DJ Horne scored 18 of his 25 points in the first half to lead Arizona State to an 84-68 victory over Northern Arizona on Thursday night at Tempe, Ariz.
Devan Cambridge added 16 points and Marcus Bagley and Warren Washington each had 12 for the Sun Devils (2-0). Frankie Collins contributed eight assists for Arizona State, which never trailed in the contest.
Jalen Cone scored 17 points for the Lumberjacks (0-2), who trailed by as many as 35 points before cutting the deficit to 11 in the final minutes. Liam Lloyd and Ezekiel Richards added 11 points apiece before fouling out for Northern Arizona.
Arizona State shot 54.2 percent from the field, including 9 of 17 from 3-point range. Horne sank four 3-pointers and Cambridge made three.
The Sun Devils had a 40-23 rebounding advantage and a 22-8 edge in fastbreak points.
Northern Arizona made 12 of its last 15 shots to finish at 42.1 percent from the field. The Lumberjacks were just 7 of 28 from behind the arc. Cone made three treys.
Horne scored 18 first-half points as the Sun Devils held a 47-22 advantage.
Horne scored six straight points as Arizona State began to separate from the Lumberjacks at 15-7 with 11:31 left in the first half.
Cambridge hit two 3-pointers in 57 seconds and Horne added one 18 seconds later as the Sun Devils held a 35-17 lead with 4:22 remaining.
Northern Arizona’s Keith Haymon made two free throws with 2:49 left before Arizona State erupted with 20 straight points — the final 10 of the first half and the first 10 of the second half.
Horne capped the big burst with a trey to make it 57-22 with 17:25 left in the contest.
Northern Arizona trailed by 27 with just over six minutes remaining before rattling off 12 consecutive points to move within 73-58 with 4:22 left. A three-point play by Richards trimmed the deficit to 76-65 with 1:58 remaining before Arizona State scored the next eight points.
–Field Level Media