TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) Arizona State came out flat, missing shots, tossing balls into the stands, allowing open 3-pointers.
The No. 5 team in the country? The Sun Devils looked more like they should be unranked, not among college basketball’s elite.
In a matter of minutes, it all changed. Arizona State forced turnovers, got out on the break and dropped in 3-pointers to keep the crowd on its feet.
Once the Sun Devils get rolling like this, there’s no stopping them.
Tra Holder scored 25 points, Shannon Evans II added 15 and No. 5 Arizona State overcame a dismal start with a massive halftime-spanning run to beat Vanderbilt 76-64 on Sunday. The Sun Devils improved to 10-0 for the first time in their history.
”We had the bursts and it’s great we took the game from a one-two possession game and all of a sudden it’s mid-doubles,” Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said. ”It happens fast.”
Arizona State built a national buzz with last week’s road win over Kansas and its highest ranking in 36 years.
The Sun Devils looked nothing like the team that won at Allen Fieldhouse early against Vanderbilt (3-7), falling into a 13-0 hole. Once one of the nation’s most explosive teams finally came to life, Vanderbilt had no chance.
Sharp at both ends, Arizona State used a 26-3 run spanning halftime to turn what started out as an embarrassing performance into a runaway that had Wells Fargo Arena the loudest it’s been all season.
Mickey Mitchell provided the Sun Devils a spark off the bench, playing solid defense while grabbing 13 rebounds. Arizona State hit 14 of 28 shots in the second half to remain one of the nation’s four undefeated teams.
Saben Lee had 24 points to lead Vanderbilt, which shot 4 of 30 from 3-point range.
”We’re a small team, like ASU, and we have to make 3s,” Vanderbilt coach Bryce Drew said.
Following last Sunday’s 10-point win over then-No. 2 Kansas, the Sun Devils moved up to No. 5, their highest ranking since being No. 3 in 1980-81, and received five first-place votes in the Top 25, a program first.
Suddenly, they were a trendy pick to make a Final Four. Hurley was being touted as a national coach of the year candidate by the coach of Arizona State’s biggest rival. A buzz spread across the Valley of the Sun and beyond about the program being touted as ”Guard U.”
The spotlight appeared to be too bright for the Sun Devils early against Vanderbilt.
Disjointed and struggling with double teams in the post, Arizona State had five turnovers in the game’s opening five minutes. The Sun Devils didn’t score until Romello White’s layup at 14:49, and the fans who were rowdy long before tipoff groaned with each miscue.
”We were knocking down shots and they were missing at the beginning,” Lee said.
Then Arizona State got back to playing the way it had to open the season.
The Sun Devils harassed the Commodores into difficult shots late in the shot clock and jumped into passing lanes to create turnovers. Shots missed earlier at the rim started going in, and they made a couple of late 3-pointers after missing their first nine.
Holder had one of those 3s, dropping a deep one at the halftime buzzer that put Arizona State up 30-29.
The Sun Devils kept the engine revving in the second half, scoring 12 straight points to push the lead to 49-31. Vanderbilt made one push, but got no closer than 12.
”We were just a little rusty. We had a long week off,” said Holder, who made all 11 of his free throws. ”But we got back to our groove.”
BIG PICTURE
Vanderbilt showed it can play with highly-ranked teams in the opening 10 minutes. The final 30 showed the Commodores still have plenty of work to do before the SEC season starts.
Arizona State looked like the No. 5 team in the country after its shaky start and could move up in Monday’s poll after No. 3 Wichita State lost.
LEE’S HOMECOMING
Lee grew up in Arizona and played at Corona del Sol High School in Tempe, so Sunday’s game was a homecoming of sorts.
The freshman guard is Vanderbilt’s assist leader with 34 and made 9 of 14 shots to set a career high in points.
”It was pretty weird, knowing that I watched a lot of games here and now I’m going against them,” Lee said. ”But it was a good experience..”
UP NEXT
Vanderbilt hosts Houston Baptist on Wednesday.
Arizona State hosts Longwood on Tuesday.
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More AP college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25
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