• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Glasser clutch as Arizona State completes sweep of UCLA

Feb 13, 2009 - 7:37 AM TEMPE, Arizona (Ticker) -- Arizona State is doing its best to prevent UCLA from winning its fourth straight Pac-10 Conference title.

Derek Glasser scored 15 points and made the go-ahead 3-pointer late in the game as No. 18 Arizona State defeated sixth-ranked UCLA for the second time this season, 74-67, on Thursday.

James Harden added 15 points and a career-high 11 assists and Rihards Kuksiks and Jeff Pendergraph each scored 14 for the Sun Devils (19-5, 8-4 Pac-10), who swept the season series with the Bruins for the first time since the 2002-03 season. Arizona State won the first meeting, 61-58, in overtime on January 17.

"Other than the (win) at UCLA, this is the one of the biggest wins I've had," Harden told the Arizona Republic.

Neither side led by more than four over the first 19 minutes of a highly contested second half. With the Sun Devils trailing by one, Harden drove into the lane and kicked out to the right corner for Glasser, who drilled the shot to give Arizona State a 69-67 edge with 1:16 to play. It was the ninth and final lead change in the last 8:05 of the contest.

"He saw me at the end and I knocked it down," Glasser told the Republic.

Darren Collison appeared to have tied the game with a driving layup over Pendergraph, but the senior was called for a questionable offensive foul, taking away the basket.

"I've already asked my video person who saw a replay of the game, and he said, `Yes, you were right, he was moving,'" UCLA coach Ben Howland told the paper.

Alfred Aboya was then whistled for a technical when he touched the ball while it was still in Kuksiks' hands during the inbounds play.

Glasser sank two free throws and then broke the Bruins' press before finding Pendergraph for an alley-oop dunk to give Arizona State a 73-67 advantage with 30 seconds to go, sealing the win. UCLA missed its final three 3-pointers.

The win moves Arizona State within one-half game of UCLA (19-5, 8-3) and one full game behind Washington (9-3) for the Pac-10 lead. The Sun Devils, who went 21-13 last season, have officially clinched consecutive winning campaigns for the first time since the 1993-94 and 1994-95 teams.

Josh Shipp scored 16 points and Collison and Michael Roll each added 15 for the Bruins, who are 0-3 against ranked teams this season. UCLA had won its last four games by an average of 22.8 points.

Arizona State made four of its first five 3-pointers and led by as many as 12 midway through the first half.

UCLA later answered with a 10-0 run - capped by a 3-pointer from Roll - to tie the game at 30-30, and Roll knotted the score again at 35-35 with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer just before intermission.

The Bruins scored the first basket of the second half to take their first lead of the game, but the contest was tight throughout the final 20 minutes.

Glasser's 3-pointer put the Sun Devils up, 60-58, before Shipp answered with a shot from the arc to put the Bruins back on top, 61-60, with 6:36 remaining.

Arizona State went up by three before Collison's layup and Aboya's jump hook gave UCLA a 65-64 lead. Glasser made a pair from the line to give the Sun Devils a 66-65 lead, but Collison came back with a layup to put the Bruins in front by one with 2:37 to play.

The Sun Devils, who committed 17 turnovers, shot 60 percent (24-of-40) from the field, including 11-of-18 from the arc.