LOS ANGELES – He said it.

In the bowels of the Staples Center following ASU’s 75-65 victory over Washington in the Pac-10 Tournament semifinals, ASU senior forward Jeff Pendergraph said some choice words.

“We can beat anybody,” he said. “I’ll put money on it. If everybody is hitting like they can – wait hold on. I hope that’s not like an NCAA violation.”

Despite losing both contests to No. 13 UW (25-8, 15-5 Pac-10) during the regular season, the No. 23 Sun Devils knocked off the No. 1 seed in the tournament Friday thanks to a couple of huge runs.

The initial run was a 33-6 spurt that spanned nearly 12 first-half minutes and gave ASU a 38-17 lead with 30 seconds left before the break.

The second one was an 11-0 run that gave the Sun Devils (24-8, 13-7) control of the game late in the second half. It came at a crucial time, just when ASU looked to be losing its grip.

But there was plenty of action in between those two key runs.
Believe that.

A scuffle that brought both coaches off the bench; The huge UW run that everyone expected; Doubts that ASU could make it to the Pac-10 Tournament title game.

Fans in attendance saw one hell of a game.

According to Pendergraph, it was all made possible by something he told his teammates last week.

After ASU lost to Stanford 74-64 on Mar. 5 – their third straight defeat – ASU’s lone senior unleashed on his teammates. He told reporters the PG version after the game.

“I just told them this is my last year and right now y’all are letting me down,” Pendergraph said. “After three loses in a row [I said], ‘Yo, you guys cost me a Pac-10 Conference championship; You guys got me another loss at home; This is my senior weekend and you guys are tricking it off for me. I thought you were my bros.’”

His bros have responded by winning three straight games and putting themselves on the doorstep of the NCAA Tournament.

Pendergraph and Co. seemed to have a firm grasp of the game with about 14 minutes left in the game. That’s when things got out of hand.

ASU sophomore guard James Harden converted an and-one attempt to give his team a 48-35 lead at the 13:43 mark.

But there was about a five minute delay between his tough bucket lane and his eventual free throw attempt.

Unorthodox, no?

While Harden made his way to the free-throw line, he bumped in to UW sophomore guard Venoy Overton, sending him to the ground. Overton made sure to bring Harden with him, though, tugging his jersey on the way down.

As Overton lay on his back, ASU junior guard Derek Glasser stood over Overton and appeared to say something. Both teams and coaches scuffled on the floor before separating and the referees sorted out the mess.

Harden, Glasser and Overton were assessed technical fouls before Harden finally completed his three-point play. UW senior guard Justin Dentmon knocked down one technical free throw at the other end to put the fiasco to rest.

That sequence sparked a 20-6 UW run that gave it a 55-54 lead at the 8:16 mark. The teams traded buckets over the next few minutes before ASU went on its game-changing 11-0 run.

Glasser started it off by nailing a three to give the Sun Devils a 61-60 lead they would never relinquish. He also buried a contested trifecta from the top of the key to beat the shot clock with 3:27 left. It was just another gritty performance in a recent string of clutch play by Glasser.

The junior point guard scored 16 points, all in the second half.

“Nobody likes Derek,” Pendergraph said. “And he loves it. [You would think] he’s the pretty primadonna type but he’s not. I would go to war to DG because I know he has my back and I got his back.”

The Sun Devils didn’t get off to a hot start. They had trouble establishing any offensive momentum against an active Husky defense before rattling off their huge first-half run.

ASU sophomore guard Ty Abbott (12 points and three rebounds) and senior center Eric Boateng (five points in nine minutes) played huge roles in the first half.

“We’ve gotten really good play, important contribution from both [Boateng] and [ASU junior guard] Jerren [Shipp] here in the Pac-10 tournament,” ASU coach Herb Sendek said. “We don’t have an especially deep bench right now, so everybody has a very important role to play.”

ASU was without sixth man Jamelle McMillan and he will likely be unavailable for Saturday’s championship tilt. The Sun Devils will play the winner of the UCLA-USC semifinal.

Harden scored a game-high 24 points to go with nine rebounds while Pendergraph had 18 points and seven rebounds. ASU sophomore guard Rihards Kuksiks went scoreless (0-for-4).

Freshman guard Isaiah Thomas scored a team high 17 points for UW, while senior forward Jon Brockman was limited to 13 points and six rebounds.

Reach the reporter at
alex.espinoza@asu.edu