Wed, Nov 19, 2008
 Arizona's Jawann McClellan shoots around Arizona State's Jeff Pendergraph, left, and Antwi Atuahene during the first half at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe.
Greg Bryan / arizona daily star
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Rare taste of defeatSun Devils end 12-game losing streak to Arizona with overtime win
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 01.10.2008
TEMPE — In what might have been the only college game he would ever play in his hometown, Arizona guard Jerryd Bayless couldn't go.
Whether that would have kept ASU from snapping the UA's 12-game winning streak over its in-state rivals will never be known.
But after the Wildcats lost 64-59 in overtime to ASU at Wells Fargo Arena on Wednesday, when ASU's James Harden scored 22 of his 26 points after halftime, UA interim head coach Kevin O'Neill might have wondered. His leading scorer was nursing a sprained right knee for the fourth straight game, despite showing signs this week that he might test it.
"We talked (before the game) and he told me he couldn't go," O'Neill said. "I respect that. … I'm not gonna rush that kid. There's too much at stake for him, personally. I know Jerryd Bayless will be back as soon as he can be back because nobody would have wanted to play in a game like that more than Jerryd Bayless.
"But we are missing him. I think that's more than obvious right now. We miss him offensively and defensively. It forces some guys to play too many minutes."
Bayless said after the game that it was not a close decision and O'Neill said he remains day-to-day, uncertain if Bayless will play Saturday at Houston.
So with all that in mind, O'Neill played four starters more than 40 minutes, started guard Daniel Dillon while matching ASU's four perimeter players on the court, and had Phoenix freshman Zane Johnson, not Bayless, make a homecoming appearance by breaking his planned redshirt season.
While Dillon managed to defend Harden solidly in the first half, helping keep him to four points on 1-for-6 shooting, Harden heated up in the second half and changed the game.
At the same time, the UA found no easy offensive solution without Bayless. It had 18 points and 14 rebounds from Jordan Hill and 14 points from Chase Budinger but Budinger shot only 4 for 13, missing an off-balance three-pointer in the final seconds of overtime that might have tied the game. Hill was 8 for 18.
What's more, the Wildcats also may have lost forward Bret Brielmaier again: O'Neill said he appeared to re-injure his separated right shoulder early in the second half.
"When Jordan Hill and Chase Budinger shoot like that, especially with our injuries, it's going to be hard for us to score and win," O'Neill said.
The UA had led virtually all of regulation until Harden scored to tie it at 55 with 1:03 left.
ASU took the first lead in overtime, 56-55, when Harden hit 1 of 2 free throws but Hill made a turnaround jumper with three minutes left to give the Wildcats a 57-56 lead.
But Harden came back to score twice more, putting the Sun Devils up 60-59 entering the final minute, and when Harden missed a final shot with 15 seconds, Jeff Pendergraph put in the rebound to give the Sun Devils a 62-59 lead.
Pendergraph also sank two free throws when he was fouled with 1.4 seconds left, with the UA having failed to score on its final possession.
It was the first time ASU had beaten the UA in six years and only the second time in the last 26 meetings of the rivals, prompting ASU fans to storm the Wells Fargo Arena floor after the game.
But while the fans went nuts, ASU coach Herb Sendek wasn't about to say the rivalry had tipped in the Sun Devils' favor. Even if they improved to 13-2 overall and 3-0 in the Pac-10, en route to a possible Top 25 position next week.
"We happened to win tonight's game," Sendek said. "No more and no less."
The UA dropped to 10-5 overall and 1-2 in the Pac-10. The Wildcats will take a break from Pac-10 play Saturday at Houston, then face Stanford and California next weekend in the Bay Area.
"We've got to stop the bleeding," O'Neill said. "We've lost three of four, but really only played one bad half of basketball, and that was against Oregon."
In a somewhat sloppy first half, Arizona managed to get an early edge. The Wildcats took a 25-14 lead and were ahead 28-21 at halftime, while starting four perimeter players to match up with the smallish Sun Devils.
The UA held the Sun Devils to 33-percent shooting in the first half, but made only 36 percent of its own field goals.
"It was two teams trying to figure out each other," guard Nic Wise said.
When O'Neill kept going small, he turned to Johnson, who had been planning to redshirt. O'Neill said he had considered seeing if Johnson would become active for the past month, even before Laval Lucas-Perry transferred to Michigan, and Johnson said he gave it some hard thought over the past week before deciding to go for it.
"I came here to play basketball, not sit," Johnson said.
It is the third time in the past four years the Wildcats have taken a player out of an intended redshirt season in January. Kirk Walters did so in 2004-05 and Fendi Onobun did it in 2005-06, though neither player wound up making a huge impact during those seasons.
Johnson played a total of eight minutes, making 1 of 2 three-pointers during the first half. He played only briefly the rest of the way, while O'Neill relied heavily on his starters. Budinger played all 45 minutes, while Jawann McClellan, Dillon and Wise all played more than 40.
None of them could stop Harden from heating up in the second half. ASU cut a seven-point halftime deficit to 42-41 with eight minutes left and the game remained tight the rest of the way.
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