The Sports Xchange
Nov 24, 2017
Senior guard Tra Holder's career-high 40 points and a 58-point second-half outburst powered Arizona State to a 102-86 win over No. 15 Xavier in the championship game of the Las Vegas Invitational on Friday.
Holder set a career mark of 35 points just five days ago, but shattered that with a shooting performance of 14 of 22 and 5 of 8 from 3-point range. Holder's torrid shooting paced Arizona State to a 55.9 percent shooting day from the floor, and 48.1 percent from behind the 3-point line. The Sun Devils also hit 92 percent of their free throws.
Trailing 46-44 after a first half in which Arizona State (6-0) fell behind by as many as 10 points, the Sun Devils took control of the tempo out of halftime.
A 21-5 run over a nearly six-minute stretch late in the second half pushed the advantage to as much as 22 points.
Xavier (5-1) came into Friday's championship tilt at Orleans Arena ranked No. 33 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, per kenpom.com metrics, but the Musketeers had no answer for the Arizona State backcourt.
In addition to Holder, guard Shannon Evans II scored 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Swingman Kodi Justice added 16 points and shot 4 of 8 from long distance.
Arizona State complemented its torrid offensive pace with a stifling defensive effort on Xavier leading scorer Trevon Bluiett. Bluiett came in averaging 23.4 points per game, but managed just 11 points on Friday.
Guard J.P Macura led the Musketeers with 23 points and five rebounds. Arizona State forward De'Quon Lake had a game-high eight rebounds to go with seven points on 3-of-4 shooting.