Pengelly Polishes Off Veal Freshman’s Command Performance Helps Cougars Stop Sun Devils

Arizona State coach Bill Frieder thought his best player, point guard Jeremy Veal, might be able to match Washington State guard Isaac Fontaine.

He never could have fathomed that Veal, coming off a 30-point performance against Washington, might have trouble matching WSU freshman point guard Blake Pengelly.

Such was the case Saturday afternoon at Friel Court, where Pengelly found a bit of redemption and WSU found a badly needed Pacific-10 Conference basketball victory, dumping Frieder’s Sun Devils 74-55.

Fontaine led the Cougars (11-9, 3-6 Pac-10) with another brilliant performance, sinking 5 of 8 3-pointers on his way to 21 points. Carlos Daniel added 18 points and nine rebounds.

And Pengelly, who accepted much of the blame after committing six turnovers in Thursday night’s loss to No. 10 Arizona, turned the ball over just once in his second start of the season.

“I thought we did a nice job on Fontaine early,” Frieder said, “but Pengelly got away from us a little later in the first half.”

Pengelly helped WSU overcome a slow start by hitting three first-half 3-pointers. He finished with 11 points, three assists and one steal, and helped contain Veal (13 points, seven assists, six turnovers).

“Today was kind of a selfish game,” said Pengelly, starting in place of senior Kareem Jackson, who remains ill. “The other night, I was the biggest problem for our team, so I was definitely looking forward to playing today.”

Just about everyone looks forward to playing the Sun Devils (10-11, 2-7) these days. With point guard Quincy Brewer and forward Okeme Oziwo on the injured list, ASU has less talent than any Pac-10 team.

That was apparent Saturday after about 7 minutes - the time it took the Cougars to solve the Sun Devils’ zone defense. WSU outscored ASU 24-10 over the final 12:46 of the first half, turning a 15-7 deficit into a 31-25 halftime lead.

Fontaine scored seven points and Pengelly hit two 3-pointers in the half’s final 3:19, and WSU never lost the momentum.

Daniel opened the second half with two inside buckets, including a two-handed jam off a pass from Rodrigo de la Fuente. Daniel followed by blocking Mike Batiste’s dunk attempt at the other end, an effort that led directly to a back-breaking 3-pointer that was vintage Fontaine.

Upon releasing the shot that would stretch WSU’s lead to 38-25, Fontaine heightened the drama by imparting the body English one might reserve while coaxing in a twisting 35-foot putt for birdie.

“I felt some were a little short, so I had to push them in a little bit,” Fontaine explained.

When Fontaine and Pengelly weren’t exploiting ASU on the perimeter, Daniel was dominating inside. The 6-foot-7 junior made 8 of 15 field goals despite the presence of ASU center Rodger Farrington, who leads the Pac-10 in blocked shots.

Daniel, Chris Crosby (six rebounds) and de la Fuente (five) helped WSU outrebound the Sun Devils 41-26, a dramatic reversal from recent games. Arizona, Stanford and California had each grabbed at least 20 offensive rebounds against WSU, but smallish ASU managed a mere seven.

Coach Kevin Eastman was pleased, if not ecstatic, with the improved rebounding.

“Just as one bad game doesn’t make a bad player,” he said, referring specifically to Pengelly, “one good block-out game doesn’t make you a good bock-out team.”

ASU pulled within 54-44 with 9 minutes left, but WSU scored the next 12 points. The pivotal play came with 6:35 to go, when de la Fuente came up with a steal and breakaway dunk.

WSU 74, Arizona St. 55

Arizona St. (10-11, 2-7) - Batiste 2-7 1-2 5, Kelly 1-4 2-2 4, Farrington 4-12 0-0 8, Veal 5-11 2-2 13, Gervin 5-10 1-1 14, House 4-8 2-2 11, Lewis 0-0 0-0 0, Richardson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 21-54 8-9 55.

Washington St. (11-9, 3-6) - Daniel 8-15 2-4 18, De La Fuente 2-8 0-2 4, Johnson 3-5 0-1 6, Fontaine 7-12 2-2 21, Pengelly 4-7 0-1 11, Hutchens 1-1 0-0 3, Archibald 1-4 0-0 2, Crosby 3-5 0-0 6, Slotemaker 0-1 3-4 3, Mack 0-2 0-0 0, Mott 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-60 7-14 74 Halftime-Washington St. 31, Arizona St. 25.

3-Point goals-Arizona St. 5-16 (Batiste 0-3, Veal 1-4, Gervin 3-7, House 1-2), Washington St. 9-17 (De La Fuente 0-1, Fontaine 5-8, Pengelly 3-5, Hutchens 1-1, Archibald 0-1, Crosby 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Arizona St. 26 (Veal 6), Washington St. 41 (Daniel 9). Assists-Arizona St. 12 (Veal 7), Washington St. 18 (Archibald 4). Total fouls-Arizona St. 16, Washington St. 7. A-5,637.

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