No. 18 Arizona St. defeats No. 11 UCLA 74-67

[February 13, 2009]  TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -- Derek Glasser scored 15 points, including a clutch 3-pointer, and No. 18 Arizona State defeated No. 11 UCLA 74-67 on Thursday night.

The Sun Devils hit 11 3-pointers, none bigger than Glasser's from the right corner with 1:12 remaining that gave Arizona State a 69-67 lead.

James Harden scored 15 points and had a career-high 11 assists as Arizona State (19-5, 8-4) became the first Pac-10 team to sweep the season series with UCLA since Washington in 2005-06.

When the game ended, Harden mounted the press table to wave to the hundreds of students who rushed the court.

Josh Shipp had 16 points and Darren Collison and Michael Roll each added 15 for the Bruins (19-5, 8-3), who had a four-game winning streak snapped.

The final minutes were chaotic. Arizona State led 66-65 when Harden had a shot blocked, leading to a fastbreak layup for Collison, who scored and was fouled by Rihards Kuksiks. But Collison, who leads the NCAA at 93.7 percent from the line, missed the free throw, and the Bruins led 67-66.

On the next possession, Arizona State's Jeff Pendergraph blew a dunk, and then the Bruins turned the ball over on a shot clock violation.

That's when Glasser found some open space in the corner and buried a jumper to put the Sun Devils up 69-67.

Arizona State still led by two with 36 seconds left when UCLA's Alfred Aboya was called for a technical foul for touching the ball before Kuksiks inbounded it.

Glasser made two free throws, and then he fed Pendergraph for a thunderous dunk that put the Sun Devils up 73-67.

This was a duel between a tradition-steeped program and one hoping to ride the talent of Harden, a likely NBA lottery pick, into the ranks of the elite.

UCLA has won 11 NCAA titles. Arizona State has won 12 NCAA tournament games.

Arizona State entered in third place in the Pac-10, hoping to contend for its first conference title since joining the league in 1978-79. UCLA, which entered in first place, is going for its fourth consecutive title.

The Bruins came in with a 23-8 all-time record at Tempe and won its last four trips.

But Arizona State had plenty of confidence having defeated the Bruins 61-58 in overtime at Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 17.

The game attracted a crowd of 13,368, the largest of the season by far but not quite a sellout in 13,947-seat Wells Fargo Arena. Arizona State sold more than 50 tickets to NBA personnel, most of them general managers and scouts in town for this weekend's NBA All-Star Game.

They saw a riveting game that was heated, if not always pretty.

Arizona State had averaged 11.8 turnovers per game, second in the Pac-10. The Sun Devils had 11 at halftime -- four by Harden, who finished with eight.

[Associated Press; By ANDREW BAGNATO]

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