Shannon Evans, Tra Holder help ASU pull away from Colorado

Shannon Evans fired from the key and fell back as the basketball swished through the net. The Wells Fargo Arena crowd exploded. Teammate Tra Holder ran to Evans and gave him a celebratory shove.

"Seniors!" Holder told Evans. "That's what we do!"

What has been missing throughout Arizona State’s recent struggles?

This.

Evans and Holder torching opponents from the perimeter, something they did Saturday, the No. 21 Sun Devils burying Colorado in a second-half avalanche, the key stretch in an 80-66 win.

"I think the guys maybe just had enough," said coach Bobby Hurley, referring to an underwhelming conference stretch. 

Responded Evans, jokingly: "I had enough of him. All he (does) is yell at me, so I wanted him to be quiet."

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ASU coach Bobby Hurley discusses his team's win over Colorado on Saturday.

In front of 13,943 fans, ASU reached the midpoint of the Pac-12 season at 16-5 and 4-5 in conference play. Colorado dropped to 12-10 and 4-6. While it's premature to suggest the Sun Devils have rediscovered their old ways, this looked like progress.

"In the second half, as many guys that were making big plays, one after another, it felt like a breakthrough and it looked like a lot of what I saw through a lot of the season with the spurts and the shot-making," Hurley said. "But it all started with us getting confidence from our defense."

The crazy thing about it: ASU couldn’t hit anything from deep in the first half, missing all 10 of its 3-point attempts. All that changed, however, in a four-minute stretch, Holder and Evans catching fire, a four-point deficit quickly turning into a 10-point lead.

The biggest factor in the Sun Devils' slide always has been the most obvious: Their two best players – Holder and Evans – weren’t playing well. Entering Saturday, Holder was shooting 34.3 percent in conference games. Evans, 36.1.

Both are gym rats. On Saturday, Holder showed up at Wells Fargo Arena at 10 a.m, getting up shots more than two hours before ASU's scheduled team shooting session. Holder returned at 3:45 p.m. – the Sun Devils weren't scheduled to arrive until 4 – the first on the court, resuming his pregame routine.

"My ritual that I was doing during the non-conference (season) started working a little bit, so I went back to that," Holder said.

Against Colorado, it was fitting that he started the surge. With 10:34 left, Holder drilled a 3, pulling ASU within 51-50. Thirty seconds later, he hit another, giving the Sun Devils a 53-51 lead.

Then it was Evans’ turn.

The senior guard hit a corner 3. After Colorado scored, Holder hit from deep. After two Colorado free throws, Evans did so. Ninety seconds later, Evans struck again, giving ASU a 65-55 lead with 6:37 left.

Throughout the non-conference season, this is how the Sun Devils won – hitting from multiple places in rapid-fire mode. Holder and Evans. Evans and senior guard Kodi Justice. Holder and freshman guard Remy Martin. Those runs haven’t come so much lately, the tidal wave slowed by sound scouting reports and zone defense.

But for the first time in a while, ASU rediscovered its explosiveness.

"These players are too good for us to not be able to do that," Hurley said. "You don't do it for two months and then it just goes away and you never see it again."

Holder led ASU with 22 points, five rebounds and four assists. Evans added 19, three and three. The senior guards combined for eight 3-pointers, all coming in the second half. Junior forward De’Quon Lake added 10 points, hitting all five shots from the field.

ASU shot 50 percent in the second half, outscoring Colorado 48-34. The Sun Devils hit 10 of 21 from deep over the final 20 minutes. Hurley was just as pleased with his defense, holding the Buffaloes to 42.6 percent shooting and just six 3-pointers.

Top Colorado scorers McKinley Wright and George King combined for just 10 points. Among the Pac-12's top freshmen, Wright shot 1 of 10. Not helping: The Buffaloes attempted just nine foul shots.

"Arizona State is kind of the same way – when their big dogs Holder and Evans don't really produce for them, they have problems," Colorado coach Tad Boyle said. "We're the same way with George and McKinley."

ASU next week visits the Washington schools. The Sun Devils face Washington on Thursday before traveling to Washington State on Sunday. They hope to continue what they showed in Saturday's second half. 

"It's a start," Holder said. "We got to build on it."

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Contact Doug Haller at 602-444-4949 or at doug.haller@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/DougHaller.