Holder, Evans lead Sun Devils to 74-63 win against Aztecs (Dec 10, 2016)
SAN DIEGO (AP) Bobby Hurley let his Arizona State Sun Devils have it after their 97-64 loss Wednesday to No. 18 Purdue in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden.
He called them soft, and then ran them ragged in practice.
They paid attention, not wanting it to get any worse.
Tra Holder scored 17 points and Shannon Evans II had 16, including a 3-pointer that started a 13-3 run at the start of the second half, to lead Arizona State to a 74-63 victory against San Diego State on Saturday.
Obinna Oleka had 15 points and 12 rebounds, and Torian Graham scored 15 for the Sun Devils (6-4), who didn't get their first lead until three minutes into the second half.
Hurley was happy with pretty much everything except 13 turnovers in the first half.
''Hopefully this was a turning point for us,'' Hurley said. ''Hopefully we found something we need to move forward with the rest of the year.''
Trey Kell scored 20 points for the Aztecs (4-4), who twice led by 10 points in the first half before losing their third straight game.
Trailing 32-25 at halftime, the Sun Devils opened the second half with 3-pointers by Evans, Holder and Kodi Justice that pulled ASU into a 34-34 tie. While stifling the Aztecs on defense, the Sun Devils continued the run with a layup by Holder and a putback by Jethro Tshisumpa for a 38-35 lead.
SDSU tied it on Max Hoetzel's 3-pointer before Evans answered with another shot from behind the arc.
The Sun Devils stayed hot from behind the 3-point line, with Evans and Torian Graham hitting long shots for a 53-41 lead.
Evans said the first practice after the Purdue loss was ''real tough. We did a lot of running. I don't know if we shot the ball at all but we did do a lot of running. It felt like we were a track team at one point.''
With ASU on break, the players knew practices could be rougher if they didn't step up against SDSU.
''We know there's no time limit when you're on break so we have that in the back of our mind like, `Man, if we don't listen, we're going to be in for a long one.' Preaching that mentality, play for each other and play hard, we came out on top.''
San Diego State twice led by 10 points in the first half, the second time at 32-22 after Hoetzel hit a 3-pointer with just more than a minute left before halftime. Evans hit a 3-pointer for ASU on the next possession.
''This is not what I'm used to, this is not what Trey is used to, this is not what our program is used to,'' SDSU coach Steve Fisher said. ''We've had a program that's played with toughness and pride and success. And we're still capable of doing that, but you have to do it for 40 minutes. You have to do it together. You can't let one end dictate the other.
''We're going have to, all of us, circle the wagons, self-analyze, try to help one another, not fragment, fight together, and get one win that will give you a good taste when you leave the locker room and give you a chance to get two wins,'' Fisher said.
BIG PICTURE
Arizona State: This was the Sun Devils' final road trip of non-conference play. They have three home games before opening Pac-12 action at Stanford on Dec. 30. They've already made cross-country trips to Orlando, the Bahamas and New York.
San Diego State: The Aztecs were coming off consecutive road losses to Loyola of Chicago and Grand Canyon, which will certainly hurt their NCAA Tournament chances unless they win the Mountain West Conference tournament championship and with it an automatic bid.
BOOS
The Aztecs were booed by the crowd during a rough stretch in the second half.
''To me personally, I don't pay attention to it, but it's not something you want to hear being the home team, hearing your home crowd boo you,'' Kell said. ''But at the end of the day, the fans don't control how we play. That's on us. We've got to look at each other, start with ourselves and go from there.''
AN UPSET
In 1992, Hurley and a team of other college players stunned the Dream Team in a closed scrimmage at UC San Diego before the Barcelona Olympics. ''That was one of the great experiences of my life,'' said Hurley, who played in three Final Fours with Duke and won two national titles. ''I loved it. We played Torrey Pines, too. That was fun.''
UP NEXT
Arizona State hosts New Mexico next Saturday night.
San Diego State hosts Alabama State on Monday night.
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