The Cougar men’s basketball team could not put out the Sun Devils' fire Thursday night as they saw their record drop to 14-8 overall and 4-6 in the Pac-10 conference standings. Poor shooting once again hurt the Cougars as they shot 3-18 from behind the arc and 19-30 from the free-throw line. Down by nearly 20 points in the second half, a late Cougar comeback was stopped short as the Sun Devils held on to win, 81-70.

In the first six minutes of the first half, there were seven lead changes and one tie as both teams looked to gain the upper hand on the other. With the score 18-17 in ASU's favor, the Sun Devils went on a 12-0 run to push their lead to 30-17. After the two teams traded baskets, WSU countered with a 7-0 run of their own. But ASU closed the half on a 10-2 run, giving them a 40-26 lead going into the break.

Sophomore guard Klay Thompson struggled from the floor Thursday night by going 6-20 from the floor, but he still finished with a team-high 20 points. Thompson went 2-10 from the floor in the first half, including 0-5 on three-point attempts.

“I really believe Klay is a great shooter, and I’m really surprised he hasn’t come out of the situation where he’s not shooting well,” WSU Head Coach Ken Bone said. “I believe strongly he will. And I think the more shots he puts up the sooner, he will come out of it.” WSU finished shooting 35.5 from the floor in the first half off 11-31 from the field, while ASU shot an impressive 62.5 percent from the floor by connecting on 15-24 from the field and shooting 50 percent from behind the arc.

“There were a couple of defensive breakdowns, but they executed extremely well,” Bone said. “It’s a team with some upperclassmen who know that system, inside out. They execute extremely well. They’re patient, and they’re a good offensive unit.” Sophomore guard Marcus Capers came out strong for WSU by going 3-3 from the floor and scoring 7 of the first 9 Cougar points. However, the Florida native picked up three fouls and was sent to the bench with seven and a half left. He did not return for the rest of the half.

Capers returned in the second half and finished the game with a career-high 13 points and added eight rebounds.

In the second half, ASU came out firing again. After only a minute and 20 seconds, the Sun Devils saw their lead increase to 45-26. Down 19, the Cougars slowly but surely started chipping away at the Sun Devil lead.

The Cougars went on a 13-2 run that was capped off by a three-pointer by Thompson to bring WSU within 8 points. WSU continued battling and brought its deficit down to 3 points after freshman guard Reggie Moore drove to the lane and knocked down a tough lay-in with less than eight minutes left in regulation.

However, ASU went on a 10-3 run late in the game to help secure its victory over the Cougars. Arizona State was led by junior guard Ty Abbott who finished with 18 points. Abbott scored 14 points in the second half and was a key factor in stopping the Cougar comeback.

WSU will host Arizona on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in a game that will be televised by FSN.