Dec. 18, 2007
TEMPE, Ariz.--
By Matt Storey, ASU Media Relations
The ASU men's basketball team won its fourth straight game Tuesday, defeating Montana State 66-62 at Wells Fargo Arena.
The victory means the Sun Devils have already matched last season's win total by improving to 8-2, but they had to survive a Montana State team that made 14 of its 24 3-point attempts on the night.
"Most certainly, Montana State played a terrific game and gave us everything and then some," head coach Herb Sendek said. "The way they shot the ball tonight was sensational. They really proved to be a very difficult match-up for us defensively."
ASU trailed by as many as nine in the first half, and Montana State led by four with less than four minutes remaining in the game.
However, the Sun Devils closed the game out with a 9-1 run to secure the victory.
"Let me tell you right now, there are some teams that would have gone down tonight," Sendek said. "So, I'm really proud of our guys for hanging in there and really executing down the home stretch to find a way to win."
Freshman guard James Harden had 17 points, with 13 in the second half. He also had seven assists and five steals.
Sophomore guard Jerren Shipp had his second consecutive standout game. After scoring 17 points in ASU's 77-55 win over Xavier, Shipp again scored 17 points and made three of his five 3-point attempts.
"My teammates are doing a good job getting me the ball," Shipp said of his play in the last two games. "My shot's feeling good. I'm just knocking down the open shots."
Junior forward Jeff Pendergraph had a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds, while freshman guard Ty Abbott had 10 points and seven rebounds.
ASU struggled to get going in the first half, as Montana State opened up a 26-17 lead at one point.
The Sun Devils led for most of the second half, but the Bobcats went on a late 9-0 run to take a 61-57 lead.
However, ASU fought back, and a Pendergraph basket with 2:26 left gave his team a 62-61 advantage. The Sun Devils led by three with 22 seconds remaining, and they used a man-to-man defense to force the Bobcats' Phil Friesen into a tough 3-pointer that he missed with one second left.
"As our guys came over, we were talking about which of our defenses we would go to, and James is the one who said, `coach, we ought to go man up,'" Sendek said of the defensive strategy. "As soon as he said it, I just really trusted it. Guys know. They have a feel.
"I thought the guys did a really good job switching and prevented them from getting a good look."