By Cal Aboud, SDA Media Relations Student Assistant
Led by a game-high 23 points from junior Savon Goodman, the Arizona State men’s basketball team (5-2) won a thriller on the road, defeating Creighton 79-77. Goodman’s 23-point outing is his second-highest scoring total as a Sun Devil, and marks the fifth time he has finished with 20+ points. The Sun Devils dealt a Bluejays squad their first loss in Century Link Center when scoring 75 or more.
ASU trailed 41-33 at the half, and its comeback win was its biggest halftime deficit victory since it came down from 16 to beat IUPUI in December of 2008.
SAVON GOODMAN TOP SCORING GAMES (5)
24 vs. Lehigh (12/20/14)
23 vs. Creighton (12/2/15)
22 vs. Detroit (12/23/14)
21 vs. NC State (11/23/15)
20 vs. UCLA (2/18/15)
7+ POINTS HALFTIME COMEBACK DEFICIT WINS PAST 10 YEARS
(16) IUPUI 34, ASU 18 (@Phoenix/Dec. 14, 2008)/ASU 59, vs. IUPUI 58 (OT)
(8) @Creighton 41, ASU 33 (Dec.2,2015)/ASU 79, @Creighton 77
(7) @Stanford 35, ASU 28 (Feb. 25, 2010)/ASU 68, @Stanford 60
(7) LSU 34, ASU 27 (NIT @NYC/Nov. 27, 2009)/ASU 71, vs. LSU 52
(7) Arizona 28, ASU 21 (Jan. 9, 2008)/ASU 64, Arizona 59 (OT)
Recording 21 assists on 31 field goals, Coach Hurley’s squad benefited from a balanced scoring attack. A number of Sun Devils finished the night with career-highs. Forward Willie Atwood had a solid outing, posting a career-high 14 points along with five rebounds. Tra Holder played the role of floor general finishing with his highest assist total as Sun Devil of eight, while also netting eight. Andre Spight and Obinna Oleka played crucial roles off the bench scoring nine and eight respectively.
In total Arizona State had a good offensive showing shooting 52 percent (31-of-60) from the field, 62.5 percent (10-of-16) from the charity stripe, and 41.2 percent (7-of-17) from beyond the arc.
For the sixth-consecutive game Arizona State outrebounded its foe, winning the battle on the boards 34-29. The team posted 12 offensive rebounds.
The Sun Devils fought from behind for most of the first half. Creighton as advertised excelled from downtown (6-of-14 3FG), capitalizing on finding opening shooters in transition. Tied 7-7 at the 15:41 mark a three by Creighton’s Isaiah Zierden spurred a 10-3 run for the Blue Jays. The Sun Devils inched back 16-19, as Goodman nailed two-consecutive jumpers followed by a score from Spight. From there on Creighton moved ahead leading by as many as nine (39-30/2:30), before heading into half up 41-33.
#SunDevilNation, @DreSpight24 @thelastchill and @SunDevilHoops want YOU to help us #BeatTAMU on Saturday! pic.twitter.com/M1QAQAptJc
— Sun Devil Athletics (@TheSunDevils) December 3, 2015
In a tale of two halves, Arizona State emerged out of the break a much improved team. Halftime adjustments yielded a Sun Devil squad dividends on the offensive end as the team shot a season-best 64.3 percent (18-28) from the field.
Courtesy of an offensive clinic by Goodman, Arizona State opened the period outscoring Creighton 23-13 over a seven-minute span, propelling the Sun Devils to a 56-54 lead, their first of the contest. The two teams traded punches for the remainder of the game.
From down by 9 in front of 16,200 opposing fans to game WINNERS. @SunDevilHoops 💯💯💯 pic.twitter.com/400NWZov04
— Sun Devil Athletics (@TheSunDevils) December 3, 2015
A triple by Oleka at the 3:25 mark gave the Sun Devils a 75-72 lead. After a scoring drought of over a minute, Creighton caught its stride first cutting the deficit to one off a layup by Watson Jr., before Hegner nailed a three to give the Bluejays a 77-75 lead with 1:16 remaining.
Seeking a score Goodman filling the lane on a fast-break was fouled under the basket, granting the senior two attempts at the foul line with just .18 ticks remaining. Goodman made his first cutting the deficit to one. After his second attempt missed off the back of the rim, Holder made the play of the game. As Goodman’s failed foul attempt fell into the hands of a Blue Jays defender, a relentless Holder poked lose the ball quickly putting up what would be the winning score, to give the Sun Devils a 78-77 lead.
Creighton was allotted a chance to tie things up after guard Gerry Blakes fouled a driving Cole Huff. Huff unable to connect on either of his attempts forced the Bluejays to foul Atwood who managed 1-of-2 at the charity stripe. With the clock winding down Huff attempted a desperation three which failed to find the bottom of the net, granting the Sun Devils their fifth win of the young season.
Up next the Sun Devils return home to host the 7-1, No. 18 ranked Texas A&M Aggies Saturday, Dec. 5 at 8:30 p.m. MST. The game will be televised on ESPN 2. Tim Healey and Kyle Dodd will have the call on ESPN Phoenix 620 a.m..
Arizona State lost 72-71 to Texas A&M in College Station this past season. In 2014-15 A&M posted their 14th all-time 20-win season (21-12), and eighth in the last 11 years. The Aggies advanced to the second round of the NIT before being eliminated by Louisiana Tech.
ASSOCIATED PRESS RECAP--- OMAHA, Neb. -- His team down by a point with 18 seconds left, there was only one thing Arizona State's Tra Holder thought to do when Creighton's Isaiah Zierden rebounded Savon Goodman's missed free throw. Holder sneaked up from behind, grabbed the ball and put it off the glass. The Bluejays' Geoffrey Groselle swatted at it as it hung over the cylinder and he was called for goaltending, giving the Sun Devils the lead, and they held on through the frantic final seconds to win 79-77 Wednesday night. "I saw his back toward me, so I wasn't really surprised I was able to take the ball," Holder said. "I was concentrating on making my layup." Zierden, meanwhile, was mad at himself. "He missed the free throw and I just couldn't grab the rebound," he said. "I've got to do a better job of securing the rebounds." Creighton still had chances to win, but Cole Huff missed two free throws with six seconds left and his wide-open 3-point try at the buzzer bounced off the rim. The Sun Devils (5-2), who pulled out a two-point win over UC Santa Barbara in their previous game, won in their first true road game and got a shot of confidence as they go into games against No. 18 Texas A&M at home Saturday and at No. 1 Kentucky on Dec. 12. "I just love our team right now," said Savon Goodman, who scored a season-high 23 points. "Everybody's playing their role, everybody's finding their niche. We're on a roll." Willie Atwood had 14 points and Holder matched his career high with eight assists for the Sun Devils. Groselle, who led the Bluejays (5-2) with 15 points, had no regrets about goaltending on Holder's go-ahead layup. "It was going in. It didn't matter," he said. The Sun Devils, who shot 36 percent from the field in their previous two games, were held to 41 percent in the first half. The pace picked up in the second half, and ASU heated up to 64.3 percent in what turned out to be a scoring contest to the end. "We told ourselves that we've been down before," Goodman said. "We're on the road, and we expected a game like this. We expected a crowd like this. We had to get used to it. We got ourselves broke into the game. The second half we just got lost in the game." "The first four minutes (of the second half) were vital for us," ASU coach Bobby Hurley said. "With their ability to score and also the crowd on the road, us doing that was important. That's how we've won. We haven't shot the ball great yet. We came out of our shell with that today."