Feb. 5, 2000
By MEL REISNER
AP Sports Writer
TEMPE, Ariz. - For the fourth time, Arizona State had to face a ranked team stung by a defeat in its previous game. For the fourth time, the result was the same.
No. 23 Oregon beat the Sun Devils 86-73 Saturday night, getting 20 points and 12 rebounds from A.D. Smith and using the defense of Darius Wright and friends to slow up Eddie House.
The Ducks (16-4), beaten 77-71 at Arizona two days before, needed to salvage a split of their visit to the desert to stay in contention for the Pac-10 championship.
They won impressively, improving to 7-2 in the conference, by opening up leads of up to 22 points and weathering a Sun Devils rally in the last eight minutes.
"We came out pretty strong and got the ball up the floor," Smith said. "Especially in the first half we got a lot of easy buckets, and when we can do that we're a pretty dangerous team."
Alex Scales scored 17 points and Frederick Jones had 14 for the Ducks.
"You had three guys in double figures and three more within a point or two, so that's almost six guys in double figures," coach Ernie Kent said. "It was just a great team effort. We shot the ball well and we kept our focus."
It was Arizona State's 13th consecutive loss to a ranked team at home since beating then-No. 14 Stanford 79-70 on Feb. 11, 1995.
Freshman Donnell Knight led the Sun Devils (12-9, 4-5) with a season-high 16 points, and House and Shawn Redhage had 15 each.
But House, the No. 6 scorer in the country, was only 5-of-19 from the floor, and the Sun Devils suffered from his lack of production, losing for the fifth time in their last six games.
Wright had the primary job of covering House, and Kent went into the game planning to cover everyone on the floor, double-teaming House at times to limit his access to the ball.
"I just didn't have any rhythm in the first half (2-for-10)," House said. "Oregon had hands in my face all game. You guys expect me to get 30 points a game, and it's tough to do. It can't happen every night."
Knight said Oregon's game plan showed respect for other Arizona State shooters.
"The other teams, they just played a box-and-one on Eddie," he said.
Oregon was ahead 33-23 at halftime and led by double figures the rest of the way.
The Ducks loosened up Arizona State early in the second half by going inside to Flo Hartenstein and Smith. Hartenstein got Oregon's first two baskets of the half and Smith the next two.
The lead reached 45-30 when Scales stole the ball, dunked, was fouled and made the free throw, and the Ducks went ahead 55-33 when Anthony Norwood drove the lane for a layup 7:14 into the second half.
"Once you get up in that window - leading by more than 10 - you've got to keep them there," Scales said. "If you let them get back, the momentum will change."
In the first half, Bryan Bracey broke open a tight game with a baseline turnaround and two free throws in a 36-second span. He started a 12-2 run, and Jones capped it when he stole a pass by Awvee Storey and dunked.
With 6:08 left in the first half, the Ducks had a 26-14 lead.
Arizona State came back with a 7-0 spurt highlighted by a three-point play by Tommy Smith.