No. 15 Oregon 60, Arizona St. 55
Friday, January 12, 2007 7:06 AM PST
By Associated Press
Printable version
E-mail this articleTEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -- Aaron Brooks scored 11 of his 16 points in the second half, including a pair of game-clinching free throws with 3.6 seconds to play, and 15th-ranked Oregon escaped with a 60-55 victory over Arizona State on Thursday night.
The Ducks (15-1, 3-1 Pac-10) led by as many as 15 points in the second half before the Sun Devils (6-10, 0-5) rallied to cut it to three.
Bryce Taylor also scored 16 for Oregon, 12 in the first half. Arizona State's Jeff Pendergraph had 18 points on 7-for-8 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds. Derek Glasser added 12 points but was only 4-of-14 from the floor.
Malik Hairston, back after missing five games with a foot injury, scored 13 for the Ducks, who play at No. 10 Arizona on Sunday night.
Brooks made a pair of 3-pointers and 5-foot-6 freshman Tajuan Porter added one in a 12-0 run that put the Ducks ahead 50-35 with 10:53 to play.
The Sun Devils, though, responded with a 14-2 outburst, punctuated by Jerren Shipp's 3-pointer from the corner that cut Oregon's lead to 54-51 with 4:14 left.
But Arizona State could get no closer. Taylor's tip-in with 3:45 to go made it 56-51, then Allen Morill made two free throws to cut it to 56-53.
The Sun Devils had a chance to get within one, but Shipp missed a layup in traffic and Porter made a 15-foot floater and Oregon led 58-53 1:21 from the finish.
Antwi Atuahene's rebound basket with 57 seconds left cut the lead to 58-55, and the Sun Devils got the ball back after Porter missed a 3. But ASU threw the ball away, and Brooks sealed the victory by making both ends of a one-and-one.
The Ducks had trouble all night with Arizona State's glacial pace.
A total of 10 points were scored -- by both teams -- in the final 7:35 of the first half.
The Sun Devils went 6.5 minutes without a field goal and still trailed only 29-26 when Pendergraph ended the drought with an inside basket with 1:36 left in the half. That was the score at the break.
Hairston had a torn tissue in his left heel. He also missed the first five games of the season with a groin injury.
Taylor was 5-of-6 in the first half.
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
free spirit wrote on Feb 7, 2008 1:19 AM:
Past Month's Most Commented Stories