Maurice Odum poured in 26 points that included two clutch 3-pointers in the final 3:18 as Arizona State held on for a 100-94 win over former Pac-12 rival Washington State on Tuesday in the Maui Invitational semifinals in Lahaina, Hawaii.
The Sun Devils (6-1) will face USC, an 83-81 winner over Seton Hall in Tuesday’s first semifinal, in the tournament title game on Wednesday. Washington State will play Seton Hall in the third-place game, also Wednesday.
The Cougars (3-4) led by six points at halftime and by a dozen early in the second half before Arizona State pulled even with 12:30 to play. The Sun Devils regained the lead for the first time since midway through the first half on Anthony Johnson’s dunk with 6:51 remaining and pushed their advantage to 87-81 on Odum’s 3-pointer with 3:18 left.
Bryce Ford added 18 points for the Sun Devils, with Johnson hitting three late free throws as part of his 13 points and Massamba Diop scoring 12.
Washington State’s Ace Glass led all scorers with 40 points, setting a school scoring record for a freshman. Eemeli Yalaho added 12 points and Tomas Thrastarson tallied 11 for the Cougars.
Washington State came out firing, scoring the game’s first nine points as Yalaho hit a 3-pointer and Glass followed with back-to-back jumpers from beyond the arc. Arizona State swung back, forging a 14-0 run capped by a Diop layup five minutes into the game, setting the stage for a back-and-forth first half that saw four ties and six lead changes.
The last of those first-half ties came when Andrija Grbovic canned a 3-pointer with 5:27 left to bring the Sun Devils even at 33-33. A second chance 3-pointer by Glass with 6 seconds remaining staked Washington State to a 48-42 lead at the break.
Glass poured in 16 points before halftime on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor that included four 3-pointers. The Cougars shot 60.7% from the floor over the first 20 minutes of play.
Diop paced Arizona State with 10 points in the first half. The Sun Devils went the final 2:38 of the half without a field goal.
Washington State built a 12-point lead in the first minute and a half of the second half before the Sun Devils fashioned a 16-5 spurt capped by a layup by Noah Meeusen to tie the game at 65 with 12:30 to play.
