ASU Linebacker -- Alleged Victim Says He Didn't Hit Me ... 'It Was A Hickey'

The girlfriend of an Arizona State football player is adamant her man has never laid a hand on her -- instead she tells TMZ Sports her alleged "injury" was really a hickey.

As we've reported ... Davon Durant was arrested for felony aggravated assault after a witness reportedly saw the star recruit hit his girlfriend last month.

But the girlfriend tells us she and Durant got a little loud during an argument ... prompting someone to call police. She insists she did not suffer any injuries during the dispute.

Here's the problem ... the girlfriend told police on scene Durant hit her in the face and grabbed her around the neck. She now claims she was just being "dramatic" at the time, and was too embarrassed to tell police the mark on her neck was a hickey -- and the eye "injury" was just an irritation from crying. She says she's told police several times since the arrest that she wasn't hit.

Prosecutors can still take Durant to trial without the gf's cooperation ... but it would make it more difficult to convict him.