TEMPE, Ariz. – The Arizona State men’s basketball team pulled off the upset Friday night, knocking off the No. 23 USC Trojans, 74-67. The Sun Devils improved to 14-11 on the season, 4-8 in conference play.
"It’s a big win for us at this point in the season to take care of business here off our win against Washington State...to come back and carry it over to winning two straight conference games." said head coach Bobby Hurley. "It’s a great feeling, it was a great crowd, there was really good energy, I thought our defense was unbelievable throughout the entire game.
"The way we guarded the three-point line, and forced some turnovers, our activity was really good, and to hold them to 67 is a challenge because they can really score and they have a lot of talent out there on the court. So great win...it’s just one game at this point, and that’s how we’re looking at it, we’ve got to move on, we’ve got a real challenge ahead of us on Sunday."
With tonight’s victory over ranked USC, the Sun Devils now have two top-25 wins to their credit, having defeated No. 15 Texas A&M, 67-64 Dec. 5.
Pacing the Sun Devils was sophomore guard Tra Holder, who recorded a team-high 20 points, while tallying four assists. Holder has now led the Maroon and Gold in scoring 15 times this season.
Savon Goodman finished the contest with his second-highest scoring output of the season, notching 17 points, and going 8-for-10 from the field. The high motor forward dominated the offensive glass collecting four offensive boards and six in total.
"I’m really proud of Savon and happy with his effort." said Hurley on Goodman's outing. "I had a feeling he was sitting on a game like this, he’s had a great week of practice playing with great energy. He was the best player in practice all week, so I’m not surprised he had the numbers he put up for us tonight."
Gerry Blakes, Arizona State’s jack-of-all-trades had an outstanding overall performance, netting 14, while adding eight rebounds and team-high five assists
"Gerry had a great floor game all around." said Hurley regarding his senior guard. "Not only scoring, but the rebounding, he was in there fighting for the ball and then also the passes, making good decisions. It’s something that when we play well on offense we share the ball, we probe the lane, we draw help, and we find guys on the perimeter. He did it, Kodi did it, Tra did it. But he was solid. That’s what you need from your senior and he deserves to play well because he works his butt off."
PAST 9 ASU VS. USC GAMES IN TEMPE (ASU LEADS 8-1)
ASU 74, #23 USC 67/Feb. 12, 2016
ASU 64, USC 59/Feb. 22, 2015
ASU 98, USC 83 (OT)/Jan. 24, 2013
ASU 56, USC 52/Feb. 25, 2012
USC 63, ASU 61/Jan. 27, 2011
ASU 59, USC 54/Mar. 4, 2010
ASU 65, USC 53/Feb. 15, 2009
ASU 80, USC 66/Mar. 1, 2008
ASU 68, #22 USC 58/Feb. 18, 2007
Closing the night shooting a cumulative 41 percent (25-61) from the field, 61.5 percent (16-26) from the foul line, and 28.6 percent (8-28) from beyond the arc, Bobby Hurley’s squad benefited from 16 offensive boards, which equated to 44 percent of the team’s missed shots. In total, the Sun Devils recorded 15 second-chance points, while finishing dead even with the Trojans on the boards, 36-36. Junior Obinna Oleka led Arizona State on the glass, closing the contest with 11 rebounds.
The Sun Devils played a stout brand of defense, limiting the Trojans, who entered the game statistically as the second-best three-point shooting team in the conference (.388), to just 18.2 percent (2-11) from downtown. Capitalizing on 17 USC Trojan turnovers, Arizona State would notch 20 points on takeaways.
Opening the game struggling to convert offensively, shooting 33.3 percent (11-33), Arizona State sat behind 30-27 at recess.
The Maroon and Gold would flip the script in the second half, going 50 percent (14-28) from the field, opening the period on a 10-2 run. At the forefront of Arizona State’s offensive turnaround was Holder, who scored on two-consecutive processions, first hitting on an uncontested corner three, before following with a 20-foot pull up jumper.
Arizona State would move out to as much as a nine-point lead, 49-40, at the 11:44 mark, before the Trojans would make a late rally. Courtesy of an 8-2 run, the Trojans would climb within three, 62-59, with 4:13 remaining.
