DJ Horne had 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting to help Arizona State overcome a 13-point deficit in the first half to defeat North Florida 72-63 on Monday night at Tempe, Ariz.
Marreon Jackson had 10 of his 13 points in the second half and Kimani Lawrence finished with 12 points for Arizona State.
Jalen Graham added 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field in his first game of the season.
Graham and Jay Heath cleared COVID-19 protocol to play and former Ohio State player Luther Muhammad sat out the game for violating team policy.
North Florida (0-4) was playing its fourth road game in six days playing the Sun Devils after trips to Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Grand Canyon.
The Ospreys were led by Jose Placer’s 25 points and six assists. Carter Hendricksen finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Arizona State (2-1) was coming off Thursday’s 66-65 loss at home against UC Riverside when the Highlanders’ JP Moorman II made a 65-foot 3-point shot at the buzzer.
The Sun Devils appeared to be hung over from that loss from the start trailing 16-4 with 13:34 left in the first half.
Arizona State cut into the lead gradually and the Sun Devils took a 39-37 margin into halftime following Horne’s jumper with 6 seconds left in the half.
Arizona State went on an 11-2 run to take a 56-46 lead with 8:51 left, but North Florida answered with 3-pointers on consecutive possessions.
Jose Placer’s shot from beyond the arc followed by another from Hendricksen cut the lead to 56-52 with 7:15 left.
A dunk by Chaz Lanier with 3:49 remaining trimmed Arizona State’s lead to 60-58, but the Sun Devils’ Jamiya Neal responded with a 3-pointer.
Another 3-pointer by Jackson gave the Sun Devils a 67-61 lead with 2:14 remaining.
North Florida missed its last five shots from the field after Lanier’s dunk.
Conversely, Arizona State made five of its last six shots including two 3-pointers and a jumper by Jackson.
–Field Level Media
