By Cal Aboud, SDA Media Relations Student Assistant
LAS VEGAS, NV – Bobby Hurley’s squad continues to show resolve and grit.
After trailing by 12 at half and by as much as 14 early in the second period, the Arizona State men’s basketball team (7-3) battled back outscoring UNLV 41-19, to climb to a 66-56 victory over the Rebels Wednesday night at the Thomas and Mack Center., The Sun Devils are averaging 40.4 points in the second half this year (31.9 in the first half).
The Sun Devil victory marks the program’s highest halftime deficit win (12), since ASU defeated IUPUI 59-58 after trailing by 16, Dec. 18, 2008.
8+ POINTS HALFTIME COMEBACK DEFICIT WINS PAST 10 YEARS
(16) IUPUI 34, ASU 18 (@Phoenix/Dec. 14, 2008)/ASU 59, vs. IUPUI 58 (OT)
(12) @UNLV 37, ASU 25 (Dec. 16, 2015/ASU 66, UNLV 56)
(8) @Creighton 41, ASU 33 (Dec.2,2015)/ASU 79, @Creighton 77
Tra Holder led the way for Arizona State finishing in double-figures for the seventh time this season, scoring a game-high 19. The sophomore guard added a career-high nine rebounds and three steals.
TRA HOLDER 16+ SCORING GAMES22 vs. North Carolina State (11/23/15)
19 at UNLV (12/16/15)
17 vs. Sacramento State (11/13/15)
16 vs. Oregon (1/30/15)
Senior Gerry Blakes recorded the first double-double of his Sun Devil career notching 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Arizona State arguably won the game on the boards outrebounding UNLV 43-30. The Sun Devils finished with a season-high 16 offensive rebounds which equated to 47 percent of the teams missed shots, granting Arizona State 16 second chance points.
ASU found success offensively in the paint, finishing with 36 down low compared to 20 by UNLV. The Sun Devils also benefitted from 16 Rebel turnovers, scoring 22 as a result.
The Sun Devils finished the contest at a cumulative 40.4 percent (23-57) from the field and 66.7 percent (16-24) from the foul line.
The Sun Devils struggled out of the gate, going 29.4 (10-34) percent from the field and 7.7 percent (1-13) from beyond the arc in the first half.
ASU got out to a promising start opening on 6-0 run, while holding the Rebels scoreless till the 16:11 mark. Holder connected on two quick baskets, followed by a pair of scores from the charity stripe from Atwood. UNLV responded with a run of their own, scoring seven straight over a span of 2:30 minutes in which ASU missed eight-consecutive shot attempts. The two teams then traded punches for a better part of the period and sat tied 14-14 with 8:47 remaining. UNLV would then outscore the Sun Devils 24-9 to enter halftime with a 12-point edge.
UNLV dictated the pass of play and benefited from 13 points in transition during the period. The Rebels also benefited from their length recorded seven first-half blocks.
Despite struggling collectively, Arizona State’s Atwood finished the half with a game-high eight points, while Holder added six.
The Sun Devils emerged a much improved team on both sides of the ball in the second half. Arizona State improved offensively shooting 56.5 percent (13-23) from the field, while holding UNLV to a season-low 19.2 shooting percentage (5-26), after the Rebels had closed the first half at 58.3 percent (14-24).
"We had to go back to the drawing board, it was a rough first half, both offensively and defensively," Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said. "Tra Holder was terrific, I thought, wire-to-wire. He made key plays for us offensively to start the second half and then the guys started gaining confidence from that."
Holder got things rolling for the Sun Devils knocking down two consecutive-shots to open the period. Although UNLV would then jump to their largest lead of the contest, 45-31, courtesy of a three by the Rebel’s Ike Nwamu, the Sun Devils caught fire, and from then on and wouldn’t look back.
A score by Blakes at the 16:20 mark spurred an 11-0 run for Arizona State. The Sun Devils kept the Rebels scoreless for a span of 6:30 minutes limiting them in transition while forcing them to operate in the half court, cutting the deficit to three, 43-45, with 11:42 remaining. A pair of threes from Atwood and tip-in by big man Eric Jacobsen off a Holder miss, would move the game to a tie 50-50 at the 8:31 mark. Arizona State would then keep their foot on the gas, outscoring UNLV 16-6 over the final eight minutes of play, garnering the Sun Devils a ten-point edge and their seventh victory of the young season.
"To win on the road is respected against good teams, and I think UNLV certainly has a very good chance to win their league this year," coach Hurley said. "I feel really good what I saw against Creighton and then Texas A&M and then NC State, so we've beaten some high-quality opponents."
The Sun Devils have now won four of their last five games and have picked up a number of impressive non-conference wins, including an 83-74 victory over tournament-regular Belmont, a 79-76 defeat of ACC member NC State, a 79-77 win at always good Creighton out of the Big East, and a 67-54 upset of No. 18 Texas A&M.
Up next, the Sun Devils return home to host Southland Conference member Houston Baptist (4-6) Sat., Dec. 19 at 12:30 p.m. The game will be televised on Pac-12 Networks. Tim Healey and Kyle Dodd will have the Sun Devil radio call on the Sun Devil Sports Radio Network, presented by MidFirst.
ASU is 2-0 all-time vs. Houston Baptist, the last meeting a 73-55 win on Nov. 25, 2010 in Alaska.
GOOD ON REBOUNDING: ASU is outrebounding its opponents by 7.7 per game and has 51 more offensive rebounds (145-94). Five players have grabbed double-digit rebounds this year, and ASU's rebounding leader in all but two games has notched double-digits.
GOOD SIGN: ASU is 3-2 when trailing at the half this year with wins over UCSB on Nov. 29 (trailed 29-27 and won 70-68), at Creighton (trailed 41-33 and won 79-77) and at UNLV (trailed 37-25 and wn 66-56). ASU went 2-11 last year when it trailed at the half, and 12-64 (.157) in that category the previous five seasons.In total three Sun Devils including Holder recorded double-digit scoring outputs. Willie Atwood posted 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting (2-4/3PA-3PM).