Jan. 29, 1998
Sun Devils Drop 82-77 Decision to California
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - California could hardly wait to change the tempo and deliver a slow death to Arizona State.
"We had nine guys who were pretty tired; we had to beat them one-on-one," said Cal coach Ben Braun after the Bears held off the Sun Devils 82-77 Thursday night.
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| Jeremy Veal led ASU with 21 points. |
The teams ran up 93 points by half-time. Cal scored 34 over an eight-minute stretch of the first to gain control, then parceled out 34 points during the final 22 minutes and combined it with good defense.
"We knew their game plan was to try and tire us out," said Cal's Sean Lampley, whose tip-in with 36.2 seconds insured the victory. "But in the second half, we played great defense."
California (8-8, 4-4 Pac-10) held ASU (13-8, 3-5) scoreless over the final 1:53 after Ahlon Lewis' free throws pulled the Sun Devils to within 79-77.
After Sean Marks hit one of two free throws for Cal, Arizona State had a chance to tie. But Jeremy Veal's lob jumper was short and a put-back dunk attempt by Mike Batiste bounced high off the rim with one minute to go.
Lampley, who led Cal with 10 rebounds, got a hand on Geno Carlisle's missed shot on the Bears' next possession and waited for what seemed an eternity after his finger-roll finally dropped in for an 82-77 lead.
"I thought it was going to roll out," Lampley said. "But I was in a position to tip it in again. I had to be careful of offensive goaltending."
The Sun Devils misfired on four 3-point attempts down the stretch.
"We battled back after being down," said ASU coach Don Newman. "I liked our poise."
Veal scored a game-high 21 points for Arizona State and Batiste led all rebounders with 16.
The Sun Devils have lost four of their last five overall, and have won just one of their last nine games at Cal.
Four players hit double figures for Cal, led by Carlisle's 20 points. The others were Thomas Kilgore (17), Marks (12) and Francisco Elson (12).
Sharp shooting by both teams resulted in 93 first-half points. California made 20 of 38 shots (52.6 percent), slightly less efficient than Arizona State's 20-for-36 (55.6 percent).
The Bears fell behind 22-14, missing eight straight shots during one stretch, before outscoring the Sun Devils 34-19 and hitting 18 of 20 shots over an eight-minute stretch
Raymond King's behind-the-back pass set up Carlisle's 3-pointer with 1:49 left in the half to give Cal a 48-41 lead, and the Bears settled for 48-45 at intermission. Carlisle scored 10 points during the run.