By Cal Aboud, SDA Media Relations Student Assistant
TEMPE, AZ. – Led by a career-high 20 points from sophomore guard Kodi Justice, the Arizona State men’s basketball team (8-3) defeated Houston Baptist 98-79, improving to 8-3 on the season.
KODI JUSTICE'S TOP SCORING GAMES
20 vs. Houston Baptist (12/19/15)
16 vs.California (1/22/15)
13 vs. Belmont (11/16/15)
13 vs. UNLV (12/3/14)
“I thought it was a good offensive game for us tonight.” said head coach Bobby Hurley. “ I thought Eric (Jacobsen) established himself in the first half scoring inside, got us a presence in the paint. Obviously Kodi (Justice) had the outburst in the second half that kind of separated ourselves from them. He was very good as was Tra (Holder). Tra was really great in his minutes tonight. It was a good win for our confidence on offense.”
Five Sun Devils including the aforementioned Justice scored in double-figures as the Arizona State finished 48.4 percent (31-64) from the field, 46.2 percent (12-26) from beyond the arc, and 80 percent (24-30) from the charity stripe. Justice led all scorers, knocking down six of a season-high 12 threes for the Sun Devils.
Big man Jacobsen recorded a season-high 16 points while adding five rebounds.
ERIC JACOBSEN'S TOP SCORING GAMES
20 vs. Pepperdine (12/13/14)
16 vs. Houston Baptist (12/19/15)
16 vs. UNLV (12/3/14)
16 vs. Hartford (12/5/12)
15 vs. Kennesaw State (11/18/15)
Willie Atwood notched his third double-double of the season finishing with 13 points and game-high 10 rebounds.
WILLIE ATWOOD CAREER DOUBLE-DOUBLES
13/10 vs. Houston Baptist (12/19/15)
11/10 vs. Marquette (11/24/15)
11/11 Sacramento St. (11/13/15)
Holder led all players with seven assists while scoring 17. Obinna Oleka added 14 points off the bench.
The Sun Devils outrebounded the Huskies 40-37, grabbing 16 offensive boards en route to 21 second chance points.
After trading shots to open the contest, the Sun Devils would grab a 13-12 lead at 13:48 mark and never look back, closing the half on a 36-21 run, ultimately playing ahead the remainder of the contest.
Holder and Jacobsen led all scorers in the period with 10 respectively, as the Sun Devils headed into halftime with 16-point cushion, ahead 49-33. Arizona State’s 49-point half marks the highest scoring first half since the Sun Devils led Detroit 50-22, on Dec. 23, 2014.
The Sun Devils would continue to sustain their lead in the second half by virtue of a three-point exhibition from Justice. The guard managed four scores from beyond the arc in the period, leading all players with 14. Over a stretch of five minutes beginning at the 15:51 mark, the Sun Devils would connect on five threes, and would jump out to a 28-point, 78-50 lead with 10:24 remaining.
Although a late run by the Huskies would cut the margin to 19, Arizona State closed the contest ahead 98-79, earning their eighth win of the season.
Up next, the Sun Devils host Stephen F. Austin (6-3) Tue., Dec. 22 at 1:00 p.m. MST. The game will be televised on the Pax-12 Sports Network. Tim Healey and Kyle Dodd have the Sun Devil radio call on the Sun Devil Sports Radio Network (98.7 FM), presented by MidFirst Bank.
Stephen F. Austin is coming off a 29-5 season in 2014-15, capturing its third-straight Southland Conference regular season title with a 17-1 conference mark. The Lumberjacks also claimed their second-straight SLC tournament title, earning a return trip to the NCAA tournament were the 12th-seeded ‘Jacks dropped a 57-50 decision to Pac-12 foe Utah in the second round. SFA is one of just 10 teams in the nation to have won 25 or more games in each of the last three seasons as the Lumberjacks’ 88 wins during that span is tied with Kentucky for the seventh-most in Division I. Head coach Brad Underwood is 61-8 during his two seasons in Nacogdoches, making him the winningest second year head coach in NCAA Division I history, while the ‘Jacks return four of their five starters from 2014-15, including reigning SLC Player of the Year Thomas Walkup (15.6 ppg, 6.5 rpg).