California edges ASU

Foul woes continue for streaky Pendergraph

 by Alex Espinoza
 published on Monday, February 18, 2008

The ASU men's basketball team was full of energy during its Thursday night victory against No. 7 Stanford.

Saturday? Not so much.

ASU came out flat at Wells Fargo Arena and surrendered a 17-1 run in its 76-73 defeat at the hands of California.

"We quite simply did not have the requisite energy level that is necessary to win in the Pac-10 today," ASU coach Herb Sendek said. "Our physical, mental and passion tanks never got filled up.

"As a result, we were on fumes and never put ourselves in position where we really had a right to feel like we deserved to win."

A three-pointer by freshman guard Ty Abbott put ASU up 31-23 with 3:25 remaining in the first half, but it wouldn't convert another field goal until six minutes into the second half. The Sun Devils went 0-for-11 from the field, committing seven turnovers and eight fouls during that stretch.

Pac-10 leading scorer Ryan Anderson scored 19 of his game-high 28 points for Cal in a second half that ended with a flurry of ASU three-pointers.

The Sun Devils were down 65-52 with 1:21 remaining in the game, but went off for seven three-pointers, including four in the final 25 seconds, to bring it to the final score. ASU set a season high with 16 made three-pointers on a season-high 40 attempts.

Abbott can only hope to face Cal come the Pac-10 Tournament.

Abbott snapped out of his four-game shooting funk to convert 8-of-13 shots from behind the arc en route to scoring a career-high 30 points.

He hit seven three-pointers and scored a then career-high 25 points against Cal on Jan. 19 in Berkeley Calif.

Once again, junior forward Jeff Pendergraph got himself into foul trouble early in the second half. He picked up two quick fouls in the first three minutes before fouling out with 7:25 remaining. Pendergraph finished the contest with three points and six rebounds.

"He's a big part of what we do," Abbott said of Pendergraph. "To lose him that early in the second half really hurt."

Anderson showcased his inside game in Pendergraph's absence as Cal's lead hovered around 10 until the final seconds.

ASU's zone defense held up well against Cal's other big man DeVon Hardin, allowing just six points and seven rebounds.

Freshman guard James Harden delivered a lot of his vintage drives to the hoop and was also very active passing the ball for the Sun Devils.

He nearly finished with his first career triple-double and scored 11 points to go along with eight rebounds and eight assists.

Cal also received a great effort from sophomore guard Patrick Christopher, one of the Pac-10's most improved players. He showed off a nice jump shot and some quick moves to score 20 points.

Reach the reporter at: alex.espinoza@asu.edu.