Nov. 26, 2007
TEMPE, Ariz. --
By Matt Storey, ASU Media Relations
The ASU men's basketball team won its third straight game Monday, defeating Cal Poly 75-41 in the regular season home opener in front of a crowd of 6,151 at Wells Fargo Arena.
"We're making improvements every day," forward Jeff Pendergraph said. "This was a good game for us to make sure we kept getting better. We couldn't just come home expecting to just beat somebody because we ended well at Maui."
Freshman guard James Harden led the way with 15 points and 10 rebounds to record the first double-double of his college career.
"He's a talented young guy," head coach Herb Sendek said of Harden. "He does so many different things well."
Pendergraph had 14 points and seven rebounds, while sophomore guard Derek Glasser had 11 points, all in the second half, and freshman guard Ty Abbott added 10.
In total, 11 different Sun Devils scored in the victory.
"I love balance," Sendek said. "Teams who have balance are usually the most difficult to defeat. That's good to see."
The Sun Devils outrebounded the Mustangs 52-23, which Sendek said he was pleased about after they were beaten on the glass 37-34 in their previous game against LSU.
"We talked a great deal about that coming out of our LSU game," Sendek said. "LSU is a hellacious rebounding team, and we really had our hands full in that area. It was good to see us compete a little bit better on the backboard today."
ASU also held Cal Poly to 26 percent shooting from the field, including 9-33 from outside the arc.
The Sun Devils never trailed in the win, jumping out to a 19-2 lead after just over seven minutes of action.
"We came out with some intensity," Harden said. "We came out with some fire. That's what we need to do every game, no matter who we're playing. That's what Coach put a big emphasis on."
After ASU took a 12-point lead into halftime, Cal Poly cut the margin to eight in the first two minutes of the second half. However, the Sun Devils responded with a 13-0 run from there to take command of the game.
"Early in the season, our team has shown the ability to stop a run and reverse it like that," Sendek said. "That's always encouraging."
ASU then put the final dagger in later in the half, extending its lead to 28 with four consecutive 3-pointers, two by Abbott, one by Glasser and one by sophomore guard Jerren Shipp.
The Sun Devils return to action Wednesday night when they host Florida Gulf Coast (2-4) at 7 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena.