Arizona State 51 - 55 Oregon
Final
  for this game

Porter's big first half leads Oregon past Arizona State

Feb 9, 2007 - 5:00 AM EUGENE, Oregon (Ticker) -- After struggling in its last few games, Oregon got leadership from a freshman.

Tajuan Porter scored 17 of his 24 points in the first half as the No. 15 Ducks posted a 55-51 Pac-10 Conference victory over downtrodden Arizona State, which lost its 13th straight game.

Maarty Leunen had nine points and Malik Hairston added eight and eight rebounds for Oregon (20-4, 8-4 Pac-10), which had dropped three of four on a recent road trip to fall out of first place in the conference.

"The Sun Devils were able to keep the game close, but we managed the game and got the W," Hairston said.

Porter converted 8-of-12 from the field, including 6-of-9 from 3-point range.

"I was just taking open shots," Porter said. "They were leaving me open, so I just had to concentrate and make them. I have confidence, but I wasn't expecting to shoot like that tonight."

The smallish freshman guard knocked down five of six shots from the arc as the Ducks took a 33-21 lead at the half.

"We played at our pace in the first half and we played at their pace in the second half," said Oregon coach Ernie Kent, whose team reached 20 wins for th 11th time in program history - four under his watch.

"Porter had confidence and carried us," Hairston said. "After we saw that anything that touched his hand was going in, we were looking for him."

Derek Glasser scored 17 points and Christian Polk added 10 for Arizona State (6-17, 0-8), which shot 32 percent (19-of-60) - its fifth straight game under 37 percent.

"It's important for us to win, but it's also important to stay hopeful and not get frustrated," Arizona State coach Herb Sendek said.

Jeff Pendergraph had four points and matched his season high with 19 rebounds for the Sun Devils, who have dropped all eight road games this season.

"Pendergraph did a tremendous job on the backboards, it was a phenomenal effort," Sendek said.

Oregon has won four straight in the series.






Related News