Arizona State pulls away from Tulane

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Torian Graham scored 22 points and Shannon Evans II had 21 to lift Arizona State to an 80-71 victory over Tulane in the loser’s bracket of the Tire Pros Invitational on Friday night.

Sam Cunliffe scored 10 for the Sun Devils (3-1), who pulled away from Tulane in the final seven minutes.

Tulane (1-3) got 22 points from Melvin Frazier Jr. and 17 from Cameron Reynolds, but the Green Wave offense fizzled when the game was still within reach.

ASU had an 11-point lead at halftime, but couldn’t shake the Green Wave until late in the second half.

Tulane found some room taking the ball to the basket against ASU’s man-to-man defense and cut the deficit to just 61-58 when Von Julien scored on a driving layup with 7:02 left in the game.

Ramon Villa woke up the Devils’ offense with a follow-shot jam and Graham followed with a driving layup and 3-pointer that pushed the lead back to a more comfortable 68-58 with just under five minutes left.

The Green Wave never got closer than seven the rest of the game.

ASU reserve Kodi Justice slammed the door shut with a 3-pointer with 50 seconds to play that made it 78-66.

Arizona State outscored Tulane 17-6 in the last five minutes of the first half to take a 40-29 lead. Evans and Graham, timid for most of the half, started driving hard on every possession and igniting the Sun Devils’ offense.

Evans scored 11 points and had three assists for the half, while Graham hit four of seven shots and scored 10 points.

THREE INSTEAD OF TWO

Tulane was six of 14 on 3-pointers in the first half, but only 2 of 9 from inside the arc. Cameron Reynolds, who missed his first five shots, hit three straight 3-pointers in a 2-minute stretch late in the half.

UP NEXT

Arizona State will play Davidson Sunday in the fifth place game..

Tulane, which has lost twice in the tournament, will play Missouri in the seventh place game Sunday.