The cure for what ailed the ASU men’s basketball team’s defensive woes was the stagnant offense of the Oregon State Beavers.

After allowing 70 or more points in its last five contests, ASU held OSU to just 46 points on 24.6 percent shooting, leading to a 56-46 win at Wells Fargo Arena.

The shooting percentage by OSU (10-13, 4-7 Pac-10) was the lowest allowed from a Pac-10 opponent by ASU in 23 years.

“That is how it has been [in] the previous games with them,” senior guard Derek Glasser said. “They have been low-scoring with a lot of missed shots — a defensive game. [A] win is a win. That is all that matters.”

ASU (17-8, 7-5 Pac-10) never led by more than 13 points, mostly because the Sun Devils’ offense couldn’t get into a rhythm to let them pull away.

“They do a good job in their defenses,” Glasser said of OSU. “They change on you to keep you on your toes. Guys just missed some open shots tonight.”

In a game that certainly wasn’t an offensive basketball showcase, the teams combined to start 4-of-23 from the field and ASU held an 8-7 lead with 11:53 to play in the first half.

After trailing 12-10, a 5-0 spurt gave OSU a 15-12 lead on a jumper by senior forward Roeland Schaftenaar and a 3-pointer from junior forward Omari Johnson.

After that mini run by the Beavers, both teams went 4:12 without a field goal before Glasser connected on a 3-pointer to put ASU up 16-15 with 4:15 remaining in the opening half.

ASU then began to heat up, using three shots from beyond the arc to rattle off a 12-0 run and take a 24-15 lead with 1:19 left in the first half.

Junior guard Calvin Haynes finally broke the Beavers drought with a 3-pointer from just to the left of the top of the key.

In all, OSU went 7:26 without scoring a point, letting ASU take a 26-18 lead into the locker room.

The Beavers shot just 6-23 (26.1 percent) in the first half and missed five free throws, while ASU was 10-24 (41.7 percent) and missed three of its four free throws.

A 3-pointer by junior guard Jamelle McMillan extended ASU’s lead to 29-20 just a minute and a half into the second half, and after OSU cut the lead to five, McMillan hit another three to give ASU a 32-24 lead with 16:37 to play.

For the vast majority of the second half, ASU’s lead fluctuated between seven and 10 points, but a pair of free throws by Glasser made it a 48-36 game with 4:40 remaining.

ASU held onto that 12-point lead until a 3-pointer by Seth Tarver cut it to 50-41 with 1:56 to play. ASU turned the ball over on the other end, but OSU missed two shots that would have further cut into the lead.

Senior center Eric Boateng connected on a pair of free throws with just over a minute to play to extend the lead back to double digits at 52-41.

Glasser led ASU in scoring with 16 points, but the spark was provided by senior guard Jerren Shipp, who added 11 points off of the bench.

“Jerren Shipp gave us a great lift,” ASU coach Herb Sendek said. “He played with a lot of heart and passion. He really is the definition of what our program is all about. I am so proud of him.”

Shipp wasn’t only contributing on the offensive end, but he helped ASU’s defense in a big way.

“I just wanted to give my team a lift,” Shipp said. “[I wanted to] play hard and give them energy.”

The Beavers were led by Haynes’ 15 points, but he shot just 5-of-22 from the field and 2-of-9 from downtown. Senior swingman Tarver added nine points and eight rebounds.

It was evident from the start that ASU’s defense was much-improved. The two leading scorers for OSU shot a combined 7-of-34.

“This was better than we have been, but to go to the next level we need to pick it up,” Glasser said. “It seems like we were a step quicker today than we have been.”

Lately, when ASU’s offense has struggled, its defense quickly went south. That wasn’t the case on Thursday night.

“We had a challenging time scoring ourselves tonight,” Sendek said. “We weren’t going to outscore too many people with that kind of offensive production. Our guys continued to play defense while we had our offensive turbulence. This was a hard fought, gut-check win.”

Reach the reporter at andrew.gruman@asu.edu