The Arizona State Sun Devils’ furious rally fell just short on Saturday night as they lost to Baylor 72-66 in overtime.

The Sun Devils trailed by 12 at halftime, but outscored Baylor 41-29 in the second half to force an extra period. Senior guard Adam Miller tied the game at 61-61 on a driving layup with 1.9 seconds left in regulation.

The Sun Devils went cold in overtime, though, shooting just 2-of-10 from the field. The loss dropped ASU to 10-5 overall and 1-3 in the Big 12. It was also ASU’s first loss at home this season.

Jayden Quaintance, Joson Sanon Struggle

Arizona State’s 5-star freshmen, Jayden Quaintance and Joson Sanon, struggled against Baylor’s suffocating defense. They combined for just 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting.

Sanon, who came into the game as Arizona State’s leading scorer at 13.5 points per game, saw his first game action since spraining an ankle vs. BYU on New Year’s eve. He played 18 minutes off the bench, shot 2-of-5 from the field and finished with 5 points and no rebounds. He looked good early, but couldn’t get it going.

Quaintance, one of the nation’s leading shot blockers, finished with just 5 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks in 40 minutes. He struggled with Baylor’s length and athleticism — as did the entire ASU team. The Sun Devils were outrebounded by Baylor 43-35 and they gave up 15 offensive rebounds.

BJ Freeman Has Big Game

Milwaukee transfer BJ Freeman had his highest-scoring game of the season, dropping in 22 points on 8-of-19 shooting from the field.

Freeman, a 6-foot-6 senior, shot 0-of-3 in overtime and fouled out with 56 seconds left.

His performance came in front of multiple NBA scouts who were there to watch Quaintance, Sanon and Baylor freshman VJ Edgecombe. A projected top-5 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Edgecombe finished with 15 points and 4 rebounds.

Arizona State Drops, Baylor Rises In NET Rankings

The loss dropped the Sun Devils fell to No. 56 in the NCAA NET Rankings, which are used as the primary sorting tool for selection and seeding for the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

ASU will have to rise into the top 30 of the NET to have a legitimate chance for an at-large berth in March Madness. With so many Quad 1 games remaining in the Big 12, the Sun Devils have an opportunity to play their way into the tourney.

Baylor jumped to No. 19 in the NET with the victory. The Bears are 3-4 in Quad 1 games and are currently projected as a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

More Arizona State & Big 12 Analysis

TUSCON, Ariz. (AP) — Caleb Love scored 16 points, Anthony Dell’Orso made 9 of 9 from the free-throw line and finished with 15 points and Arizona beat UCF 88-80 Saturday night to extend its win streak to six games.

Love made 4 of 7 from 3-point range, grabbed eight rebounds and had six assists. Henri Veesaar added 14 points, Tobe Awaka scored 11 and KJ Lewis 10 for Arizona (10-5, 4-0 Big 12).

Love hit a pair of free throws to open the scoring about a minute into the game, followed with a 3-pointer to make it 5-0 and Arizona never trailed. The Wildcats scored nine consecutive points to take a 14-point lead when Awaka threw down a dunk with 9:38 remaining before halftime.

Darius Johnson hit a 3-pointer for UCF that tied it at 45-all 13 seconds into the second half but Trey Towsend made the first of two free throws 23 seconds later to give Arizona the lead for good. Jaden Ivy-Curry’s 3 cut the deficit to 53-50 but the Wildcats scored 13 of the next 17 points and led by at least eight points for the final 13 minutes.

Keyshawn Hall led UCF (11-4, 2-2 Big 12) with 22 points and Johnson scored 18.

Rokas Jocius converted a three-point play to spark an 18-6 spurt that made it 42-all but Trey Townsend was fouled as he made a layup and hit the and-1 free throw to give Arizona a three-point lead at the intermission.

Arizona made 15 of 30 from the field in the first half but the Knights, who shot 37% (14 of 38), used a 12-3 advantage on the offensive glass to outscore the Wildcats 11-3 in second-chance points.