ASU Men’s Basketball: Sun Devils overcome ugly first half to handle Vanderbilt

(Photo: Tyler Rittenhouse/WCSN)

Expectations have never been higher for ASU men’s basketball. The No. 5 Sun Devils came into Sunday afternoon’s matchup with Vanderbilt riding high after pulling off an improbable upset over Kansas just a week ago.

Their return to Wells Fargo Arena followed a similar pattern to that contentious game at Allen Fieldhouse.

ASU fell behind by 13 early as its offense appeared sloppy and devoid of any kind of rhythm. The Commodores were swarming on defense and cashing in on the offensive end, forcing the Sun Devils out of their comfort zone.

Eventually, ASU got itself back into the game and took the lead for the first and final time. Tra Holder’s three-pointer to end the first half gave the Sun Devils a 30-29 lead that they never relinquished, pulling out a 76-64 win in front of a raucous crowd.

“I think we were just a little rusty,” Holder said. “We had a long week off with hard practices. But we got back into our groove — Mickey (Mitchell) and Remy (Martin) gave us a good spark and we got things going.”

It took a while for Holder and company to knock off the rust, but his three-pointer shifted the balance in this game and acted as a catalyst for ASU’s uncharacteristically sputtering offense. The Sun Devils responded and put up 46 points in the second half thanks in large part to the aggressiveness of Holder, who finished with a game-high 25 points on 11-of-11 from the free throw line.

Holder’s aggressive play was contagious. Mitchell, Martin and Romello White all made an effort to attack the basket when the three-pointers weren’t falling. Mitchell hauled in a career-high 13 rebounds, Martin was a pest on both ends and White was patient in the paint.

ASU was smart with the ball in the second half and got quality looks within the prism of its fast-paced offensive attack. They even had a few highlight plays that wowed the home crowd.

Transition opportunities like that one were the result of a quality defense effort by the Sun Devils. Whether ASU was playing small ball or had De’Quon Lake and Vitaliy Shibel down low, defense was the difference against a tough Vanderbilt team.

“We played in the mud some throughout this game and figured out a way to win,” ASU head coach Bobby Hurley said. “You’ll see our defensive stats jumping up, and maybe people will realize that we’re not one-dimensional.”

The Sun Devils are finding ways to win even on nights where their offense might not be up to its usual standard. That’s scary if you’re a Pac-12 team in the film room looking for cracks in ASU’s armor.

Now 10-0 for the first time in school history, ASU has two more home games against Longwood and Pacific before conference play starts down in Tucson. If all goes well, Hurley’s squad will be 12-0 and ranked no lower than No. 4 in the country when they face their archrival at McKale Center.

Sunday showed that ASU is likely to get every team’s best shot from here on out as it continues its meteoric national rise. So far, nobody’s punch has been enough to knock the Sun Devils out.

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