Dec. 7, 2008
Tempe, Ariz.-
By Thomas Lenneberg, ASU Media Relations
No. 19 Arizona State held previously undefeated Nebraska to 29 percent shooting from the field as their defense paved the way en route to a 64-44 victory in the Pac 10/ Big 12 series.
The Cornhuskers double-teamed James Harden all afternoon, the third-leading scorer in the country at 26.3 ppg. He scored just six points in the first half, held without a field goal until the final minute of the half. He made up for it though, pacing the Devils with 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the second half.
Harden, who added nine rebounds and six assists, finished with a game-high 20 points and has now led ASU in scoring in seven of first eight games this season.
Like usual, James took little credit for the win, instead turning the attention to his teammates. "Whether it is getting Jeff easy buckets and dunks, or getting the perimeter guys like Ty, Rik, Derek, Jamelle and Jerren open perimeter shots, they did a really good job of knocking them down."
Nebraska's defensive focus on Harden allowed the Cornhuskers to close the lead to eight points with fewer than 13 minutes in the game. However, once the left-handed sophomore from Los Angeles heated up, there weren't enough defenders on the floor to stop him. He reeled off 12 points in 10 minutes to give the Devils a double-digit lead they would not give up.
While the preseason All-American was reaching his stride, the Cornhuskers were stumbling, going scoreless for seven minutes in the second half.
Rihards Kuksiks, who had career highs of 18 points and six rebounds, and Ty Abbott, who scored 15, carried the Sun Devils in the first half by scoring ten points a piece. All three of Abbott's three-pointers came in the first half, giving a much-needed boost to the Devils and to himself.
The sophomore guard from local Desert Vista High School in Phoenix finished last season with an ASU freshman record 76 three-balls, but this season he has focused more on defense and rebounding. After sinking only eight long-range bombs through seven games, he returned to form against Nebraska.
"You just have to stop thinking about it, that's the biggest thing," Abbott remarked about the art of shooting. "You start to think about what your doing wrong, but you just have to go back to the basics of shooting and let it go."
ASU's match-up zone defense overwhelmed a small Nebraska team who started five guards, all under 6'6". They were held to just 44 points on 13-of-45 from the field, their lowest point total in the last 40 games.
"Obviously the difference in the game for us was defense," coach Herb Sendek said about the win. "We allowed ourselves to hang around until our offense got itself going. I was very pleased with our defense overall today."
Jeff Pendergraph finished with a game-high 10 rebounds, while Abbott pulled down eight for the third time this season.
"We remembered what they did to us last year," Harden said about their 15-point loss at Nebraska last season. "We had to come out with more aggressiveness and just execute; do what we do."