Harden pushes Arizona State past Oregon

February 05, 2009

<a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/harden_james00.html">J… Harden</a> scored 36 points and <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/pendergraph_jeff00.htm… Pendergraph</a> had 13 points and seven rebounds as No. 24 Arizona State pulled away in the second half for a 66-57 victory over Oregon on Thursday night.<separator></separator>The 6-foot-5 Harden, the Pac-10 Conference's scoring leader with a 21.9-point average, scored at least 30 points for the fifth time this season. Harden's 36 is the highest scoring performance in a Pac-10 game this season. His season high is 40 points against UTEP on Nov. 30.<separator></separator>Harden was 11-of-21 from the field, including going 5-of-10 from 3-point range. He made eight of his last 11 shots after starting the game 3-of-9 from the field.<separator></separator>Arizona State (17-5, 6-4) ended a two-game losing streak. The Sun Devils lost at home last week to Washington and Washington State.<separator></separator>Tujuan Porter had 18 points for Oregon (6-16, 0-10), which is off to its worst conference start since 1992-93, when the Ducks lost their first 11 games.<separator></separator>Last season Oregon State became the only team to go 0-18 in Pac-10 history. Oregon hasn't won since beating Long Beach State on Dec. 29.<separator></separator>The Ducks were 17-of-41 from the field after going 10-of-21 in the first half.<separator></separator>During a competitive first half in which there were 12 lead changes, Arizona State scored the final five points to take a 32-27 lead.<separator></separator>Oregon took a 23-21 lead with a 7-0 run while Pendergraph was sidelined with two fouls.<separator></separator>Arizona State quickly put some distance between itself and Oregon at the outset of the second half. Harden hit two 3-pointers as the Sun Devils scored the first eight points to take a 40-27 lead.<separator></separator>Oregon never recovered, as the Ducks couldn't contain the red-hot Harden. He scored 23 points during the second half, seemingly making a big basket any time Oregon started to cut into Arizona State's lead.<separator></separator>Oregon got as close as 49-42 with 8:53 left then Harden scored seven points during a 9-2 run to put the game away. <separator></separator>The game was held up for about 7 minutes when Arizona State guard <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/glasser_derek00.html">… Glasser</a> lay still and on his back near center court after being hit by an Oregon player setting a screen. Glasser, who suffered a concussion during last Saturday's game against Washington, walked off the court with assistance from ASU trainers.<separator></separator>Arizona State swept the regular season series from Oregon, having beaten the Ducks 76-58 in Tempe on Jan. 10.<separator></separator>