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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Harden leads Sun Devils past Washington


Arizona State guard James Harden, right, celebrates a three-point play with teammates Jerren Shipp, left, and Derek Glasser. Associated Press
 (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press The Spokesman-Review

Freshman star James Harden recovered from a sore, cold night Thursday with 25 points and eight rebounds Saturday to lead Arizona State to a 77-63 victory over ragged Washington in Seattle.

Harden had just 10 points on 3-for-10 shooting in a 12-point loss at No. 17 Washington State. He had that many in the first 14 1/2 minutes Saturday. The Sun Devils (17-9, 7-7 Pac-10) ended an 11-game losing streak to Washington, which had been the longest domination in the Pac-10.

Harden, slashing inside and shooting outside, was plenty well enough to set a Sun Devils freshman record with his 13th game with 20 points or more – one more than Ike Diogu.

Rihards Kuksiks tied a career high with 15 points for Arizona State, which had lost two straight after beating No. 7 Stanford. No team has finished 9-9 in the conference and made the NCAA tournament.

The Sun Devils’ case for an NCAA berth hinges on being one of five teams to have four wins over teams in the top 25 of the RPI, the power ranking the selection committee uses to help choose its field. ASU has victories over Stanford, Xavier and Arizona (twice).

Jon Brockman had 21 points and 15 rebounds, his 20th double-double of the season for Washington (15-13, 6-9), which shot just 35.5 percent.

The Huskies are tied for eighth in the conference with Oregon. Even before this dud, their players believed winning the conference tournament in Los Angeles that begins March 12 is their only way into the NCAA tournament.

Senior Ryan Appleby, playing in his final home game, scored 12 points but was just 4 for 16. Many of his misses – 11 of them were on 3-pointers – doomed mini rallies by Washington.

The Huskies missed 19 of their first 24 shots and shot just 27 percent in the opening period.

(6) UCLA 75, Oregon 65: At Los Angeles, Russell Westbrook scored 16 points and helped rally the Bruins (24-3, 12-2) from an 11-point second-half deficit to a victory over the Ducks (15-12, 6-9).

UCLA extended its lead in the Pac-10 to 1 1/2 games over No. 9 Stanford, which plays California today.

USC 81, Oregon State 53: At Los Angeles, O.J. Mayo led four players in double figures with 21 points and the Trojans (17-9, 8-6) trounced the Beavers (6-21, 0-15), keeping Oregon State winless in the Pac-10.

Mayo had four 3-pointers, giving him 66 and moving him past Gabe Pruitt as the most prolific freshman long-range shooter in USC history.