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TEMPE, Ariz. — Rihards Kuksiks scored 15 points, including a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 2:52 left, and Arizona State rallied to beat N.C. A&T 56-50 on Thursday.

Kuksiks' 3 gave the Sun Devils (7-4) a 53-50 advantage, and they held on to come back from a 12-point deficit.

Nic Simpson, who missed three 3s in the final 1:23, scored 17 points and had five assists to lead the Aggies (5-6).

A&T led 29-23 at halftime and extended its advantage to 38-26 in the first four minutes of the second half.

But Aggies forward Thomas Coleman picked up his third and fourth fouls in a 26-second span and had to go to the bench with 14:55 remaining.

Arizona State, led by former N.C. State coach Herb Sendek, went on an 8-1 run before Coleman returned with 12:10 left.

"I thought it was big when we had to take Thomas out of the game because of foul trouble," A&T coach Jerry Eaves said. "Thomas Coleman was the best player on the floor today, and not having him for that period of time hurt us."

Austin Witter hit his third 3-pointer with 10:21 left to give the Aggies a 47-38 lead, but the Sun Devils responded with a 12-3 run to tie the score with 4:09 to play.

Simpson scored seven points during a 12-0 spurt by the Aggies in the first half, and Coleman added four in the final 30 seconds of the half to give A&T a six-point lead at the break.

The Sun Devils missed 20 of 29 shots from the field in the half, including 10 of 14 from 3-point range. They also committed eight turnovers, which A&T turned into 12 points.

Coleman finished with nine points and 12 rebounds.

"My kids played with a lot of guts,'' Eaves said. "My team is getting closer and closer to being able to compete with the type of players that attend the Arizona States and Stanfords. It's a shame we couldn't get this one."

N.C. A&T (5-6)

Powell 4-8 1-2 10, Witter 3-6 0-0 9, Coleman 4-13 1-2 9, Hill 2-8 0-0 5, Simpson 7-19 1-2 17, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Underwood 0-0 0-0 0, Upchurch 0-1 0-0 0, Henry 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-57 3-6 50.

ARIZONA STATE (7-4)

Cain 0-5 0-0 0, Kuksiks 5-10 1-1 15, Abbott 3-13 0-2 8, McMillan 1-3 0-0 2, Lockett 5-11 2-3 12, Felix 0-1 4-4 4, Hawkins 0-0 0-0 0, Dunson 0-0 0-0 0, Creekmur 2-4 0-0 6, King 2-7 1-1 5, Pateev 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 20-57 8-11 56.

N.C. A&T 29 21 — 50
Arizona State 23 33 — 56

Percentages—N.C. A&T (FG .351, FT .500), Arizona State (FG .351, FT .727).

3-point goals—N.C. A&T 7-23 (Witter 3-6, Simpson 2-11, Hill 1-2, Powell 1-3, Williams 0-1), Arizona State 8-27 (Kuksiks 4-8, Creekmur 2-4, Abbott 2-8, Felix 0-1, King 0-2, McMillan 0-2, Lockett 0-2).

Fouled out—None.

Rebounds—N.C. A&T 35 (Coleman 12), Arizona State 43 (Cain 14).

Team rebounds—N.C. A&T 2, Arizona State 3

Assists—N.C. A&T 10 (Simpson 5), Arizona State 14 (Abbott 5).

Blocks—N.C. A&T 5 (Coleman 3), Arizona State 5 (Pateev 3).

Turnovers—N.C. A&T 10 (Witter 4), Arizona State 12 (Abbott 3).

Steals—N.C. A&T 7 (Powell 2, Coleman 2), Arizona State 7 (Abbott 2, Lockett 2).

Total fouls—N.C. A&T 13, Arizona State 10.

A—6,154.

Officials—Mike Littlewood, Kevin Brill, Mark Reischling.