MEN'S BASKETBALL: Aztecs let one slip away against Sun Devils

For 35 minutes, it was difficult to tell which team came into Cox Arena last night basking in the national spotlight.

Then, Arizona State forward Rihards Kuksiks hit a 3-pointer to tie it. Then, guard James Harden drained one to take the lead. Then, Kuksiks made another.

Using a barrage of late 3-pointers and an 18-3 run down the stretch, No. 15 ASU beat the San Diego State men’s basketball team 59-52 in front of 7,966 fans.

“We definitely let it slip away,” senior forward Kyle Spain said. “After they hit those two threes to go up by six, we just lost momentum. With four minutes left, from there the game was almost over.”

SDSU (1-1) found the wrong time to come up cold. The Aztecs couldn’t get anything going, committing more turnovers (two) than field goals (one) during that stretch.

“Basketball is a game of runs and you’re going to have runs,” head coach Steve Fisher said. “We obviously can’t have long extended periods where we don’t score.”

SDSU used a run of its own to give itself a chance for the upset. The Aztecs set the tone of the game early by jumping out to a 15-2 lead by dominating inside.

It took the Sun Devils (2-0) almost six minutes to pick up a rebound, a stretch in which  sophomore forward Billy White picked up three offensive rebounds.

Even as ASU heated up, it still struggled in the paint. Forward senior Jeff Pendergraph, who many believe to be an NBA prospect, only managed eight points and two rebounds.

The Sun Devils’ other pro prospect found his shot, however. Harden, a preseason All-American, finished with 18 points and five rebounds, sparking ASU to shoot 9-of-13 in the second half, including 5-of-8 from behind the arc.

“You have to maximize your runs by not making a turnover, by making layups, by making open shots and minimize theirs by not putting them to the free-throw line,” Fisher said.

Although the Sun Devils only shot 13 times in the second half, free throws played a big part in the run. During the first 29 minutes, ASU took zero free throw attempts; in the final 11 minutes, the Sun Devils shot 16.

“We guarded them like crazy,” Fisher said, “and the next thing you know, in the last three or four seconds (of the shot clock), they find a way to get a foul and get to the free-throw line.”

Despite the early-season loss, SDSU has to hope it can take something from its effort.

“We let this one slip away,” White said. “We just have to learn from it and get better from it.”

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