Oregon State
Arizona State
Beavers Fall To Arizona State, 69-38
January 08, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 8, 2009
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -- James Harden scored 22 points, and No. 20 Arizona State used a smothering zone defense to defeat Oregon State 69-38 on Thursday night.
Harden was 10-of-11 shots from the field, his only miss coming from beyond the arc. Rihards Kuksiks added 13 points for Arizona State, which has won nine of its last 10.
Oregon State (6-7, 1-2) was coming off an overtime victory over Southern California, its first Pac-10 win of the year.
Lathen Wallace led Oregon State with 13 points.
Arizona State had been allowing 59.8 points per game, third in the Pac-10. But the Sun Devils turned up their defense against the Beavers, who average 62.6 points, ninth in the conference.
Jeff Pendergraph of ASU, who played with a sprained MCL in his right knee, did not score in the first half and finished with seven points.
But the Sun Devils struggled early against the Beavers' zone defense, scoring only 15 points in the first 10 minutes.
That's when Harden took over. He dunked off a fastbreak feed from Derek Glasser, hit a short jumper, converted a three-point play and connected from beyond the arc.
Harden scored 10 points in about 6 minutes, and by the time he was finished the Sun Devils led 25-15, on their way to a 30-15 halftime lead.
The Sun Devils are 21-5 when Harden scores at least 20 points.
Oregon State will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 10, when the Beavers travel to Tucson, Ariz., to face Arizona at 1:00 p.m.
