ASU men's basketball (10-5, 1-1 Pac-12) survived a late rally from Oregon State (11-4, 1-2) to win its first conference game of the season 82-76 on Thursday night.
Junior guard Remy Martin led the Sun Devils with 24 points and three assists.
Redshirt senior guard Rob Edwards provided 18 points on 60% shooting from the field and 80% shooting from three.
After beginning the game neck and neck, ASU broke out with a 12-1 run to help the team gain a 36-25 lead heading into halftime. OSU missed five consecutive shots within ASU's offensive spurt.
ASU's offense picked up momentum in the second half, shooting 52% overall and 56% from three in the period.
Edwards dealt most of his damage in the final 20 minutes, leading the Sun Devils's offensive attack with 13 points in the second half.
OSU senior forward Tres Tinkle wouldn't let his team go down quietly, scoring 18 of his 22 points in the second half. He spearheaded a late 9-0 run by OSU, the spark the team needed to come back within four with under a minute remaining.
ASU held off the rally by forcing a miss from OSU, leading to pair of free throws from junior guard Alonzo Verge Jr. to seal the win.
Head coach Bobby Hurley was pleased with how the team played in the first half, citing the energy the team brought as a key factor in providing an early cushion.
"I thought our activity was very good," Hurley said. "Holding them to 25 at half was very good work."
After being held to five points or less in each of his past five games, Hurley expressed happiness over how Edwards overcame his struggles, saying it, "ripped my heart out," to bench the guard.
"He's worked as hard as anybody that I have coached," Hurley said. "He went through a tough stretch, and hopefully he'll build on that."
Edwards acknowledged he hit a rough stretch, but had confidence to keep playing his game knowing he would break out of it.
"I just had to find myself on the court," Edwards said. "Just making shots..., talking on defense and just being a threat on both ends of the ball.
ASU will head to Eugene to take on No. 9 Oregon on Jan. 11 at 8:30 p.m. MST.
Reach the reporter at jhorst2@asu.edu and follow @HorseySeven on Twitter.
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Jeffrey Horst is the digital editor-in-chief of The State Press. He previously served as the publication's sports editor and worked at Cronkite News and ArizonaSports.com.
