Heading into its fifth Pac-12 game of the season, the ASU men’s basketball team looked eager to shake off a tough loss to the University of Oregon. The Sun Devils (14-3, 2-3 Pac-12) did just that by squeaking by the Oregon State Beavers (10-7, 2-3 Pac-12) 77-75 at the Wells Fargo Arena on Saturday.
While ASU trailed 34-33 at halftime, The Sun Devils got just the offensive spark they needed from senior guard Shannon Evans II.
Evans went seven-of-11 from the field and three-of-four from behind the arc on his way to 22 points.
“I felt like none of us wanted us to lose," Evans said. "We are trying to get back on a winning streak, we’re trying to get back on the right track, things like that. I just try to come up with big plays, Kodi (Justice) made big shots when I kicked out to him too. De’Quon Lake with the dunks, Remy (Martin), Kimani (Lawrence) with great minutes. Mickey (Mitchell) with the stop at the end, so everybody contributed and we got a good win today.”
The difference maker, was just as Evans said – the bench.
Lake, the junior forward, had a taste of everything on the stat sheet with 11 points, six rebounds, three blocks and a steal.
However, it might have been the energy of Martin, the freshman guard, that proved to give ASU life on offense.
“I told Remy at a timeout that we feed off his energy, so when he gets going, it’s big for all of us,” Justice said. “I love to see him get going early because we literally feed off of his energy.”
Martin delivered 12 points and a trio of assists and rebounds.
ASU trailed by 13 points with under 12 minutes to play, and the crowd was looking for an answer. It came when Evans made his way around the top of the arc and rifled a pass to Lawrence, the freshman forward, who slammed it home.
Soon after, ASU went on an 11-0 run, and the Beavers were stuck in nearly a four-minute scoring drought.
“To be down 13 with under 12 (minutes) and to really have a response to that, it’s not easy, just based on what we’ve been going through the last 10 days,” head coach Bobby Hurley said.“It was really fun to see the guys come through down the stretch and prove that we can win games that way or in a different way.
As ASU preps for its meeting with Stanford (9-8, 3-1 Pac-12) on Jan. 17, all eyes seem to be on senior guard Tra Holder, who is coming off one of his worst games of the season.
Holder went one-of-nine from the field and missed both his three-point attempts.
“We would not be in the position we’re in if it’s not for that guy,” Hurley said. “In big games we’ve been in, he’s been special this year and he’ll continue to do that moving forward. But it was great to see other guys step up for us to contribute to get that win.”
Up next
No. 11 ASU vs. Stanford
When: Wednesday, Jan. 17 at 9 p.m. MST
Where: Maples Pavilion
TV: Pac-12 Network
Reach the reporter at atotri@asu.edu or follow @Anthony_Totri on Twitter.
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