ASU Men’s Basketball: Holder’s career night leads offensive outburst

A new career high of 35 points for Tra Holder sparked a lights-out shooting performance for the Sun Devils, converting 61% of their three-point attempts in a 99-78 rout of UC Irvine.

The Sun Devil men’s basketball team kept the good times rolling Sunday afternoon, taking down the Anteaters of UC Irvine 99-78 for their fourth win of the young season.

Tra Holder led all scorers on the afternoon with 35 points on 13-15 shooting, breaking his own career high of 27 that he tallied against Washington State last season.

With such an efficient night from the floor, Coach Bobby Hurley acknowledged Holder’s performance even inspired him to lace-up on the court once again.

“Right after the game, I went up and touched Tra’s hand,” Hurley said postgame. “I was thinking about getting some shots up later and making them, so I figured I’d shake his hand and it’d carry over.”

Despite shooting only 3-of-13 against Northern Arizona Friday night, Holder was unfazed in the early going, finding himself immediately in attack mode. After converting a runner in transition to tie the game at four, Holder hit all nylon on a three-point attempt in the next possession, an indication that he knew he’d be having a breakout night.

“It felt good every time I shot [the ball],” Holder said. “Even one of the threes I missed in the first half, I thought it was going in as well.”

After going on a 10-2 run to jump out to a 12-6 lead in the early minutes, the Sun Devils were confronted with a challenge that highly daunted them last season: a 2-3 zone. Immediately, the team knew they’d have to knock down long-distance shots on a consistent basis, a challenge that a lot of teams threw on them last year.

Today, ASU welcomed that challenge.

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The Devils connected on 10 of their 13 3-point attempts in the first half, with eight of the triples coming from the hot hands of Holder and Shannon Evans. After making his fourth shot from deep, Evans shot a smirk down the UC Irvine sideline, signaling the fact that the Devils weren’t fazed by any defensive scheme thrown at them.

“Every time someone lines up in zone against us, we take that a little personal,” Holder recounted. “We know that we’re capable of shooting the ball well and making plays for others.”

For the guards of Arizona State, sharing the ball is another area they’ve shined tremendously in this season. Holder, Evans and Kodi Justice combined for 16 out of the 17 Sun Devil assists during the game, constantly looking to make an extra pass and set their teammates up for open looks.

After sweeping their first four home matches of their non-conference schedule, the Sun Devils will now get ready for a tough slate of games as they prepare for Kansas State Thursday night with another game against Xavier or George Washington on Friday.

Although coach Hurley has enjoyed what he’s seen out of his team so far, he noted that there are some things the team will need to iron out before they travel to Las Vegas, especially with his big men.

“We have to rebound better,” Hurley stated. “We’ve got to get Vitaliy [Shibel] going with De’Quon [Lake] and Romello [White] rebounding at a high clip, and we have to shoot free throws a little better.”

Despite his third double-double in four games, White’s production, along with his counterpart in Lake, was much less noticeable tonight, as the two got in foul trouble early and converted only six of their 14 attempts at the free throw line. With aggressive bigs that the Sun Devils will face in Mawdo Sallah of Kansas State and Tyrique Jones of Xavier, it will be a constant challenge for the team to match and exceed the physicality of their opposition.

For Hurley and Sun Devils fans, at least, they have to be happy that every player is more than capable of stepping up when necessary.

Next: ASU Men's Basketball: Sun Devil defense ignites third straight drubbing

The Sun Devils will play their first game of the Continental Tire Invitational in Las Vegas at 5:30 p.m. MT Thursday night where you can catch the game live on FS1.

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