Portland State University Athletics

Boxscore - HTM | PDF

Tempe, AZ - A poor-shooting first half got Portland State off to a slow start and the final result was an 88-70 loss at Arizona State in the season opener for both teams.

It was a close game early, but an 11-2 Sun Devil run midway through the first half gave ASU a comfortable 24-14 lead. Torian Graham came off the bench to hit a pair of three-pointers for ASU during the rally and had 13 points in his first nine minutes on the court. 

The Vikings made only 10-31 shots from the field (.323) and 3-15 from distance (.200) in the first half. Meanwhile, Graham sparked the Sun Devils with 18 first-half points, hitting 7-8 from the field and 4-5 from three-point range. 

ASU was up 44-30 at the break.

Portland State shot better in the second half, but could never get the deficit to single digits. The Sun Devils lead grew to as many as 24 points. 

ASU outshot the Vikings .493 to .388 in the game. However, rebounding played just as big a role. The Sun Devils had a 47-33 advantage in that department.

Junior forward Braxton Tucker led the Vikings with 19 points and six rebounds in 27 minutes of action. Also scoring in double figures was junior guard Bryce Canda, who had 12 points, five rebounds and a team-high five assists.

Graham and Tra Holder each had 23 points to lead the Sun Devils. Shannon Evans II had 19 points and Obinna Oleka had a game-high 13 rebounds. 

GAME NOTES: The Vikings had beaten the Sun Devils the last two times the schools had met in 2001 and 2006… senior guard Calaen Robinson was playing against his former team. He spent two seasons at Arizona State before transferring to PSU. Robinson scored nine points in the game… Portland State continues its road trip on Sunday when it plays a 4 p.m. game at Cal State Fullerton. A live stream of the game is available at www.bigwest.org/tv.