It was a wild one in Las Vegas on Thanksgiving for @SunDevilHoops.
Kodi Justice scored 19 of his 28 points in the second half to lead Arizona State to a 92-90 victory over Kansas State on Thursday in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational held at Orleans Arena. ASU (5-0) will now play No. 15 Xavier (5-0) on Friday at 2:30 p.m. PT on FOX for the championships. Romello White had 19 points and six rebounds for the Sun Devils, while Shannon Evans added 14.
ASU reached 90 points for the fifth straight game for the first time since February of 1960 and also notched its tenth halftime comeback win under Bobby Hurley in his 70 games as Sun Devil head coach, as the Sun Devils are 5-0 for just the second time in the past 32 seasons.
Justice hit from all over in making 9-of-10 field goal and 6-of-8 free throws. He was perfect in four three-pointers and added three assists and just one turnover in 37 minutes.
"I'm a basketball player, I'm not just a shooter," Justice said. "If people want to pigeonhole me as one thing, like I said, I'm a basketball player. I can do anything you ask me to do. If I need to guard somebody, if I need to dive on the ball, attack the basket. I was just trying to do anything in my power to help our team win."
KODI JUSTICE 20+ POINT GAMES
28 vs. Kansas State (11/23/17)
22 vs. USC (2/26/17)
20 vs. Citadel (11/23/16)
20 vs. Houston Baptist (12/19/15)
The Wildcats (4-1) opened the second half on a 7-0 run to extend their lead to nine, 51-42. But Arizona State quickly clawed its way back into the game, using a 12-2 run to take a 54-53 lead with 13:51 left in the contest. It marked the second time this year ASU had come down from nine in the second half to win, as it was down 43-34 to San Diego State on Nov. 14 before coming back to win 90-68. From that point there were six lead changes and five ties, before Arizona State went on a 13-5 run, but Kansas State would not go away.
90 straight points in 5 straight games first time since Feb. 1-20, 1960.
Opponents were Hardin-Simmons, West Texas State, Los Angeles State, Fresno State and Arizona State Teachers College. #TBT @FS1 @SteveLavin64 @jimjackson419
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) November 24, 2017
Trailing 77-69, Kansas State made it, 83-82 with less than four minutes to play. Justice hit a three and ASU then led again by five..
"I didn't want to lose this game, it was a big one for us," Justice said. "I know it's early, and you say, `if you lose this it's not that big of a deal,' but we're trying to build a resume for the future, to build this program up, to just be a winning program."
Kansas State got within one and after Remy Martin sank 1 of 2 free throws with 4.1 seconds left, Kansas State had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer, but Brown's layup clanged off the rim.
"We kind of just battled," Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said. "We showed a lot of determination with how we played and just pushing through different adversities at all different times of the game.
POSTGAME NOTES AND CHARTS
SUN DEVIL CAREER POINTS
1. Eddie House, 1996-2000/2,044
13. Mario Bennett, 1991-95/1,368
14. Ty Abbott, 2007-11/1,330
15. Alex Austin, 1986-90/1,329
16. Tra Holder, 2014-present/1,315
ASU VS. KANSAS STATE (ASU leads 5-4)
ASU 92, Kansas State 90 (2017 Continental Invitational in Las Vegas)
Kansas State 84, ASU 80 (1998 Maui Invitational)
@Kansas State 49, ASU 46 (1982-83)
ASU 84, Kansas State 61 (1980-81)
@Kansas State 63, ASU 50 (1979-80)
Kansas State 101, ASU 74 (1977-78)
ASU 80, Kansas State 69 (1974-75)
ASU 71, @Kansas State 66 (1973-74)
ASU 77, @Kansas State 72 (1962-63)