For the extra couple hundred students that got their first glimpse of the ASU men's basketball team Thursday night, coach Herb Sendek provided them with a moment they won't soon forget in a 66-61 loss to the Washington Huskies.
With 13 minutes left in the game, Sendek was ejected for the first time in his career after receiving his second technical foul for inciting the crowd to cheer.
When Antwi Atuahene dove for a loose ball, Sendek wanted the crowd to applaud Antwi's disregard for his body.
"I thought Antwi made one of the great all-time hustle plays," Sendek said. "I wanted the crowd to recognize the play in a special way."
Pac-10 official Michael Reed slapped Sendek with a technical for violating NCAA rule 1096 - inciting an undesirable response from the crowd.
After receiving his first technical foul as ASU head coach, an irate Sendek motioned to the crowd with both arms asking for more noise.
"I wasn't trying to get the crowd to throw eggs at the official," he said. "After I explained my rationale, I did it again because I still felt a great adrenaline rush."
What he got instead was a second technical foul and an early ticket to the showers.
In his most memorable on-court moment so far, Sendek walked out of the arena continuing to gesture to the crowd, inciting one of the largest roars heard in Wells Fargo Arena in years.
"I want our environment to be one where we appreciate those kind of plays," he said.
The student section, which was half seated and half standing before Sendek's ejection, remained standing for the rest of the game.
Despite having the biggest student turnout of the season, it was still not enough to propel the Sun Devils to their first conference win of the season.
The visiting Washington Huskies (14-7, 4-6 Pac-10) were able to earn their first win away from Seattle.
Four Huskies scored in double figures, led by sophomore Jon Brockman's 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Likewise, the Sun Devils had four players score in double digits, including the game's leading scorer, ASU freshman Christian Polk, who had 18 points on seven of 16 shooting from the field.
For ASU (6-15, 0-10 Pac-10) it was seemingly another offensive struggle until its coach was thrown out.
The Huskies came out ready to play, shooting 65 percent from the field, only missing only nine field goal attempts in the first half.
ASU was outrebounded 19-9 in the first half, which was a major difference in the deficit.
Washington's Spencer Hawes led all scorers in the first half with 10 points.
After withstanding a strong start from their opponents, the Sun Devils made it a 20-14 game thanks to a Polk three-pointer.
From that point on, the Huskies went on a 24-7 run to close out the first half.
Polk led ASU with nine points in the first half.
The Sun Devils' leading scorer, sophomore Jeff Pendergraph, was held to just two points in the first half.
Coming out of the locker room with something to prove to their home crowd, ASU got back into the game right away, opening with a 17-4 run, which put them down by only 10 points.
Following the ejection, ASU fought its way back into the game one possession at a time, trying to limit the nation's 10th best offense.
Polk drained a midrange jump shot with less than four minutes left to cut ASU's deficit to 61-54.
Both teams then traded missed baskets until Pendergraph was fouled by Brockman while trying to convert a wide-open dunk.
After he made both free throws, the Huskies were up just five points with less than two minutes left.
ASU senior Allen Morrill made two free throws to make it a three-point game, but that's as close as the game would get.
ASU outscored the Huskies 40-22 in the second half and still came up short.
Washington only made five field goals in the second half and shot 23 percent from the field.
Also, ASU made 20 consecutive free throws in the second half and forced 15 turnovers for the game.
When speaking of his quickly developing home court advantage coach Sendek said, "It's getting better, don't you think?"
The final attendance was 7,164. But Sendek expects to see more maroon and gold Saturday when No. 15 Washington State comes into town.
"Hopefully on Saturday nobody will sit down, and there will be even more people," he said. "Because that's what it's going to take."
Reach the reporter at: edward.price@asu.edu.
