TUCSON — Alston Mason was about as locked in as a player can be. But then again, he's been a handful for opponents to defend for the last month.

The senior point guard tallied a season-high 33 points , but it wasn't quite enough as the Arizona State Sun Devils fell to No. 24 Arizona 113-100 late Tuesday night in Big 12 play at the McKale Center in the penultimate game of the regular season.

The Sun Devils (13-17, 4-15) needed every one of Mason's points and could have used even a few more as it was another case of the team being severely shorthanded.

They were still missing 6-foot-9 freshman forward Jayden Quaintance (right knee) as well as leading scorer B.J. Freeman, who was dismissed from the team three weeks ago. Senior guard Adam Miller (hip) was back in the starting lineup Tuesday night after missing one game, but his appearance lasted less than a minute before he retreated to the locker room with a trainer and never returned.

Miller's departure left the Sun Devils with just seven available players. That total included Hurley's son Bobby Hurley, Jr. and true freshman Trevor Best, who aren't supposed to be major players but have been pushed into playing time because of the depleted personnel.

Arizona (20-10, 14-5) came into the contest tied for second in the conference and looking to secure a top-four seed in the conference tournament later this month in Kansas City. Undermanned against a heavily favored opponent, the Sun Devils battled as they have all season.

"It's very easy to just let go of the rope and feel sorry for yourself and not compete but these guys have stayed together through all the chaos that we've had and the unfortunate things that have gone on but they, and Mason in particular, have shown leadership," Hurley said. "We had a number of good contributions."

But it was Mason keeping the Sun Devils in the contest. He went 10-for-17 from the field, highlighted by a 5-for-7 from long distance. He also went 8-for-8 from the line, tallied six assists and two steals and did not turn the ball over. His 33 points were the most in a single game by an ASU player since Alonzo Verge tossed in 43 against Saint Mary's in 2019.

"(Mason) was as good as any guard I've brought in here to play a game vs. Arizona on the road. Unbelievable individual performance," Hurley said. "It means everything to him and I know it does and his dad played at ASU, so to him putting on that jersey matters. He's got a real future ahead of him and so he's been locked in. We had a really good conversation a month ago, and we talked about point guards and leadership and different things. He's pretty much been on a tear the last month."

Mason's biggest shot was a 3-pointer that cut the deficit to three points at 89-86 with 6:19 left. That was as close as the game was since early in the first half.

The Wildcats wasted no time restoring order, scoring 10 of the next 11 points to put the game away for good. All of Arizona's points in that stretch came in the paint or at the line. Wildcats registered a whopping 52 points in the paint, which was a big factor in shooting 59% (36-for-61) from the field.

Henri Veesaar had a career-high 22 while Caleb Love and K.J. Lewis each had 21.

That was a by-product of ASU missing its dominant rim protector in Quaintaince. ASU also had 6-8 Basheer Jihad foul out with 9:57 to go and 7-footer Shawn Phillips following a minute later.

"You're also seeing the impact of Jayden Quaintance not being in there, the rebounding, the defense, our last three games we have given up 99, 91 and 113 so that's never happened since I've been here or close to it," Hurley said. "We're playing really good teams and the good teams are playing well so you miss someone that can have that kind of impact on the defensive end of the floor."

Their departure left ASU with a lineup that included three true freshmen along with Hurley Jr. and Mason. Not only were those two players not in the key rotation, but it was a small lineup too with Amier Ali the tallest player at 6-5.

ASU shot a respectable 46.3% (31-for-67). Joson Sanon finished with 19 points, Jihad with 15 points and seven rebounds and Phillips with 14 points and six rebounds.

This marked the second time ASU got to the 100-point plateau — the first time being a double overtime loss to Texas Tech. Despite the unusual player combinations on the floor, ASU had only four turnovers.

"We played well, to get 100 points I just, with some of the lineups we had out there I think it's amazing what these guys are doing," Hurley said.

Mason has scored 152 points in his last eight games (19 average) with 41 assists and nine steals. He says he's just trying to keep the faith and encourage the more inexperienced players.

"I just tried my best to be a leader out there," he said. "It's a rough patch for us right now but I'm out here with some young guys and I'm trying to get them to keep their heads up and keep them in the right mindset. "When it's a one-possession game anything can happen. After being unmanned, just giving our team a little bit of hope, I was just telling the guys, we're right there. You can see it."

The Sun Devils close out the regular season with a 6 p.m. game against Texas Tech on Saturday at Desert Financial Arena.

Hurley says his team will keep going.

"You got to keep fighting," he said. "You can't give up. Ever. You can't give in. I would say the majority of the teams we've played against, even though a lot of these have not amounted to victories, I think they felt our presence in the game and they said, `Hey, I don't know if I like playing against those guys. They're pretty scrappy and they're gonna battle' and we just have to keep doing that."

(This story was updated to add or change a video.)