Nov. 15, 2008
Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Game Action
Tempe, Ariz.-
By Thomas Lenneberg, ASU Media Relations
Sophomore guard James Harden finished the game with 24 points, 10 assists, and three steals to lead the No. 15 ranked Sun Devils to an 80-64 victory over Mississippi Valley State in the season opener.
"I'm a playmaker, I like to give my teammates shots," Harden said. "Try to create for them as much as possible." Harden spent most of the night slicing and dicing through the lane, drawing double teams, and kicking out to open teammates on the wing. Harden's roommate and fellow classmate Ty Abbott, who finished with 18 points and eight rebounds, connected with each other eight times throughout the game.
"Last year, coming in together and being roommates helped a lot," Harden said of the obvious chemistry him and Ty have together.
"We're moving the ball, not being selfish. We're looking for each other out there," said guard Abbott on their stellar ball movement against the Delta Devils. "We don't care who is getting the points."
Not only were 24 of the Sun Devils 26 field goals assisted on, but they also protected the ball well, committing only 12 turnovers.
The men's basketball team entered the season ranked for the first time since 1991-92, the same year the Sun Devils lost two of their first three in Maui and dropped out of the rankings. This time, the Devils were determined not to have their hopes dashed as they started the game with back-to-back thunderous dunks by Harden and Jeff Pendergraph. The tone was set early as ASU hit seven of their first nine shots from the floor, including back-to-back 3-pointers by Rihards Kuksiks, who finished with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc. Harden, Kuksiks, and Abbott combined to score 34 of their teams 39 first half points, while shooting a blistering 60 percent from the field (12-of-20), to guide their team to a 16 point halftime lead over the defending SWAC tournament champions.
Three straight 3-pointers by three different Mississippi Valley State players to start the second half helped the Delta Devils pull to within seven, but that was as close as they would get. A nine-point run of their own by ASU late in the second half stretched the lead to 25 with just three minutes remaining, and Arizona State went on to win by 16.
Although thrilled to have won their first season opener under coach Herb Sendek, the focus after the game was all on improvement. "Defensively, we yielded 41 points in the second half and gave up 54 percent field goal percentage, numbers that are most certainly not favorable to us. Suffice it say, we have a lot of work to do," coach Sendek said after the game.
Abbott added, "We got some things to work out in the offense, and we have to rebound better. We came out the first game and got the wrinkles out."
While the team may still have some work to do, coach Sendek believes The Inferno can already cheer with the best in the country, "Our students, I tell you what, have been really good. They deserve credit...we have to give our students a high five."
Senior forward Pendergraph added 10 points and five rebounds on 4-of-4 shooting.