Arizona State’s big first half buries Nevada in First Four
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — DJ Horne had 20 points and Arizona State raced to a big halftime lead and finished with the highest point total in a First Four game, burying Nevada 98-73 on Wednesday night.
Arizona State (23-12) led 53-26 at the half and kept scoring in the second on the way to the rout.
The first-half output was a season high for Arizona State, which advanced as a No. 11 seed to face TCU in a West Region first-round game on Friday in Denver.
“It was a complete performance for us. You want to be playing this way at this time of year,” Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said. “That’s what it’s all about. I truly believe that our schedule and the games we’ve been in, especially late in the season, prepares you for these types of games. And it was across the board, just everyone contributed. Our defense was outstanding in the first half.”
Arizona State hit 67.7 percent of its shots from the floor and forced 10 turnovers in the first half, putting together a 22-2 run over eight minutes to pull away, meanwhile keeping the defensive pressure on and forcing the Wolf Pack to the perimeter.
Desmond Cambridge Jr. — a Nevada transfer — had 17 points, Jamiya Neal had 16 and Desmond’s brother, Devan Cambridge, added 15 for Arizona State.
Will Baker scored 17 and Tre Coleman had 14 for the Wolf Pack (22-11). One of Nevada’s top players, Kenan Blackshear, picked up three fouls early and sat on the bench for more than five minutes of the opening half. He was held to four points.
“You’ve got to give Arizona State credit,” Nevada coach Steve Alford said. “I’ve watched a bucket load of games on them, and I thought that’s as well as they’ve played all year. That’s a great credit to them, because if you can play some of your best basketball in March, that’s really, really good.”