By Cal Aboud, SDA Media Relations Student Assistant
TEMPE, Ariz – The Arizona State men’s basketball dropped a tightly contested home opener to Sacramento State, 66-63, Friday night.
Senior Forward Willie Atwood had a solid outing recording his first career double-double, notching 11 points and 11 rebounds. Four Sun Devils including Tra Holder (career-high 17 points), Gerry Blakes (13), Eric Jacobsen (12), andAtwood (11) finished the contest in double-figures.
TRA HOLDER TOP SCORING GAMES
17 vs. Sacramento State (11/13/15)
16 vs. Oregon (1/30/15)
15 vs. Stanford (3/5/15)
15 vs. #6 Arizona (2/7/15)
15 vs. Pepperdine (12/13/14)
“It was not the way I wanted to start things here for sure.” said head coach Bobby Hurley. “I thought we played a little bit nervous in the first half for some reason just having issues with simple things like catching the ball. It became infectious, it carried over into how we shot the ball throughout the course of the game. Obviously anytime you shoot that way from the free throw line you’re not going to have very much success regardless who your opponent is. Hats off to Sacramento State. They made some big plays down the stretch of the game, they hit some big shots, and we weren’t able to make enough plays down the stretch to win.”
The Sun Devils led early in the first half despite shooting .357 (10-28) from the field, 37.5 percent (3-8) from the line, while failing to score on eight attempts from beyond the arc. Gerry Blakes led all scorers in the period scoring 11, connecting on 5-of-9 attempts. After a layup by forward Savon Goodman put Arizona State ahead 15-6 with 16:08 remaining in the period, the Hornets managed to outscore the Sun Devils 23-8 for the remainder of the half. Sacramento State excelled on the boards, outrebounding Arizona State 25-17, nine of which were offensive rebounds. The Hornets closed the half on a 9-3 run, leaving the Sun Devils trailing 29-23.
Holder and Atwood, who were limited to just three and zero points respectively in the first half, turned things around in the second period notching 14 and 11. Trailing 36-33 with 16:08 left to play, the Sun Devils went on what would accumulate to a 9-0 run, thanks in part to a corner three and contested jumper from Atwood, and four points from the line by Holder. Despite leading 55-47 with 6:42 remaining, the Sun Devils could not withstand a late rally from the Hornets who closed the game on 19-8 run.
Up next, the team will kick off the regional round of the Legends Classic playing host to the Belmont Bruins Monday, Nov. 6 at 8 p.m. . The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
Under the tutelage of four-time Ohio Valley/Atlantic Sun Coach of the year Rick Byrd, the Bruins finished the 2014-15 season 22-11 winning the OVC Championship, while making their seventh NCAA Tournament appearance in 10 years. Only Gonzaga has matched Belmont’s seven automatic bids in the last decade and only Gonzaga and Kansas have won more league titles than the 14 by Belmont since 2006. Coach Byrd welcomes back four starters in 2015-16, led by first-team All-OVC senior guard Craig Bradshaw (18.3 ppg, 94 assists) and second-team All-OVC junior swingman Evan Bradds (14.2 ppg, team-high 7.2 rpg).
COACH HURLEY QUOTES
"It was not the way I wanted to start things here for sure. I thought we were nervous. I thought we played a little bit nervous in the first half for some reason just having issues with simple things like catching the ball. It become infectious, it carried over into how we shot the ball throughout the course of the game. Obviously anytime you shoot that way from the free throw line you’re not going to have very much success regardless who your opponent is. Hats off to Sacramento State. They made some big plays down the stretch of the game, they hit some big shoots, we weren’t able to make enough plays down the stretch to win."Did you like the look of the shot selection for the three-pointers?
"I think in the first half there were some that were contested that I didn’t like. I thought Andre Spight had some good looks in the second half, shots that he’ll make in his career here that didn’t go down. And then when you’re in a game where you’re down three you’re looking to try and obviously get a three point shot. But overall I thought we were more aggressive and attacked better in the second half and tried to get to the rim. Which in the first half we settled a lot for outside jump shots."
Lack of aggression affect rebounds?
"It’s disappointing that those rebounding numbers are what they are. To get out-rebounded by eight isn’t a great number for us considering what we’re up against this year. So it’s an area we need to improve on and get better."
What were some of the issues defensively?
"We just, we lost containment of the ball too much where the guys were able to get into the paint too easily. I’d like to say that our defense was awful, but I don’t think that was the problem tonight. Obviously they scored too many times in the last two minutes and they were able to make big shots, but I thought our issues were more at the offensive end. Like I said, not being able to catch the ball sometimes, just some decision-making things on offense with our turnovers. And then not making free throws or knocking down open shots."
Encouraging things you saw from the team
"Just Willie Atwood. Willie is, Willie, it’s no surprise that he had 11 of 11 because he’s been playing at a high level since I’ve been there. He works at it every day, he works on his game and has a great attitude and wants to have a great season this year. He played well. Tre offensively I thought made a lot of plays for us. Had a big three in the second half, made his free throws, made some plays for others in the lane. So from an offensive standpoint I thought he did well. Gerry never cheats on effort. Never does, plays extremely hard. Outside of the technical I thought he was pretty good tonight. Outside of that there’s not much else positive."
Technical on Gerry
"I mean I’d have to look at it. I didn’t see it. I was just told that Gerry was tangled up with one of their players and the result was he instigated contact and the technical foul."
Savon’s status
"Savon, anytime you sit for a few weeks you lose everything that you kind of had built up. So just having him in for a few practices, yes, I mean he’s going to be able to play, just maybe not quite at the level that he’s capable of."
On the last play was Tre supposed to do something different?
"We were looking on the weak side for a pin down for Andre. In a situation where we need a three point shot we looked to get the ball to Tre, and then Eric is our best screener, and we wanted to try and see if we could free up Andre on that right wing for the shot. Again, I’d have to look at the film. I thought there might’ve been a chance to hit them, but Tre, that’s his call, and Gerry ended up with it, and we didn’t get the best shot that I would have like to get."
With four returning starters are you surprised they came out nervous?
"I was in some ways because I know our opponent was what is was in the exhibition but I didn’t sense any of that really. I felt we were hesitant. I don’t think we played with a lot of confidence on offense and really try to attack them. And then we were just uncharacteristic with some of our decision-making in our offense based on just what we’ve been doing on the practice floor throughout the pre-season."
Surprised with the trouble against the zone?
"I mean, in some ways because we have the guys that are capable of shooting it. Gerry can make a three, and Andre can, and Willie can shoot it. So we have guys, so I feel good about us attacking the zone. I think we did a better job of doing that in the second half, though."
TRA HOLDER TOP SCORING GAMES
17 vs. Sacramento State (11/13/15)
16 vs. Oregon (1/30/15)
15 vs. Stanford (3/5/15)
15 vs. #6 Arizona (2/7/15)
15 vs. Pepperdine (12/13/14)