ASU men's basketball generated a crucial scoring run to take the lead late in the second half to defeat Creighton 58-57 Tuesday night in Omaha, Nebraska.
The Sun Devils struggled shooting in the first half, making only 35.5% of their total attempts and just 25% of its 3-point attempts.
The cold shooting led to ASU trailing for most of the half, only holding the lead for 33 seconds.
The second half proved to be more successful for the Sun Devils, as they went on a 9-0 run to take the lead from Creighton.
Creighton came back to tie the game at 50 points apiece with over six minutes remaining. ASU quickly regained the lead and kept it to finish with a win.
The Sun Devils improved their shooting in the second half, completing 48.3% of their total attempts and 28.6% of their 3-point attempts to walk away with a close win.
ASU spent much of the game trailing Creighton, only leading for just over nine minutes.
The Sun Devils battled through foul trouble, committing 19 total fouls with four of them coming from graduate student forward Kimani Lawrence.
Three Sun Devils scored above double digits, with sophomore guard DJ Horne leading the team with 12 points. Graduate student guard Marreon Jackson and sophomore guard Jay Heath tied for second with 10 points apiece.
ASU made the most of its limited free throw attempts, going 4-for-5 throughout the game, the only miss coming from Heath in the final minute of play.
Heath's miss gave Creighton the opportunity to win the game with six seconds left, but the Sun Devils were able to force a missed jump shot to hang on, improving to a three-game win streak and 5-6 on the season.
ASU will return to Desert Financial Arena on Dec. 19 to take on San Francisco at 4 p.m. MST.
Reach the reporter at kfield4@asu.edu and follow @kathrynfield_ on Twitter
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Kathryn Field is a sports editor at The State Press. Kathryn has previously worked as a full time reporter at The State Press, covering women’s basketball and lacrosse.
