The ASU men's basketball team realized Tuesday night how easy things are when everything is clicking from the free-throw line.
In dire need of a win before a 10-day break for final exams, Sun Devil head coach Rob Evans went with a new starting lineup that included junior swingman Jamal Hill playing in place of senior forward Donnell Knight and senior guard Kyle Dodd starting for sophomore guard Jason Braxton at the point. ASU freshman forward Ike Diogu was also not at full strength less than 24 hours after being injected with a series of intravenous fluids to combat a stomach virus that caused him to have a bad case of dehydration and a high fever.
But it didn't necessarily matter who was on the floor, as the Sun Devils shot 80 percent from the charity stripe in a 76-63 victory over Nevada before 6,983 fans at Wells Fargo Arena.
"I've received a lot of letters from people telling me we need to shoot them underhanded," said Evans, whose team made 24 of 30 attempts at the free-throw line to improve to 62.4 percent on the season. "We haven't done anything differently. We've just been shooting them like we've always shot them and we've put a lot of emphasis on them like we always have."
Diogu, who was 7-for-16 from inside the arc and 10-for-11 from the free-throw line, looked sluggish early. But he eventually found his touch and fell into a zone as the game progressed.
Diogu scored six of team's last nine points in the second half to help ASU (5-3) grab a 36-28 halftime lead. He then heated up even more after the break to lead the Sun Devils to a much-needed win that snapped a two-game losing streak.
"I definitely had to push myself through it," said Diogu, who finished with a game-high 25 points and nine rebounds. "My teammates needed me and I needed my teammates, too. They helped me and I helped them."
Although Hill and Dodd both got the nod in the starting lineup, Knight and Braxton were the ones who made more contributions. Hill tallied just five points in 13 minutes, while Dodd was held scoreless in 12 minutes.
Braxton continued to struggle from the field, making 2 of 6 shots in 26 minutes. However, his game-high seven assists, which matched a career-high, were more than enough for a team that turned the ball over only 10 times.
"We're trying to get these guys to understand that everybody is a role player on this team," Evans said. "Some guys' role is to shoot it, some guys' role is to rebound and some guys' role is to play defense. We're trying to make sure they understand what their roles are so that they don't get out of character."
Knight may have had the most impressive performance when not starting for the first time this year. He made all five of his attempts from the field for 12 points and also hauled down a game-high 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.
"That's a challenge in itself if the coach takes your starting job," Knight said. "That speaks for itself. You don't need to say much to me. That's enough words right there."
Knight scored six points early when ASU went into a half-court zone that provided the backbone for a 14-0 run over a three-minute stretch. He tossed in four more points after the break as the Sun Devils upped their advantage to as many as 15 points and pulled away down the stretch.
"I'll take (the wins) as they come," Knight said.
The Wolf Pack (2-4) were led by sophomore guard Kirk Snyder, who marked a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds on 4-for-6 shooting from three-point range. Senior guard Terrance Green, the nephew of former Phoenix Suns forward A.C. Green, scored 15 points, while junior guard Gary Hill-Thomas finished with 11.
"They came out and played with a passion and played harder than us," Nevada head coach Trent Johnson said. "We are nowhere near tough enough to play a team like this and beat them on the road. I was disappointed with our effort and our toughness."
GAME NOTES: After the game, Evans credited team trainer Koicho Sato for getting Diogu ready to play ... The Sun Devils, who are 18-3 in the past two seasons when leading at halftime, won for just the fifth time in the past 33 games when not shooting 50 percent from the field ... ASU forced 18 turnovers and outscored Nevada 20-4 in the paint ... Sun Devil senior forward Shawn Redhage was 3-for-7 from inside the arc, but made 6-of-7 shots from the free-throw line for 12 points ... ASU senior guard Curtis Millage finished with seven points on 2-for-11 shooting from the field.
UP NEXT: The Sun Devils are scheduled to return to action at 6:30 p.m. PT/7:30 p.m. MST Dec. 21 when playing Purdue in the Las Vegas Showdown. The game can be seen on ESPN2 and also will be aired on ESPN Radio 860 AM.
Reach the reporter at brian.gomez@asu.edu.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS Nevada vs Arizona State 12-10-02 7:00 p.m. at Tempe, AZ (Wells Fargo Arena) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Nevada 2-4 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 01 Snyder, Kirk........ f 7-13 4-6 3-7 2 8 10 4 21 6 8 0 1 36 21 Pinkney, Kevinn..... f 2-8 0-1 0-0 2 2 4 2 4 1 1 1 1 36 45 Ochs, Matt.......... c 1-3 0-0 0-0 3 1 4 3 2 1 0 1 0 14 04 Green, Terrance..... g 6-14 2-7 1-4 1 2 3 1 15 4 1 0 0 27 23 Hill-Thomas, Gary... g 3-7 0-0 5-8 2 3 5 3 11 0 1 0 1 26 03 Okeson, Todd........ 1-5 1-4 1-2 0 1 1 2 4 1 1 0 1 20 11 Browne, Dean........ 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 4 0 0 2 0 0 7 13 Petty, Jerry........ 1-3 0-1 0-0 1 1 2 3 2 1 3 1 1 18 42 Paul, Sean.......... 2-3 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 4 4 0 1 2 0 14 55 Eversteyn, Jason.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 TEAM................ 4 2 6 Totals.............. 23-58 7-19 10-21 15 24 39 26 63 14 18 5 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-27 40.7% 2nd Half: 12-31 38.7% Game: 39.7% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-10 30.0% 2nd Half: 4-9 44.4% Game: 36.8% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 3-7 42.9% 2nd Half: 7-14 50.0% Game: 47.6% 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Arizona State 5-3 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 04 Smith, Tommy........ f 3-5 0-1 1-2 2 3 5 4 7 0 2 0 1 20 22 Hill, Jamal......... f 2-4 0-0 1-2 1 3 4 1 5 1 0 0 0 13 05 Diogu, Ike.......... c 7-16 1-1 10-11 4 5 9 2 25 0 2 3 0 36 03 Dodd, Kyle.......... g 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 0 3 1 0 0 12 14 Millage, Curtis..... g 2-11 0-1 3-4 0 3 3 2 7 1 2 0 2 28 01 Braxton, Jason...... 2-6 0-0 1-2 0 2 2 3 5 7 2 0 3 26 12 Crandall, Kenny..... 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 9 21 Knight, Donnell..... 5-5 0-0 2-2 2 8 10 4 12 3 1 0 0 32 33 Osborne, Chris...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 42 Redhage, Shawn...... 3-7 0-0 6-7 0 1 1 2 12 1 0 1 1 20 TEAM................ 2 1 3 Totals.............. 25-57 2-5 24-30 11 28 39 19 76 16 10 4 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-28 39.3% 2nd Half: 14-29 48.3% Game: 43.9% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-1 100 % 2nd Half: 1-4 25.0% Game: 40.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 13-16 81.3% 2nd Half: 11-14 78.6% Game: 80.0% 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Andy Rios, Billy Gianquinto, Brian Harrison Technical fouls: Nevada-None. Arizona State-None. Attendance: 6983 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Nevada........................ 28 35 - 63 Arizona State................. 36 40 - 76