By Cal Aboud, SDA Media Relations Student Assistant
TEMPE, AZ. – Sophomore guard Tra Holder recorded a career-high 23 points as the Arizona State men’s basketball team closed non-conference play defeating California State University, Bakersfield 75-59, to improve to 10-3.
QUICK NOTES...
--ASU has won six of of its past seven, with the only loss since Nov. 25 a 72-58 loss at #5 Kentucky on Dec. 12. ASU trailed 32-31 at the half in Lexington.
--Tra Holder is averaging 17.5 points in his past six games. He had a career-high 23, including 11-of-14 from the free throw line.
--Willie Atwood is averaging 12.7 points in the past seven games and has made 24-of-26 free throws in the past four games.
--ASU is now 54-9 (.857) at home in the past four seasons.
“I’m excited with the result and our play in the second half, particularly offensively with the clutch shot making by a number of guys.” Said head coach Bobby Hurley. “It is nice to close this chapter of the season with a positive result. To be 10-3 with this type of schedule we have had, I don’t know how many teams in the country can say that based on the type of opponents we have faced. We have taken a number of good shots and I thought Cal State Bakersfield was ready to play. They played extremely hard, they were feisty. They generated some second chance opportunities something that we have kind of done to teams for a majority of the year. Obviously Tra’s (Holder) performance was really good especially in the second half. The way he shot the basketball, he hit some timely shots.”
Arizona State saw four players score in double-figures, including the aforementioned Holder who finished a season-best 4-for-5 from three. Gerry Blakes had a solid outing scoring 15, while adding a team-high seven rebounds. Willie Atwood continues to impress notching his ninth double-figure scoring outing of the season, finishing with 10. It is important to note that the senior big man accomplished such a feat just twice during the previous season. Andre Spight led all players off the bench with 10 points.
The benefactor of a number of Roadrunner mishaps, Arizona State accumulated 18 points off 17 CSUB turnovers. The Sun Devils also managed 24 points from the charity stripe by virtue of 24 Roadrunner team fouls.
The Sun Devils struggled to find a groove offensively in the first half shooting just 28.6 percent (8-26) from the field and 22.2 percent (2-9) from beyond the arc.
Despite opening on a quick 5-0 run, Bobby Hurley’s squad was limited to just 29 first half points.
Play in the first half equated to a war of attrition as neither team managed to separate or rather build a substantial lead. Despite a sluggish start, a Blakes score at the 0:32 mark allotted the Sun Devils a 29-28 advantage at the half.
In spite of a tough shooting first half, the Sun Devils once again reinforced the notion that they are at their best in the second half. On the season Arizona State is averaging 41.4 points in the second half in comparison to 33.7 in the first.
Arizona State would improve to 54.2 percent (13-24) from the field, while going 7-of-11 from downtown. Holder led all scorers in the period with 15, going a perfect 3-3 from three.
After the two teams traded punches for the first ten minutes of the period and sat tied 40-40 at the 11:30 mark, Holder would provide the Sun Devils with the winning spark, drilling two-consecutive threes. Atwood would follow suit hitting a triple of his own, as Arizona State quickly jumped out to a 9-4 run giving them a 49-44 lead. The Roadrunners managed to cut the Sun Devils lead to just three, when Holder would hit his fourth triple of the contest, followed by a transition score from Obinna Oleka. The Roadrunners would draw within three one more time before the Sun Devils sealed the deal closing on a 21-8 run, highlighted by a four-point from the likes of Andre Spight.
The Sun Devils close non-conference play at (10-3), having won six of the last seven, an impressive feat considering the daunting non-conference slate Bobby Hurley’s squad undertook.
Up Next… The Sun Devils open conference play, hosting rival and eighth-ranked Arizona (12-1), on Sunday, Jan. 3, at noon. The game will be nationally televised on Fox Sports 1. Tim Healey and Kyle Dodd have the Sun Devil radio call on the Sun Devil Sports Radio Network (620 AM), presented by MidFirst Bank.
For a second straight season, ASU will open its Pac-12 season vs. Arizona, but this one will be in Tempe, where ASU has topped the Wildcats in three of the past four meetings. ASU is 9-8 vs. Arizona in the past eight seasons, and the game will mark just the fourth time ASU has opened the Pac-12 season against Arizona in Tempe, and will be just the third time ASU has opened the league schedule at home in the past eight seasons.