STANFORD, Calif. — Jeff Pendergraph scored 21 of his career-high 31 points in the first half and No. 17 Arizona State handed Stanford its first loss of the season, 90-60 on Friday night in the Pac-10 opener for both teams.
Pendergraph’s strong play inside helped the Sun Devils (12-1) overcome a scoreless first half by Pac-10 scoring leader James Harden and extend the best start for the school since going 15-1 in 1974-75.
Harden, who came into the game averaging 23.7 points, missed his first five shots but ended up with 17 points to go with a career-high tying 10 assists.
The Cardinal (10-1) came into the game as one of six unbeaten teams remaining in Division I, but their soft nonconference schedule raised questions as to whether undefeated or untested was a better description for Stanford heading into the Pac-10 season. Arizona State answered that question quickly.
CORVALLIS, Ore. — Darren Collison and Michael Roll each scored 16 points and No. 12 UCLA topped Oregon State in the Pacific-10 Conference opener for both teams. Drew Gordon added 11 points for the Bruins (11-2), the Pac-10’s defending regular-season champions who have won seven straight games.
Calvin Haynes had 16 points for Oregon State (5-6), which went winless in the conference last season. The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Beavers under first-year coach Craig Robinson, the brother-in-law of President-elect Barack Obama.
EUGENE, Ore. — Dwight Lewis tied a career-high with 26 points, true-freshman DeMar DeRozan had 14 points and 12 rebounds and Southern California defeated Oregon 83-62 in the Pac-10 Conference opener for both schools Friday.
Daniel Hackett added 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Trojans (9-3), whose only loss in their last eight games has been to No. 4 Oklahoma.
The Trojans beat the Ducks for the fifth time in their past six meetings.
Tajuan Porter led the Ducks (6-7) with 12 points only two in the second half while Garrett Sim and Kamyron Brown had 11 points apiece and Michael Dunigan added 10 points.
Despite the lopsided final the game was tied at halftime and the Oregon led after making the first basket of the second half.
But the Trojans shot 59 percent after halftime and shook off early foul trouble.
BERKELEY, Calif. — Patrick Christopher matched his season high with 23 points, dished out four assists and played strong defense against Arizona star Chase Budinger, and California won its sixth straight game with a 69-55 win over the Wildcats in the Pac-10 opener for both schools Friday night.
Jerome Randle added 14 points, five assists and four rebounds for the Golden Bears (12-2), who under first-year coach Mike Montgomery reached double digits for victories before Jan. 1 for the first time since the 1947-48 season.
Nic Wise scored five straight during one second-half stretch on the way to 16 points. Jordan Hill had 18 points and 11 boards for Arizona (9-4), which couldn’t overcome another cold night by Budinger. He was held to nine points on 4-for-16 shooting after going 4-for-23 in his previous two games.
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