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Arizona State pulverizes Oregon State

Jan 9, 2009 - 6:57 AM TEMPE, Arizona (Ticker) -- It wasn't a fair fight. For most of the game, Arizona State's James Harden had more baskets than Oregon State.

The Beavers finally passed the Sun Devils' stellar guard midway through the second half, but 16th-ranked Arizona State rolled to a 69-38 demolition of Oregon State on Thursday.

With 12 minutes left in the second half, Harden had nine baskets to Oregon State's eight. He finished with 22 points on 10-of-12 from the field as the Sun Devils rebounded from an 81-71 loss to California on Sunday.

"Obviously, we were pleased with our defensive effort and focus," Arizona State coach Herb Sendek said. "I thought our guys were really dialed into what we needed to do."

The Sun Devils actually put together an 20-0 run that bridged the halves. The run turned a 19-15 game with 5:29 left before the break into a 39-15 rout with 14:24 remaining.

"Oh my God," Oregon State coach Craig Robinson responded to be being asked how he felt looking up during the Arizona State outburst.

"I don't want to take anything away from them. They are a really good team and it was fun to watch them play, but we just got frustrated and turned it into a three-point shooting game - and that's just not who we are."

Arizona State (13-2, 2-1) scored more points in the second half - 39 - than the Beavers posted in the entire game. The defensive effort was the Sun Devils' best in a conference game since joining the Pac-10 31 years ago.

Overall, Arizona State hit 28-of-45 from the field (62.8 percent).

Oregon State (6-7, 1-2) was coming off a 62-58 overtime win against Southern California that snapped the school's 23-game conference losing streak.

"We have to learn how to act after we win," Oregon State's Calvin Haynes said.

The Beavers were 6-of-21 from the field in the first half, including 2-of-12 from beyond the arc. They finished 16-of-44 from the field (36.4 percent).

Lathen Wallace paced the Beavers with 13 points.

"They knocked down shots and we didn't," Wallace said.