By Cal Aboud, SDA Media Relations Student Assistant
LOS ANGELES, CA. -- The Arizona State men’s basketball team (10-6, 0-3), unable to ride a career-high 26 points from sophomore Tra Holder, fell 81-74 to UCLA Saturday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion, in a game that saw nine lead changes in the final nine minutes.
TRA HOLDER TOP SCORING GAMES
26 at UCLA (1/9/16)
24 vs. #8 Arizona (1/3/16)
23 vs. Cal State Bakersfield (12/28/15)
22 vs. North Carolina State (11/23/15)
21 at USC (1/7/16)
Holder has now finished with 20+ points in four-consecutive games, and is averaging 22.4 over the past five contests. The versatile guard’s 26-point outing, marks the 10th time this season he has led Arizona State in scoring. Holder is the first Sun Devil to score 20 points in four straight games since Jahii Carson did it twice in his freshman season of 2012-13.
The Sun Devils who finished 44.4 percent (28-63) from the field, 32 percent (8-35) from beyond the arc, and 66.7 percent (10-15) at the charity stripe, benefited from a balanced offensive attack, with nine players notching scoring outputs.
Sophomore guard Kodi Justice a proven deep threat, connected on 3-of-6 from the perimeter en route to an 11-point effort. Willie Atwood, Gerry Blakes, and Savon Goodman led Arizona State on the boards each recording six rebounds respectively.
KODI JUSTICE DOUBLE-FIGURE SCORING GAMES (8)
20 vs. Houston Baptist (12/19/15)
16 at California (1/22/15)
13 vs. Belmont (11/16/15)
13 vs. UNLV (12/3/14)
12 at #5 Kentucky (12/12/15)
12 at Marquette (12/16/14)
11 at UCLA (1/9/16)
10 vs. #18 Texas A&M (12/5/15)
The Bruins who saw four players score in double-figures, were led by a 26-point outing from guard Isaac Hamilton.
Out done down low, the Sun Devils struggled to compensate for the length of the Bruins who finished with a team seven blocks, recording 26 points in the paint in comparison to 34 for UCLA, while being outrebounded 38-35.
Hampered by nine first half turnovers the Sun Devils found themselves down by as much as 12, 30-18, with 5:17 remaining in the period. Triggered by a perimeter score from Gerry Blakes, the Sun Devils would catch their stride offensively heading into the break on a 19-8 run, trailing 38-37.
Arizona State continued where they left off at recess. Opening to a 6-0 advantage, the Sun Devils managed to grab and maintain the lead for a span of a more than nine minutes. Holder and Justice, the latter catching fire from beyond the arc, kept the Sun Devils in contention down the stretch. Holder led all players in the period with 16, while Justice scored all of his 11 points in the final period of play.
The Bruins would battle back moving the score to a tie, 56-56 with 9:42 remaining, by virtue of a 6-0 run. The teams would trade punches from there on, in a close finish highlighted by 10 lead changes.
The Sun Devils seemed poised to finish ahead after a triple by Justice at the 2:01 mark gave Bobby Hurley’s squad a two-point edge, 74-72. However the Sun Devils would not score again.
A pair of three’s from Aaron Holliday and Bryce Alford and trio of shots at the foul line, proved to be enough for the Bruins, granting UCLA an 81-74 victory.
UP NEXT… The Sun Devils play host to the Washington State Cougars (9-6, 1-2 Pac-12) Thursday, Jan. 14, at 6 p.m. MT on Pac-12 Networks. Tim Healey and Kyle Dodd have the Sun Devil radio call on the Sun Devil Sports Radio Network, presented by MidFirst Bank.
ASU holds a 39-36 series lead over WSU and has won three of the past four, seven of the past 10 overall, and five straight in Tempe. ASU beat the Cougars 66-47 in the last Tempe meeting on Jan. 5, 2014.