TUCSON, Ariz. – Senior Tra Holder scored a game-high 31 points but No. 3 Arizona State dropped its first contest of the season Saturday evening, coming up just short in an 84-78 defeat against rival Arizona.
The Sun Devils (12-1, 0-1 Pac-12) entered the evening as the nation's lone undefeated team after Villanova and TCU lost earlier in the day.
"I thought we battled hard and had the will to win the game," said head coach Bobby Hurley. "We didn't play our best offensive game and a lot of the credit should go to Arizona for their game-planning and desire to defend. But I think we are a far better offensive team than that."
Saturday's game was tight from the outset, as the beginning was a back and forth affair that featured six first-half lead changes.
The first of those came on Arizona State's first basket of the night, the result of an extra pass from Mickey Mitchell that led to a Holder triple in front of the Wildcat bench. No. 17 Arizona (11-3, 1-0) reclaimed the lead and stretched the advantage to 12-7 about three minutes later, but a spurt from freshman Remy Martin that featured a steal, a slam and a three-pointer quickly pulled his team even.
An explosion out of the locker rooms allowed the Wildcats to grow their lead to as high as 12 at 62-50, but once again, Hurley's team had an answer. A Mitchell dunk trimmed the deficit to single digits with nine and a half minutes remaining, and a mini 5-0 run by Holder that followed made the score 62-59.
Holder would score the team's next four points as well, pulling Arizona State within one with just under eight minutes remaining on a pretty floater.
That, however, would be the closest the visitors would get as Sean Miller's club ultimately grew the lead back to 12 with a little more than four minutes to play.
Rather than roll over and go quietly into the night though, an emotional Sun Devil squad rallied for one last run.
A 12-2 binge, highlighted by plenty of backcourt pressure and capped with a Kodi Justice three, made the score 78-76 with 1:19 remaining.
The burst wasn't quite enough, however, as Arizona made all four of its free throw attempts in the closing seconds to salt away the 84-78 win.
"We scrambled and tried to press," Hurley said. "We created some turnovers there and just figured out a way to scrap and give ourselves a chance late in the game. It was hard to get stops though because they were just under the basket and in the paint for a while."
Arizona State finished the night with three scorers in double figures as Mitchell (10) joined Holder and Martin. Freshman Romello White led the team on the glass, pulling down eight rebounds in his first conference game.
TRA HOLDER'S TOP SCORING GAMES
40 vs. #15 Xavier @ Las Vegas (11/24/17)
35 vs. UC Irvine (11/19/17)
31 at #17 Arizona (12/30/17)
29 at #2 Kansas (12/10/17)
27 vs. Washington State (1/29/17)
26 at UCLA (1/9/16)
25 vs. Vanderbilt (12/17/17)
25 at Stanford (12/30/16)
A devotion to defense and hustle was evident as the Sun Devils turned the Wildcats over 16 times in the Pac-12 opener. Hurley's team also led in bench points (22-14) and in fast-break scoring (19-12).
Arizona State now sets its sights on bouncing back from its first loss of the season, continuing the three-game road trip on Thursday night in Boulder.
Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. against Colorado and the game will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
The Sun Devils (12-1, 0-1 Pac-12) entered the evening as the nation's lone undefeated team after Villanova and TCU lost earlier in the day.
"I thought we battled hard and had the will to win the game," said head coach Bobby Hurley. "We didn't play our best offensive game and a lot of the credit should go to Arizona for their game-planning and desire to defend. But I think we are a far better offensive team than that."
Saturday's game was tight from the outset, as the beginning was a back and forth affair that featured six first-half lead changes.
The first of those came on Arizona State's first basket of the night, the result of an extra pass from Mickey Mitchell that led to a Holder triple in front of the Wildcat bench. No. 17 Arizona (11-3, 1-0) reclaimed the lead and stretched the advantage to 12-7 about three minutes later, but a spurt from freshman Remy Martin that featured a steal, a slam and a three-pointer quickly pulled his team even.
Playing in his first Territorial Cup matchup, Remy Martin finished the night with 11 points and four rebounds off the bench.
The rest of the half was played even as well, with the home team ultimately using a 9-2 run to take a 39-37 lead into the locker rooms. The single-digit halftime deficit was the Sun Devils first in Tucson since 2011.An explosion out of the locker rooms allowed the Wildcats to grow their lead to as high as 12 at 62-50, but once again, Hurley's team had an answer. A Mitchell dunk trimmed the deficit to single digits with nine and a half minutes remaining, and a mini 5-0 run by Holder that followed made the score 62-59.
Holder would score the team's next four points as well, pulling Arizona State within one with just under eight minutes remaining on a pretty floater.
Last 9 points
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) December 31, 2017
From #TwitterlessTra
Here come the Sun Devils ?? pic.twitter.com/Bqaacoq2pP
That, however, would be the closest the visitors would get as Sean Miller's club ultimately grew the lead back to 12 with a little more than four minutes to play.
Rather than roll over and go quietly into the night though, an emotional Sun Devil squad rallied for one last run.
A 12-2 binge, highlighted by plenty of backcourt pressure and capped with a Kodi Justice three, made the score 78-76 with 1:19 remaining.
AGAIN.@kodijustice44 pic.twitter.com/mn9xxjpRxA
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) December 31, 2017
The burst wasn't quite enough, however, as Arizona made all four of its free throw attempts in the closing seconds to salt away the 84-78 win.
"We scrambled and tried to press," Hurley said. "We created some turnovers there and just figured out a way to scrap and give ourselves a chance late in the game. It was hard to get stops though because they were just under the basket and in the paint for a while."
Arizona State finished the night with three scorers in double figures as Mitchell (10) joined Holder and Martin. Freshman Romello White led the team on the glass, pulling down eight rebounds in his first conference game.
TRA HOLDER'S TOP SCORING GAMES
40 vs. #15 Xavier @ Las Vegas (11/24/17)
35 vs. UC Irvine (11/19/17)
31 at #17 Arizona (12/30/17)
29 at #2 Kansas (12/10/17)
27 vs. Washington State (1/29/17)
26 at UCLA (1/9/16)
25 vs. Vanderbilt (12/17/17)
25 at Stanford (12/30/16)
A devotion to defense and hustle was evident as the Sun Devils turned the Wildcats over 16 times in the Pac-12 opener. Hurley's team also led in bench points (22-14) and in fast-break scoring (19-12).
Arizona State now sets its sights on bouncing back from its first loss of the season, continuing the three-game road trip on Thursday night in Boulder.
Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. against Colorado and the game will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.