USC seemed poised to further place a dent in the Sun Devils' lead, before a series of scores by Holder and Goodman capped a Sun Devil victory.
Holder would make a pair at the charity stripe, before a Blakes pass leading to an incredible up-and-under layup by Goodman, would give the Sun Devils a six-point advantage. Holder would then all but put away the contest banking in a deep three, courtesy of an offensive board by Blakes.
UP NEXT...
Arizona State hosts UCLA (13-11; 4-7), Sun., Feb. 14 at 6:30 p.m. (MT). The game is slated to be nationally televised on ESPNU. Tim Healey and Kyle Dodd have the Sun Devil radio call on the Sun Devil Sports Radio Network (98.7 FM) The Sun Devils lost their first meeting of the season with the Bruins, 81-74 (Jan. 9).
COACH HURLEY QUOTES...
On the defensive performance
"We respect USC and the season they’re having and the players they have and what they’re capable of doing on offense, so they get your attention right away, so we knew we had to have that type of effort. We couldn’t do it for 20 minutes, it had to be a 40 minute deal, the guys owned it, they responded the way we needed them to at that end of the court and they got the job done."
On the amount of threes taken in the first half
"There were a couple that were sketchy in terms of shot selection, but I thought some of them were open and if they are open you have to take them, and I think we’re capable of making them."
On things “going their way”
"We’ve lost, I mentioned five of our eight losses have been when we’re down two, even or we’re up, and we haven’t won those games, whether it’s the way the ball bounces or we don’t secure a defensive rebound, or a team hits a clutch shot on us, there was a lot of that happening for periods of the season. So I’m glad that we banked one in, I don’t feel guilty or bad that he banked it in, we deserve it."
On their activity level
"We needed that, we talked about that, we couldn’t afford to give them multiple cracks at it. If it was on the floor we needed to get it, if the ball’s bouncing in the paint we got to secure it because they are very talented on offense, so giving them multiple chances would have hurt us."
On the rest of the season
"We have eight guys, we’ve got to play with great energy, we’ve got to scrap and claw, and commit ourselves to playing defense like that, and then we’ll be in every game. We didn’t even play great offense. We played pretty good offense in the second half, but we left some things on the table, so I know we’re capable of playing a little better."
On the energy from the crowd
"It was super. It was as good as we’ve had, and I think the crowd responded to how hard our guys are playing. The crowd was understanding that we needed to get a stop. They were up and cheering against USC when they were shooting free throws and when it was a key possession. That’s great because I felt that on the road last week at Washington. They had a heck of a crowd and it was impactful in our game so it’s nice to start developing that."
On USC taking less threes
"I just think that was part of our plan. We wanted to, but we gave up some things in the lane with Jovanovic with the stat line he had. But you have to prioritize and try and take some things away from your opponent. We guarded the line well, there was an awareness to it, our ball screens were hedged hard, so there wasn’t a lot of room for those guys to get close looks."
SUN DEVIL 12 WINS OVER RANKED TEAMS PAST 10 SEASONS
ASU 74, #23 USC 67/Feb. 12, 2016
ASU 67, #18 Texas A&M 54/Dec. 5, 2015
ASU 81, #6 Arizona 78/Feb. 7, 2015
ASU 69, #2 Arizona 66 (2 OT)/Feb. 14, 2014
ASU 79, #25 Marquette 77/Nov. 25, 2013
ASU 68, #24 Washington 51/Jan. 8, 2010
#23 ASU 75, #13 Washington 65/Pac-10 Tourney/Mar. 13, 2009
#18 ASU 74, #11 UCLA 67/Feb. 12, 2009
#16 ASU 61, @ #9 UCLA 58 (OT)/Jan. 17, 2009
ASU 72, #7 Stanford 68 (OT)/Feb. 14, 2008
ASU 77, #17 Xavier 55/Dec. 15, 2007
ASU 68, #22 USC 58/Feb. 18, 2007
SUN DEVIL CAREER GAMES PLAYED
132, Jon Gilling (2011-15)
131, Derek Glasser (2006-10)
130, Ty Abbott (2007-11)
129, Jerren Shipp (2006-10)
126, Jeff Pendergraph (2005-09)
124, Eddie House (1996-2000)
123, Eric Jacobsen (2012-present)