Huskies fall again

TEMPE, Ariz. – Rihards Kuksiks matched his career high with 27 points and Arizona State dominated No. 24 Washington from the start in a 68-51 Pac-10 win Friday night.

Ty Abbott added 17 points for the Sun Devils (11-5, 1-2 Pac-10), who led by 11 in the first half and 19 in the second in UW’s second Pac-10 loss in a row.

Trent Lockett had 11 points for Arizona State. The Sun Devils had an 18-point advantage at the foul line, making 30 of 37 to the Huskies’ 12 of 21.

Isaiah Thomas led Washington (10-4, 1-2) with 20 points. Elston Turner was the only other Washington player in double figures with 10 in by far the Huskies’ lowest-scoring game of the season.

Arizona State made 8 of 19 3-pointers, 5 of 8 by Kuksiks. UW was 3 of 14.

Neither team shot well as Arizona State took a 28-19 lead at the break, the fewest points in the first half this season for the Huskies. Their previous low was 24 in a 63-59 win over Montana on Nov. 29.

The Sun Devils were worse from the field in the first half, making 6 of 22, but were 5 of 13 from 3-point range to UW’s 1 of 6.

UW went the first 7:17 without a field goal.

The Sun Devils started the game 5 of 15, but all five were 3-pointers. Abbott’s second 3 put Arizona State up 17-9 with 6:49 to play. The lead reached 22-11 on Abbott’s two free throws with 4:58 left.

Quincy Pondexter’s layup cut it to 28-21 in the first half, but Kuksiks followed with a 3-pointer and Washington never got within single digits again.

The biggest lead was 51-32 with 8:33 to play.

Washington got it to 61-49 with 21/2 minutes left, then the Sun Devils put it away with free throws.

ASU 68, (24) Washington 51

Washington (10-4, 1-2)—Pondexter 4-10 1-3 9, Breshers 2-4 0-1 4, Gant 0-1 0-0 0, Thomas 6-15 7-11 20, Gaddy 0-0 0-0 0, Overton 1-4 4-4 6, Bryan-Amaning 1-3 0-2 2, Trent 0-0 0-0 0, Suggs 1-5 0-0 2, Turner 3-8 0-0 8. Totals 18-50 12-21 51.

Arizona St. (11-5, 1-2)—Kuksiks 8-14 6-6 27, Boateng 0-2 0-2 0, Abbott 5-9 4-5 17, McMillan 0-3 0-0 0, Glasser 0-4 9-10 9, Pateev 1-4 2-2 4, Lockett 1-4 9-13 11, Walker 0-0 0-0 0, Shipp 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-40 30-38 68.

Halftime—Arizona St. 28-19. 3-Point Goals—Washington 3-14 (Turner 2-5, Thomas 1-5, Overton 0-1, Suggs 0-3), Arizona St. 8-19 (Kuksiks 5-8, Abbott 3-7, Glasser 0-1, McMillan 0-3). Fouled Out—Abbott. Rebounds—Washington 29 (Pondexter 8), Arizona St. 39 (Boateng, Kuksiks 9). Assists—Washington 8 (Overton 3), Arizona St. 10 (McMillan 3). Total Fouls—Washington 27, Arizona St. 20. Technical—Breshers. A—7,682.