Jan. 26, 2008
TEMPE, Ariz. -
By Matt Storey, ASU Media Relations
Led by senior guard Derrick Low's six 3-pointers, Washington State defeated the ASU men's basketball team 56-55 in front of 10,104 fans at Wells Fargo Arena Saturday.
Trailing by eight with less than three minutes left, the Sun Devils scored seven straight points to cut the deficit to one. But their comeback bid fell short when freshman guard James Harden missed a runner with two seconds left and time ran out.
"[Coach Sendek] gave me the ball and I just drove all the way," Harden said. "Unfortunately I didn't come up with that basket."
Harden led the team with 25 points on 10-18 shooting, and he said his groin injury seemed to be improved from Thursday's loss to Washington.
"When the game is on, I don't really pay attention," he said of his injury. "I just play, try to help my teammates come out with a victory. Today was a little bit better, just got out and ran the floor a little bit better."
Freshman guard Ty Abbott added 13 points, as he was the only other ASU player in double figures.
Junior forward Jeff Pendergraph had just six points, as the Cougars double-teamed him throughout the game and held him to only five shots.
"Part of the mark of a great player is he makes others better, and if he can require two defenders, he's doing his job," coach Herb Sendek said of Pendergraph. "He can't shoot if they're going to put two defenders on him. What Jeff did today is he found other ways to add value. I thought he made four terrific blocked shots for us."
The Sun Devils shot 46.7 percent from the field, but made just two of their 14 3-point attempts while Washington State was 10-22 from outside the arc.
"We have not shot a high percentage through Pac-10 play," Sendek said of his team's 3-point shooting struggles. "The early the games that we won, I think we did so shooting a very low percentage from 3."
Low led the Cougars with 18 points, all on 3-pointers. He was 6-11 from 3-point range, including 4-6 in the second half.
The Sun Devils led through nearly the entire first half, using an early 10-0 run to take a 12-4 lead and stretching their advantage as high as 11 at one point.
They led 29-20 with less than two minutes to play in the half, but Washington State scored seven straight before the break to get within two at halftime.
The Cougars continued their run to open the second half, as Low made two 3-pointers and junior guard Taylor Rochestie made one as part of an 11-0 run to open the half. In all, they scored 18 unanswered points from the end of the first half to the start of the second.
ASU clawed back to within four at 52-48, but Washington State answered with consecutive baskets to lead by eight with 3:09 remaining.
Abbott then made three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt, and guard Jerren Shipp and Harden each made baskets on the Sun Devils' next two possessions to cut the lead to 56-55 with 1:11 left.
However, that would be all the scoring for the game, as Harden was called for an offensive foul with 43 seconds to play and then the final shot missed to send ASU to its third straight loss.
The Sun Devils return to action Thursday night, as they travel to Los Angeles to face UCLA.