Sun Devils trounce Trojans in home finale

 by Alex Espinoza
 published on Monday, March 3, 2008

Bettina Hansen / THE STATE PRESS

POSTERIZED: Freshman guard James Harden is fouled by USC’s RouSean Cromwell as he soars for a dunk at Wells Fargo Arena Saturday.

Bettina Hansen / THE STATE PRESS

HOT POTATO: Junior forward Jeff Pendergraph struggles to hold on to the ball at Wells Fargo Arena Saturday, where the Sun Devils won their last home game against the USC Trojans, 80-66.

Finesse is a word often associated with Pac-10 athletics.

Whether used in its appropriate context or as a veiled way to call the conference "soft," the Pac-10 can't seem to shake the word.

It's been used to describe the conference's style of play in football and most recently in men's basketball, but no one watching ASU's contentious 80-66 win over USC Saturday at Wells Fargo Arena would know it.

"There were a number of instances where it was really important for cooler heads to prevail," ASU coach Herb Sendek said. "We don't ever want to extinguish passion and joy, that's college basketball. That fuels energy. But we do want to make sure that we don't lose poise and composure, that's another problem."

The Sun Devils carried the cooler heads on their shoulders Saturday, while the Trojans were busy fouling out and getting technical fouls.

USC coach Tim Floyd initiated his team's demise with 16:44 left in the game and got "T'd up" for yelling at the referees after a charge was called on USC's Davon Jefferson. As a result, ASU sophomore guard Derek Glasser netted two free throws to give the Sun Devils a 33-32 lead they would never relinquish.

From that point on, elbows were flying, chests were bumping and tempers were flaring. Oh, and two freshmen took over the game.

USC guard O.J. Mayo lit up ASU for 37 points, going 7-of-10 from 3-point range while single-handedly keeping USC in the game down the stretch.

ASU guard James Harden got the last laugh though, scoring 24 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field and 9-of-10 shooting from the free-throw line in the victory.

"He can have 100 [points] as long as we win," Harden said of his good friend Mayo.

Harden shook Mayo with his devastating crossover on three occasions, going hard to the basket in typical Harden fashion. Whether it was left-handed or right-handed, Harden was simply too fast for Mayo to handle and too tough to stop at the rim.

Mayo had an impressive driving scoop to bring the score to 43-38 with 12:45 remaining, but it was the closest USC would get for the rest of game.

For once, ASU was able to go on a game-deciding run instead of giving up one. The Sun Devils built a 21-point lead over the next four minutes thanks to a 16-0 stretch.

It culminated with four ASU free throws after Jefferson fouled out and was subsequently assessed a technical foul.

With the score at 61-40 and 8:30 left, ASU had the game well in hand. At least it seemed that way until Mayo flipped a switch and started draining shots left and right.

His pull up 3-pointer on a fast break cut the ASU lead to single digits at 71-62 with 3:04 remaining, and Sendek was forced to use a time out. ASU kept its composure from that point on while USC guard Daniel Hackett and forward Keith Wilkinson proceeded to foul out.

Junior forward Jeff Pendergraph rebounded from his five-point, three-rebound effort against UCLA Thursday night to score 21 points and haul in nine rebounds.

"Jeff did a great job of keeping an even, steady presence," Sendek said. "He scored 21 points, but it just kind of came along. You never felt like he was going out of his way to get 21 points. Both [he and Harden] really stayed within the framework of what we do and as a consequence, really helped make their teammates better as well."

ASU's lone senior, guard Antwi Atuahene, was honored before tip-off and was in the starting lineup for just the fourth time this year. He played three minutes and made his only shot attempt of the game, a 3-pointer.

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