LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- Perfect season intact and Continental Tire Invitational champion honors to their credit, the Arizona State men's basketball team, elevated by a career-high 40-point performance from Tra Holder, defeated No. 15 Xavier, 102-86, Friday afternoon at Orleans Arena.
The victory constitutes the program's first win over an opponent ranked in the top-15, since knocking off then No. 6 Arizona, 81-78, on Feb. 7, 2015. It also marks Arizona State's largest margin of victory (16) over a ranked opponent in the Bobby Hurley era, with the previous high of 13, coming on Dec. 6, 2015 in a 67-54 victory over No. 16 Texas A&M.
Improving to 6-0 on the promising campaign, the Sun Devils have now eclipsed the 90+ point-mark in all six of their games on the season.
Firing on all cylinders, senior guard Tra Holder buoyed a balanced Arizona State offensive attack, signing off on an exceptional outing, netting 40 points while adding four rebounds and four assists apiece. By virtue of the performance, Holder, now at career scoring tally of 1,355, moves to 14th all-time on Arizona State's career scoring list.
MOST POINTS IN SUN DEVIL HISTORY
61-Eddie House at California (2 OT), Jan. 8, 2000
46-Eddie House vs. San Diego State, Dec. 18, 1999
45-Paul Williams at USC, Mar. 10, 1983
42-Eddie House vs. Penn State, Dec. 29, 1999
40-Tra Holder vs. #15 Xavier, Nov. 24, 2017
40-Jahii Carson at UNLV, Nov. 19, 2013
40-James Harden vs. UTEP, Nov. 30, 2008
40-Eddie House vs. UCLA, Feb. 17, 2000
Arizona State's four-headed backcourt monster, featuring the aforementioned Holder, fellow seniors Shannon Evans and Kodi Justice, and budding freshman Remy Martin dictated the pace of play for much of the contest, and made steady contributions on both ends of the court. Each member of the quartet scored in double-figures, with Evans recorded 22 while connecting on four-of-eight attempts from beyond the arc, Justice posting 16 on an effective 6-of-9 clip, and Martin adding 13. The contingent also impressed defensively, combining for nine steals (Holder (3), Martin (3), Evans (2), Justice (1)).
Collectively Arizona State capped the outing shooting at impressive clips of 56 percent (33-of-59) from the field, 48 percent (13-27) from beyond the arc and 92 percent from the charity stripe (23-of-25).
Standout newcomer De'Quon Lake led Arizona State on the battle at the boards, grabbing a game-best eight rebounds, as the Sun Devils narrowly outrebounded Xavier 29-26.
The benefactor of 13 Musketeers' turnovers, Hurley's squad managed 22 points on takeaways to just 13 from Xavier.
ASU LARGEST MARGIN OF VICTORY VS. RANKED OPPONENT
(22)--ASU 77, #17 Xavier 55 (Dec. 15, 2007)
(20)--#5 ASU 87, @#1 Oregon State 67 (March 7, 1981)
(19)--ASU 89, #5 San Francisco 70 (Dec. 3, 1977)
(18)--ASU 71, #6 Colorado 53 (Dec. 21, 1962)
(17)--ASU 79, #13 Michigan 62 (Nov. 22, 1994)
(17)--ASU 95, #3 USC 78 (Dec. 1, 1971)
(16)--ASU 102, #15 Xavier (Nov. 24, 2017)
(16)--ASU 88, #10 Arizona 72 (Jan. 23, 2002)
The Sun Devils flaunted their brand of gritty, unrelenting basketball as well as their flair for the comeback, in the outing's opening half. After trailing by as much as 15 at the 3:56 mark, the Maroon and Gold mounted a furious 15-2 run, to cut the deficit to two, 46-44, to enter the break down a bucket. Holder and Martin propelled the push, contributing a barrage of scores to trim into what was at one point, a Musketeers' double-digit advantage.
