Mortle tip gives Texas Southern 67-66 OT win over Arizona St
HOUSTON (AP) — Zytarious Mortle tipped in a missed shot with 5.6 seconds left and P.J. Henry stole the ball in the closing seconds as Texas Southern shocked Arizona State 67-66 in the Pac-12/SWAC Legacy Series on Sunday.
John Walker III missed a jumper near the left elbow and Carter Grayson slipped inside for a tip that rolled off the front of the rim where Mortle, a freshman, was waiting to the tip.
As ASU’s Frankie Collins raced the ball upcourt, Henry got his hand on it just as Collins got inside the 3-point arc and it rolled away as time ran out.
Henry led the Tigers (1-2) with 22 points, hitting four 3-pointers. Walker added 16 points and Mortle, a freshman, added 10 off the bench.
Rebounding was the difference as Mortle had an offensive board that led to Henry’s 3-pointer that tied the game at 57 with 31.6 seconds to play in regulation. Mortle also grabbed a rebound after a Sun Devil miss on the other end and was fouled but he missed the front end of the one-and-one with 4.6 seconds left. However, the Tigers grabbed that offensive rebound and Carter had a good look for the winning shot.
Texas Southern had a 50-41 rebounding, including 16-10 on the offensive end, but was a dismal 7 of 19 from the foul line.
Collins led the Sun Devils (2-1), who went 5 of 23 from 3-point range and shot 34% overall, with 23 points. Warren Washington added 10 points and 14 rebounds. Marcus Bagley, who had 25 points in the first two games, missed the game due to a hip injury.
The Pac-12/SWAC Legacy Series was established to promote education around the issues of anti-racism and social justice. Teams from the two leagues will play a home-and-home series. Only ASU, Washington State and Colorado will be visiting teams this year. Arizona State’s women’s team hosted Grambling on Friday.
Arizona State led 28-24 at the half but the Tigers hit two 3s and scored the first eight points of the second half. With both teams struggling to find the range, an 8-0 run had the Sun Devils on top 51-39 with just under eight minutes left.
Henry then hit two jumpers and a 3-pointer to start a 10-0 run that got the Tigers back in it.
Texas Southern is the defending Southwestern Athletic Conference champion with NCAA Tournament appearances in six of the last eight years. The Tigers are now 46-9 at home in the last five seasons.
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