ASU MBB: Holder’s Late Free Throws Edge Colorado
By Zach Pekale
ASU Basketball picked up its first home Pac-12 win in thrilling fashion, edging Colorado 78-77 on two free throws by Tra Holder with 1.6 seconds left.
Through 39 minutes against Colorado, Tra Holder couldn’t buy a bucket. In the final seconds, he hit two.
After a 3-of-14 shooting night rattled the junior, Holder collected an offensive rebound and was fouled with his team trailing by one and 1.6 seconds on the clock.
Calmly, he knocked down both shots and watched a desperation heave get tipped before a swarm of Sun Devils piled on top of the point guard, celebrating the team’s first home Pac-12 win of the season.
“Big time players make big time plays in big time games. He did that for us,” said Shannon Evans II
Following a late-game meltdown to California, the Arizona State Sun Devils composed themselves down the stretch and responded to a Colorado rally behind 18 points apiece from Evans II and guard Torian Graham as well as forward Obinna Oleka’s ninth double-double of the season.
In the first half, the Sun Devils struggled to guard Buffaloes forward Xavier Johnson, who had 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Johnson’s night was cut short when he and ASU big man Jethro Thisumpa were both assessed a flagrant foul 2 with 1:27 to play in the first half.
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In the absence of Johnson, senior guard Derrick White recorded 25 of his 35 points in the second half to reignite the Buffaloes offense, including a perfect 11-11 at the free throw line.
After Tshisumpa’s ejection and forward Ramon Vila fouled out with 5:37 remaining, the ASU bench was down to six players, forcing the Sun Devils to resort to small-ball the final five minutes.
“Sometimes you don’t have a bunch of guys, you need the right guys, I think right now we have the right guys” said head coach Bobby Hurley. ” All eight guys that are playing at this point, I have confidence in them, I trust them.
Hurley additionally commended Graham on his defense of White during the final minutes of the game.
With the win, Arizona State improves to 9-7 on the season with a 2-1 record in conference play. The Sun Devils have a quick turnaround with their game against Utah less than 48 hours away.
Next: ASU Basketball: Why Fan Should Not Focus on Record
ASU plays Utah on Jan. 7 at 3 p.m. MT at Wells Fargo Arena where the team will look to win consecutive conference games for the first time since March 2015. The game can be watched on Pac-12 Networks.