MOST POINTS IN A HALF PAST 15 SEASONS (2003-04 TO PRESENT)
72 vs. Citadel (Nov. 23, 2016)*
58 vs. #15 Xavier (Nov. 24, 2017)*
58 vs. San Francisco (Nov. 20, 2009)
58 vs. Oregon (Feb. 11, 2006)*
57 vs. Cal Poly (Nov. 13, 2016)*
56 vs. San Diego State (Nov. 14, 2017)
56 vs. UC Irvine (Nov. 19, 2017)
56 vs. Kennesaw State (Nov. 18, 2015)
*notes second-half points Both squads proved the benefactor of the long ball to open the second half, trading strings of perimeter scores. After a Justice three at the 17:08 mark gave Arizona State a slight, 53-52 lead, the Sun Devils would not look back placing a collective heavy foot on the throttle. Paced by a 23-point second-half explosion from Holder, the Sun Devils would go on to outscore the Musketeers 49-34 the remainder of the contest, courtesy of series of scoring runs. Leading by as much as 23 points in the period, the Sun Devils capped the night with a 16-point, 102-86 victory, over the nationally-ranked Musketeers.
Up next, the Sun Devils return to home to play host to San Francisco on Saturday, Dec. 2. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. MT, with the matchup slated to be televised via Pac-12 Networks. Tim Healey and Kyle Dodd will have the Sun Devil Sports Network radio call on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.
SUN DEVIL CAREER POINTS
1. Eddie House, 1996-2000/2,044
13. Mario Bennett, 1991-95/1,368
14. Tra Holder, 2014-present/1,355
15. Ty Abbott, 2007-11/1,330
16. Alex Austin, 1986-90/1,329
17. Al Nealey, 1957-60/1,304
11 HALFTIME DEFICIT WINS UNDER COACH HURLEY
(-2) Xavier 46, ASU 44/Nov. 24, 2017/ASU 102, Xavier 86
(-2) Kansas State 44, ASU 42/Nov. 23, 2017/ASU 92, Kansas State 90
(-6) SDSU 40, ASU 34/Nov. 14, 2017/ASU 90, SDSU 68
(-1) USC 48, ASU 47/Feb. 26, 2017/ASU 83, USC 82
(-2) @Washington 41, ASU 39/Feb. 16, 2017/ASU 83, @Washington 81
(-1) Stanford 33, ASU 32/Feb. 11, 2017/ASU 75, Stanford 69
(-7) @SDSU 32, ASU 25/Dec. 10, 2016/ASU 74, @SDSU 63
(-3) #23 USC 30, ASU 27/Feb. 12, 2016/ASU 74, USC 67
(-12) @UNLV 37, ASU 25/Dec. 16, 2015/ASU 66, @UNLV 56
(-8) @Creighton 41, ASU 33/Dec. 2, 2015/ASU 79, @Creighton 77
(-2) UCSB 29, ASU 27/Nov. 29, 2015/ASU 70, UCSB 68
RANKED WINS UNDER BOBBY HURLEY
ASU 102, #15 Xavier 86/Nov. 24, 2017
ASU 74, #23 USC 67/Feb. 12, 2016
ASU 67, #18 Texas A&M 54/Dec. 5, 2015
MOST ASU POINTS UNDER BOBBY HURLEY
40-Tra Holder vs. #15 Xavier (11/24/17)
35-Tra Holder vs. UC Irvine (11/19/17)
32-T. Graham vs. #5 Oregon (3/9/17)
30-T. Graham at Stanford (12/30/16) 29-T. Graham at UW (2/16/17)
28-Kodi Justice vs. KSU (11/23/17)
28-T. Graham vs.#5 UCLA (2/23/17)
28-S. Evans at #13 Oregon (2/2/17)
28-Shannon Evans vs UNLV (12/3/16)
Las Vegas Invitational All-Tournament Team
- Tra Holder, Arizona State (MVP)
- Kodi Justice, Arizona State
- Shannon Evans II, Arizona State
- Trevon Bluiett, Xavier
- J.P. Macura, Xavier
- Kamau Stokes, K-State
- Arnaldo Toro, George Washington
- Jordan Allen, Rider
- Jermaine Marrow, Hampton
- Brandon Smith, UC Irvine
- Chris Bowling, Northern Arizona