Nov. 18, 2008
Final Stats | Notes | AP Photo Gallery
San Diego, Calif.-
By Thomas Lenneberg, ASU Media Relations
James Harden, playing with a virus, scored 18 points and guided the No. 15 Arizona State Sun Devils to a victory over San Diego State in their first road game of the season.
ASU (2-0) dug itself an early hole in the first half, scoring only six points on 3-of-9 shooting in the first 10 minutes of the game.
"We shouldn't have put ourselves in that situation in the first place, but we'll be better next game," said Harden of their come from behind victory.
Ty Abbott and Harden lead an ASU run at the back end of the half, but they didn't take their first lead until a minute into the second half. Forward Jeff Pendergraph, who scored eight in the game, made a jump-hook from the baseline to put the Devils ahead 25-24.
SDSU went on a 7-0 run and pushed its lead to eight points with a little over 13 minutes left to play before freshman Taylor Rhode, providing a much-needed spark off the bench, sank a clutch 3-pointer that stopped the Aztec momentum and gave the Devils new life.
"We played bad the whole game," Harden said, "but in the last five minutes we still had a chance to win, so we took the chance that we had."
The Sun Devils nucleus, in its second season together, showed their experience and maturity as they outscored San Diego State 18-8 over the final 6:27. Forward Rihards Kuksiks, who had 10 points, knocked down a triple with six minutes left to take the lead for good against a quality San Diego St. team who returned all five starters from a 20-13 team the year before.
"We took a punch right between the eyes and then we took a number of body blows," coach Herb Sendek said about the first three-quarters of the game. "But to our guys' credit, they just kept hanging tough and found a way to win. It was nothing fancy, just a good old-fashioned gut-check win."
The Sun Devils made a living at the charity stripe, making 81 percent of their free throws (13-of-16), including 9-of-12 in the final two and half minutes to close out the Aztecs. All of junior Derek Glasser's points came off free throws, draining 5-of-6 in that span and 7-of-8 overall, while also finishing with a game high five assists.
Although the Sun Devils attempted just 35 shots in the game, it's fewest since Jan. 27, 1991, they still scored 36 points in the second half on 9-of-13 shooting, including five 3-pointers by four different players.
Abbott scored in double-digits (13) and pulled down eight rebounds for the second game in a row and is leading the team with 16.