by Evan Millstein, SDA Media Relations Student Assistant

The Sun Devil men's basketball team (9-7; 2-1) opened Pac-12 play at home with a thrilling victory Thursday night against the Colorado Buffaloes, 78-77, as five Sun Devils in scored double figures. It marked the fourth straight win over the Buffaloes in Tempe for the Sun Devils.

Tra Holder's two free throws with just over one second remaining earned the win, as he rebounded a Torian Graham miss and was fouled on the put-back attempt. ASU was 10-of-11 for the game at the free throw line.

"I know that it (free throw shooting) could be the difference between winning and losing games, especially in the Pac-12," said Holder, who is shooting .767 (79-of-103) from the free throw line on the year. "Every game is going to be a tight game. Knocking down your free throws increases your chances of winning and it helped us today."

The Sun Devils are making free throws at a rate (.756/263-of-348) that is tied with the 1977-78 team's school record, and Thursday they needed every bucket in the tightly contested game. There were 14 lead changes in the final 10:47, as no one led by more than four in that span. Colorado led 64-62, 66-64, 68-67, 73-71, 75-74 and 77-76 before Holder's free throws.

Tra Holder's clutch free throw takes the honor for the @OpusBank #12Best Moment! #Pac12Hoops https://t.co/qo75beUhoc
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) January 6, 2017

Junior guard Shannon Evans II led the way for Arizona State contributing 18 points on 6-for-14 shooting and three rebounds. Senior forward Obinna Oleka notched his ninth double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, as he is tied for the Pac-12 lead with Josh Hawkinson.

Freshman Roman Vila earned his second career start against the Buffaloes, playing 15 minutes while notching four points and four rebounds. Torian Graham came off the bench in the winning effort, leading the Sun Devil bench with 18 points and two rebounds.

Redshirt Senior Derrick White paced the Buffaloes with 35 points, five rebounds and five assists. White shot 10-of-20 from the field and 12-for-12 from the charity stripe.

Arizona State continues its home stand with a visit from Utah on Saturday, January 7. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. MT from Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe, and can be viewed on Pac-12 Networks.

ASU VS. COLORADO IN PAC-12 ERA IN TEMPE
ASU 78, CU 77/Jan. 5, 2017
ASU 78, CU 72/Jan. 17, 2015
ASU 72, CU 51/Jan. 25, 2014
ASU 65, CU 56/Jan. 6, 2012
CU 63, ASU 49/Feb. 11, 2012

QUOTING BOBBY HURLEY:

Opening Statement...
"I'm very, very happy for the group and how we fought through that whole game. There were three different times in the last 10 minutes where they took the lead on us. Our guys had a response. It was exciting to see us play that well down the stretch. We got contributions from everyone that played. It was very good across the board, a unified win. Everyone will point to the play that Tra [Holder] made. It was a terrific individual play and great awareness for him to go up to the glass like that and then step up to the free throw line with that type of pressure and make two. It's not easy. We had numerous guys from a team standpoint. We knew that Colorado, coming in losing against Utah and still looking for their first Pac-12 win, was going to give us all that we want. They played a very good game. It was a great game to watch and to be a part of. I'm excited that we came out on the right end of it."

On what he talked to the team about when Vila fouled out...
"Sometimes you don't have a bunch of guys. You need the right guys. I think right now we have the right guys. All eight guys that are playing at this point, I have confidence in them. I trust in them. We talked about stepping up and doing a better job rebounding. I thought we lost track of that in the second half where we gave up too many offensive rebounds. That would be the one criticism. We talked about how important the rebounding piece was. I thought if we won the backboard, we'd have a real chance to win this game."

On how difficult Tra's rebound was...
"Tra has a nose for the ball. It reminded me somewhat of last year at Creighton: he stripped the rebounder on the free throw and laid the ball back in. He made a winning play, he's a winner. He made a clutch play for us."

On closing out the game at the free throw line...
"It's how we're built. We've got guys with good character and guys that are thinking about the right things right now. They're playing together and playing for each other. We're thinking about the right things. We're thinking about winning games and putting ourselves in the right position to do that. So far in each of the three games we've played, we've given ourselves a chance and that's a great feeling."

On how Jethro being ejected and Vila fouling out affected the team...
"I thought Obi [Obina Oleka] had a really good game going, offensively, and that always helps his mindset. He did battle in there like he always does. We needed stops. I thought Torian [Graham], in addition to his offense, his defense in that last minute against White was pretty good. He's a heck of a player and obviously had a great game. He's been doing that all year."

