career-high for Muhammad.

The Sun Devils opened up the second half with a 14-5 run on offense, holding the Cougars scoreless for the first five minutes. Once Arizona State took over the lead, it managed to stretch the margin out to eight points before Wazzu began to fight back. After Muhammad’s final points of the night, with ASU up by seven, WSU began to close the gap. Redshirt junior guard Tyrell Roberts hit a three. Jakimovski followed his teammate up with five straight points of his own on two successive possessions.

With just over eight minutes remaining in the game, both Graham and junior transfer forward Alonzo Gaffney acquired their fourth fouls, requiring crucial minutes from freshman center Enoch Boakye. The first-year Sun Devil stepped up, scoring four points on two makes from the field with six rebounds, an assist, and a block. Gaffney fouled out of the contest four minutes later with no points to show for but once again provided his valuable defensive presence down low for head coach Bobby Hurley.

In the final three minutes, the two teams went back and forth, but ASU managed to hold on to the lead with key makes from Jackson, who scored layups on back-to-back possessions, both of which came from assists – one from Graham, the other from Muhammad.

In the final two and a half minutes, it seemed as if Arizona State had put the game to bed, as Jackson made his fourth three-pointer of the night, followed by a Graham layup – both players ended the game with 14 points – and ASU led by six.

However, Wazzu’s leading scorer on the season, senior guard Michael Flowers, would not let ASU sneak off into the night without a challenge. Flowers sank a highly contested three-pointer with 45 seconds to go, making it a one-possession game.

Hurley called timeout after Flowers’ make, drawing up an inbound play and options for Arizona State, but his play went awry as the pass following the timeout, which went to Jackson, resulted in an ASU turnover.

WSU quickly spent its final timeout of the night but wasted the possession on a three-point miss from Roberts to tie the game. Hurley called another timeout. Due to ASU not being in the bonus, Washington State fouled twice before ASU even inbounded the ball. Once the ball was finally back in play with four seconds to go, ASU turned it over again; this time, sophomore guard DJ Horne was responsible as he stepped out of bounds.

Washington State blew its final chance to get a shot to tie the game, as junior guard Noah Williams threw the inbound pass directly into the arms of Muhammad, who ran out the remaining time.

Arizona State finished 24-49 from the field, good for 49 percent, its best shooting performance of the season while finding a way to go home satisfied after dropping an 87-64 loss to Washington on Thursday night. It was ASU’s first road win since beating Oregon 69-67 on Dec. 5.

Hurley’s Sun Devils return to Tempe to face the Oregon schools at home this week. They’ll host the Ducks on Thursday at 7 pm and the Beavers on Saturday at 6 pm.