Dec 22, 2002
By Brian Gomez, TheSunDevils.com
LAS VEGAS -- Different circumstances yielded different results Saturday night for the Arizona State men's basketball team.
The last time the Sun Devils played at the Thomas & Mack Center, they were still feeling the sting from three consecutive losses to close out the regular season and a lopsided defeat against arch-rival Arizona in the opening round of the Pac-10 Tournament. The result was a season-ending loss to Nevada-Las Vegas in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.
This time, however, ASU was facing a different opponent after a spirited week of practice and a much-needed 11-day break for final exams. Buoyed by a 14-point, 15-minute effort from senior forward Shawn Redhage and solid performances from a host of others, the Sun Devils celebrated a 70-53 victory over Purdue in the Las Vegas Showdown.
"It might have looked easy, but it wasn't," said ASU head coach Rob Evans, whose team recorded the school's first win in Las Vegas in four tries. "They showed a lot more toughness on loose balls, rebounds and defensively."
After relinquishing an average of 71 points in a pair of losses two weeks ago to Brigham Young and Utah, the Sun Devils (6-3) shored up their problems on the defensive end by holding Purdue to 39.5 percent shooting from the field. The Boilermakers (5-3) were 3-for-14 from three-point range and made only 16 of 28 attempts from the free-throw line.
Meanwhile, ASU shone brighter than the lights gleaming along the Strip just a few miles from the UNLV campus. The Sun Devils were 54.3 percent from inside the arc, including a sizzling 63.2 percent in the first half when they amassed a 12-point lead.
Redhage scored eight of his season-high 14 points before the break to help ASU put some distance between itself and Purdue, which lost for the second time in the past seven days. Midway through the first half, Redhage knocked down a jumper and made four consecutive free throws after being fouled on a pair of drives to the basket.
With Sun Devil freshman forward Ike Diogu limited because of foul trouble, Redhage took full advantage of new-found openings in and around the lane. His 14 points mark the most he has scored since his sophomore year.
"I got some confidence early and it just carried me through the game," Redhage said. "We were playing a lot of open post, so there were a lot of driving angles."
Senior forward Tommy Smith scored six of his season-high 15 points in the final 5:30 of the first half to give the Sun Devils a 37-28 lead at intermission. Redhage again stole the spotlight in the second half by scoring six straight points that stretched the margin to 15 points with 13:31 remaining.
"Shawn and I have similar games, but he has a better shot, of course," Smith said. "He just took what the defense gave him. If it was there, he shot it."
Purdue trimmed the deficit to 12 points with 5:51 left, but Diogu quickly put things out of reach by scoring seven unanswered points in just over a minute. Diogu converted a three-point play, before muscling his way through the post for a bucket and tossing in a lay-up.
"This whole year, we really haven't been playing well in the second half," said Diogu, who finished with a team-high 18 points and a season-high nine rebounds on 7-of-9 shooting from the field. "We challenged ourselves to come out and play well in the second half and smack them in the mouth. That's exactly what we did."
GAME NOTES: ASU improved to 2-3 all-time against Purdue...the Sun Devils turned the ball over nine times in the first half, but committed only six miscues after the break...ASU scored 18 points off Purdue's 18 turnovers...the Sun Devils held a 35-26 advantage on the boards, resulting in 13 second-chance points...ASU was 17-for-26 from the free-throw line.
MORE NOTES: Diogu scored in double figures for the ninth straight game...Sun Devil junior swingman Jamal Hill threw the ball away twice after committing only four turnovers in the first eight games...ASU sophomore point guard Jason Braxton tallied four assists and two steals to add to his team lead in each statistical category...Smith blocked two shots to give him a team-high 21 on the season.
UP NEXT: The Sun Devils are scheduled to return to action Friday night when hosting the 36th annual azcentral.com Hoops Classic at Wells Fargo Arena. ASU will face Bucknell at 7:30 p.m. following the 5 p.m. opener, which pits UC Santa Barbara against Nebraska.
Reach the reporter at brian.gomez@asu.edu.