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Harden paces balanced Sun Devils past Ducks

Jan 10, 2009 - 10:45 PM TEMPE, Arizona (Ticker) -- James Harden scored 19 points to pace five players in double figures as 16th-ranked Arizona State cruised to a 76-58 victory over Oregon on Saturday.

Derek Glasser added 15 points and 10 rebounds for Arizona State (14-2, 3-1 Pac-10), which took control in the first half and never was threatened over the final 20 minutes.

Harden, who has scored in double figures in all but one game this season, made 5-of-11 shots from the field and went 8-of-13 at the free-throw line.

LeKendric Longmire scored 15 points to pace Oregon (6-11, 0-4), which lost its fourth straight game.

Coming off Thursday's dominating 69-38 victory here against Oregon State, the Sun Devils were challenged for roughly 11 minutes against the struggling Ducks before taking control.

Jeff Pendergraph, playing with a sprained MCL in his knee, threw down a dunk at the 8:41 mark of the first half to put the Sun Devils in front for good and trigger an 8-0 surge that Harden capped with a layup.

Jamell McMillan also got into the act, drilling a pair of 3-pointers as the advantage grew to 37-23 with under two minutes left before the break.

"We were right there in the game, then all of a sudden there was a bad shot, there's a missed layup here or there, we had a turnover where we threw it out of bounds," Oregon coach Ernie Kent said. "They had a little bit of momentum start going for themselves, and they turned the game over right there, I thought."

The Sun Devils did endure a tense moment late in the half, when Harden limped off the floor with a toe injury. But after stretching out and receiving treatment from a team trainer, he re-entered the game after a brief time.

"He's a lot like a running back right now who's getting a lot of carries," Arizona State coach Herb Sendek said. "He's getting beat up a little bit."

It was another efficient offensive performance for the Sun Devils, who shot 56 percent (24-of-43). They shot 65 percent (28-of-43) against Oregon State on Thursday.

Arizona State led by at least 14 points the entire second half as it swept the Oregon schools for a second straight season. Next week, the Sun Devils take to the road to face No. 7 UCLA and USC.