On Jethro playing tougher...
"I'm happy for Jethro [Tshisumpa]. He's going to take a couple steps forward and, maybe, a half step back. That's going to be his learning curve this year. He gave us a physical presence. I thought Ramon Vila's first six minutes or so were very good and Jethro built on that. From that position, we got productivity for the first 10 minutes of the game through Jethro's shot blocks and presence around the basket. He had a nice finish. He did very well for us."

On how big Torian's shot was for Tra...
The idea was to try to get Torian in isolation on a wing with some space. I knew that he could elevate and get a good shot off at the basket. He's definitely capable of making shots like that. From there, Tra made a great individual play.

On staying strong toward the end after not in the past...
When you went to the well like we did, we were invested in this game emotionally, we played our hearts out, you like to come out on the right side of it just for the morale of the team. The guys understand that when you put in that type of effort, look at the results that are out there for you. It was a great way that we finished.

On what his gameplan was after Jethro's ejection...
My first thought was, 'One body down now.' I hoped the fouls didn't factor into the equation as the game progressed. They also lost in that exchange Johnson, who was playing very well up until that point. He's a heck of a player. You never like to see anything like that but it's a very physical game. Guys are going extremely hard. Anytime you have a hard, contact foul like that, with guys falling to the ground and getting tangled up, you could lose it sometimes with the emotions. It's a learning lesson for Jethro and I'm sure for their players as well.

On what it's like to go through so many lead changes in the end...
It's fun to be in those competitive games and to feel like you're giving your best shot, that you're giving some blows and they're coming back. When you're playing good teams, you have to play tight games. I think we have enough offense and playmakers that if we put ourselves in close games, there are enough guys who can make plays to put us over the top. It was fun to see us get that done tonight.

On whether he adjusted Obi's shooting mid-game...
We called his number a couple times in the mid-post, his mid-post face-up. The shot was effective. He got a couple nice drives to the basket. He just didn't only rely on his jump shots. It was great to see him do that. He's capable of making the three's, they just weren't falling for him tonight.

On the quick turnaround to the next game...
We're going to watch film. We'll watch some of today's game and go over positives and negatives tomorrow, mainly positives. Just staying in a great frame of mind and getting whatever work guys might need and take care of our bodies. Get ready for Utah and watch a lot of film on them.

QUOTING COACH TAD BOYLE
On the takeaways from a close loss:
"There is no doubt our guys battled. I have a total different feeling in my heart, in my gut than I did after the Utah game because I thought our guys battled and fought. They lost a player in the first half, we lost a player in the first half. I think our player was a little more important to us than theirs was to them. That is what happened. I didn't see the play, but I will look at it. It is unfortunate, but our guys battled back and we played well enough to win that game. We made some plays down the stretch. Derrick White was unbelievable offensively. He just made every play, we need to get him some help there is no doubt about that. He was terrific tonight, but they made one more play than we did."

On the explanation he received from the official regarding Xavier Johnson's ejection:
"They didn't say there was punches thrown, but they said that there was some pushing and shoving going on. They said that he had instigated it and the other kid retaliated, so they gave them both flagrant twos. I didn't see, it was down away from our bench so I don't know I have to take the officials word for it and watch it. If there are no punches thrown, I thought maybe we could go flagrant one double technical and move on, but they didn't make that decision. You have to live with it. That is not why we lost. We played well enough to win that game in the second half, we just didn't make enough plays and they did."

On the back-and-forth sequence at the end:
"This is the seventh game in a row where we haven't hit our defensive numbers which is plus 8 against the other team. It is fitting that that is how we lost the game because we are not the Colorado rebounding team that we have had in the past. I mentioned to the media, I mentioned to the players, and I mentioned to our staff at some point that is going to cost us a game and tonight it cost us a game."

On the quick turnaround with Arizona on Saturday:
"This is where your tested and we have lost two in a row here on the road. We knew it wasn't going to be easy, so we have to bounce back. Arizona, you don't get these opportunities. We had one shot at Arizona State, its water under the bridge now and now we get one shot at Arizona. That is all we get this year based on the way the schedule is. All you can ask for in life is an opportunity and we have a great one and great challenge because Arizona is a terrific program and obviously they have great players and a great coach. Let's go and let it all hang out."