ASU Men’s Basketball: Sun Devils respond in big way with win over Stanford

(Photo: Nicole Hernandez/WCSN)

Coming off of their worst offensive performance of the season, the Sun Devils bounced back with a solid 75-69 victory over Stanford at home in Tempe.

The spark for a recently stagnant ASU offense was the explosive senior guard, Torian Graham, who put on a show for the home fans. Graham returned to his excellent shooting form from the beginning of the season.

Graham scored a game high 24 points and nailed 6 of his 11 three point attempts (8 of 15 overall). Graham really helped spread the floor for an ASU (12-14) offense that has not been able to hit much from outside the three-point line recently. Graham hit half of the Sun Devils three’s in the game and also had a surprisingly strong rebounding performance, leading the team with six boards.

His work on the glass was needed, as senior forward Obinna Oleka had one of his lowest rebounding totals of the season with just two. Oleka did manage to add 11 points on 50 percent shooting from the field.

Junior guard Shannon Evans II had a poor shooting night as well (2 of 11 from the field) but he still managed to contribute with a game high six assists. Evans was the only member of the ASU starting lineup who didn’t score in double figures.

Defensively, the Sun Devils were extremely stout in this game, holding Stanford (12-13) to 42 percent shooting from the field and just 15 percent shooting from deep. They also forced 21 turnovers with Graham once again leading the way with three steals.

Stanford senior guard Marcus Allen had a solid night shooting, going 8 of 12 and scoring 20 points to go along with 7 rebounds. However, only two other Stanford players were able to score more than seven points, which caused Allen’s strong night to be wasted.

After a solid win at home ASU will look to make it two in a row when they visit Washington on February 16. The game is at 9 p.m. on Fox Sports One.