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NCAA Tournament First Round Coverage: Arizona State vs Temple

Jeff Pendergraph and Derek Glasser scored 22 points each to lead the Arizona State Sun Devils to a 66-57 victory over the Temple Owls in a first-round NCAA Tournament game in Miami.

With the victory Friday at American Airlines Arena, the sixth-seeded Sun Devils (25-9) will advance to play third-seeded Syracuse (27-9) in a South Region second-round matchup on Sunday.

The 11 th-seeded Owls (22-12) held Arizona State sophomore swingman James Harden, the Pac-10 Player of the Year, to nine points Friday on 1-of-8 shooting from the field. Pendergraph (a senior power forward) and Glasser (a junior guard) picked up the scoring slack, as Pendergraph made 8 of 14 field goals and 6 of 6 free throws while Glasser swished 6 of 8 shots from the field (including 4 of 5 from three-point range) and 6 of 7 from the foul line.

“Different guys stepped up for us at different times, but most certainly Derek and Jeff had outstanding games for us and allowed us to come away with the win today,” Arizona State head coach Herb Sendek said. “And then I thought James (Harden) down the homestretch really made several big plays to get us over the hump.”

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After pulling ahead 5-2 on a three-pointer by Glasser with 17:52 left in the first half, the Sun Devils led throughout the rest of the game. The Owls, who trailed 35-26 at halftime, drew to within 52-49 on a layup by senior guard Dionte Christmas with 6:56 remaining. Harden answered with a free throw and a three-pointer for ASU to push the margin back to seven at 56-49.

Christmas led all scorers with 29 points, but he was called for traveling with 48 seconds left and the Owls trailing 60-55.

By Tom Kessler
DFN Sports Staff Writer