Down nine points in the last two minutes, the Arizona State men's basketball team (19-9; 7-9) battled back but ultimately fell 79-75 to Oregon State in Corvallis Saturday evening. ASU now has played 14 single-digit Pac-12 games, matching Oregon of 2006-07 for the most in the past 22 seasons according to research by STATS and Pac-12 Network.
The Devils started hot, jumping to a 8-2 lead after a Tra Holder three-pointer. ASU held its largest lead at 15:39 in the first half.
Oregon State chipped away at the early lead and went into the locker room with the 36-30 advantage.
The Beavers' largest lead of the game was 15 with 8:50 left in the second half. OSU shot .528 from the field, just the fourth team to shoot 50 percent against ASU all season.
Like they've done all season, Arizona State didn't fold.
Shannon Evans II sparked a 9-0 run to bring the Sun Devils within six after a De'Quon Lake tip-in. Oregon State answered and pushed its lead to 12 at the 5:11 mark.
ASU's guards of Evans II, Justice and Holder combined for eight free-throw makes in a one minute span that set up a Tra Holder three that tied the game at 75 with 1:03 remaining.
Holder tallied a game-high 23 points and Romello White grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
The Sun Devils found a few opportunities in the closing seconds from the three-point arc but couldn't connect down the stretch. Oregon State's Ethan Thompson hit a pair from the charity stripe to secure the victory.
NOTES...
KODI NOTE: Kodi Justice now has 996 career points despite scoring only 83 (4.6 pg) in his freshman season, when his season was cut short due to a foot injury after 16 games. Only one Sun Devil will have scored fewer points in his freshman year and still reach 1,000. In the final five games of 2016-17 he averaged 15.6 points including 22 in the Feb. 26 win over USC and was 17-of-35 (.486) from the three-point stripe. In his past 33 games, he is averaging 13.2 points, in the first 78 games of his career he averaged 7.2.
SUN DEVIL 1,000-POINT SCORERS/FEWEST POINTS AS FRESHMAN
Kurt Nimphius (1976-80)/1,006 (27/1.5)
Fat Lever (1978-82)/1,137 (104/3.6)
Arthur Thomas (1984-88)/1,268 (111/4.3)
Chad Prewitt (1998-2002)/1,177 (123/4.1)
SECOND HALF SCORING: ASU is averaging 44.1 points in the second half, a mark that is closing in on one of the best by a Pac-12 team in the past 22 seasons (1996-97) according to STATS and Pac-12 Network research.
BEST SECOND-HALF POINTS AVERAGE BY PAC-12 TEAM (1996-97 TO PRESENT)
48.5/Arizona, 1997-98
46.6/UCLA, 2016-17
45.2/Arizona, 2003-04
44.4/Arizona, 1996-97
44.1/Arizona State, 2017-18
SHANNON MOVING ON UP: Shannon Evans II has notched 964 points in his two-year, 61-game Sun Devil career, which already is sixth on the Sun Devil two-year career list. He also will make a dent in the two-year record books for field goals made, free throws, free throw percentage and assists.
SUN DEVIL TWO-YEAR CAREER MOST POINTS
James Harden, 2007-09/1,309
Jahii Carson, 2012-14/1,261
Bobby Lazor, 1997-99/1,077
Paul Stovall, 1970-72/989
Freddie Lewis, 1964-66/983
Shannon Evans II, 2016-18/964
CLOSE GAMES: ASU has had eight one-possession Pac-12 games. The Sun Devils have had 15 Pac-12 games decided by 10 points or less. In its perfect (12-0) non-conference action, ASU played one single digit game (92-90 over Kansas State in Las Vegas). ASU's only two league margins in double digits are wins over Colorado (80-66) and at Washington State (88-78).
SHANNON: In the past 11 games -- which included a 22-point second-half effort in the Oregon State Jan. 13 win -- Shannon Evans is shooting 58-of-65 (.892) from the free throw line. He has 12 20-point games on the year, including 20+ in four of the past six tilts (25 at Oregon, 23 vs. UCLA, 21 vs. USC, 23 at WSU).
FG DEFENSE: Stanford shot (.508) from the field against ASU on Jan. 17, the first ASU opponent to shoot 50 percent in 12 games, as only Kansas State (.576) and Xavier (.556) had made half their shots in non-conference play. Fifteen teams shot 50 percent against ASU last year, Oregon State (.528 on Feb. 24) became the fourth.
SUN DEVIL CAREER POINTS
1. Eddie House, 1996-2000/2,044
2. Jeremy Veal, 1994-1998/1,984
3. Ike Diogu, 2002-2005/1,946
4. Ron Riley, 1992-1996/1,834
5. Tra Holder, 2014-2018/1,740
20: ASU has six players who have notched a 20-point game this year led by Tra Holder (15), Shannon Evans II (12), Kodi Justice (three) and Romello White (three), while Remy Martin and De'Quon Lake have done it once.
SUN DEVIL CAREER STARTS
120, Jeff Pendergraph, 2005-09
119, Ty Abbott, 2007-11
116, Tra Holder, 2014-18
SUN DEVIL CAREER ASSISTS
551, Derek Glasser, 200-10
454, Bobby Thompson, 1983-87
444, Fat Lever, 1978-82
440, Tra Holder, 2014-18
SUN DEVIL SINGLE-SEASON THREE-POINTERS
4. 93, Rihards Kuksiks (2008-09)
5. 84, Jon Gilling (2012-13)
6. 83, Alex Austin (1990-91)
7. 82, Shannon Evans II (2016-18)
7. 82, Jermaine Marshall (2013-14)
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@SunDevilHoops Erases 15-Point Second-Half Deficit But Falls To Oregon State
