ASU Basketball: No. 3 Sun Devils trail No. 17 Arizona 39-37 at halftime

Entering Saturday’s contest at McKale Center, the No. 3 Arizona State Sun Devils were the lone unbeaten team in the nation. That isn’t likely to be the case in 20 minutes of play.

At halftime in Tucson, the Sun Devils trail the No. 17 Arizona Wildcats 39-37.

Senior guard Tra Holder leads all scorers with 12 points, while Arizona freshman forward Deandre Ayton leads his team with 11 of his own.

Freshman forward Kimani Lawrence has yet to see the floor for ASU, despite reports that he was ready to play.

Both teams came out of the gates slowly, feeling each other out through the first few minutes. The Wildcats took the first run of the game, extending out to a 9-3 lead at the first media timeout.

Most of the half, though, the ASU shot chart would have made the Miser Brothers’s day, as the Sun Devils were scorching, then were out in the cold.

Between the 15:34 and 10:36 marks, the Sun Devils made eight of nine shots from the field, led by freshman guard Remy Martin making all four of his attempts, to take a lead.

For the next four minutes, though, there seemed to be a lid on the bucket, as ASU missed its next six shots, allowing the Wildcats to regain the lead.

Down the stretch of the first half, the margin was on a string. Neither side led by more than five points after the initial six-point lead for the Wildcats.

With the Sun Devils up five points late in the half, the Wildcats turned it on. A 9-2 run took the teams into the halftime locker room with the home team up.