TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona State buried Idaho State with a school-record avalanche of 3-pointers.
The 20th-ranked Sun Devils won 90-55 Tuesday in a rout so complete coach Herb Sendek could find nothing to criticize.
“You hope at some point synergy — kind of a fun word — takes over and the whole does become greater than the sum of its parts, and guys do make each other better, feed off each other and help each other,” Sendek said. “That’s the way the game’s meant to be played.”
James Harden, who made 3-of-6 3-pointers, scored 18 points in just 26 minutes as Arizona State improved to 10-1, matching its best start in 34 seasons. All five Arizona State starters hit double figures.
The Sun Devils, who entered the game first among Pac-10 schools with 8.4 3-pointers a game, made 17-for-32.
“I’ve been coaching 30 years,” Idaho State coach Joe O’Brien said, “and I don’t know that I’ve been involved in a game where the opponent shot the ball that well that long. … They shot the ball well from start to finish, everybody that played.”
Rihards Kuksiks was 5-for-6 on 3s for 15 points, while Ty Abbott was 4-for-6 and finished with 14 points.
“We finished with 25 assists on 28 baskets, which is somewhat remarkable,” Sendek said.
Harden said Sendek had preached shot preparation all week.
“You know, being ready to shoot when the ball’s there, having your feet under you, just the whole nine yards,” Harden said, “and today we did that.”
Kal Bay scored 12 points for the Bengals (2-9). Matt Stucki added 11 and Chron Tatum had 10.
Derek Glasser had 11 points and matched his career best with nine assists for Arizona State.
The blowout followed two tense victories for the Sun Devils, 59-58 in overtime over IUPUI and 76-75 over previously unbeaten BYU.
Idaho State beat Utah, lost three games in overtime and was defeated at Wisconsin on a last-second shot, but this won’t join that list of near misses.
“I don’t think today is an indication of how good a basketball team we are or how bad a basketball team we are,” O’Brien said. “It was just a day we need to put behind us. We weren’t very good and they were very, very good.”
The Sun Devils made 10-of-17 3-pointers to take a 43-28 halftime lead.
Arizona State’s last six field goals of the half were 3s, three by Harden.
Top 25 men
No. 9 Texas 74, Wisconsin 69
MADISON, Wis. — Gary Johnson banked in a jump shot with 23.5 seconds left to help Texas to a victory over Wisconsin. A.J. Abrams scored 21 points to lead the Longhorns (10-2).
No. 12 Georgetown 76, FIU 38
WASHINGTON — Austin Freeman scored 17 points, Chris Wright had 14 and DaJuan Summers added 13 for Georgetown. The Hoyas (9-1) won their sixth straight.
No. 13 UCLA 113, Wyoming 62
LOS ANGELES — Michael Roll scored 18 of his career-high 25 points in the first half, and No. 13 UCLA overwhelmed Wyoming for its fifth straight victory. Roll, a 6-foot-5 junior making his second start in place of the injured Josh Shipp, surpassed his previous career high of 17 points by making the fourth of his five 3-pointers with 3 seconds left in the half, giving the Bruins a 59-34 lead.
Butler 74, No. 14 Xavier 65
CINCINNATI — Matt Howard and Gordon Hayward each scored 19 points, and Butler turned back one late Xavier rally after another. Butler (10-1) hadn’t beaten a ranked team since its 62-59 victory over No. 18 Maryland in the 2007 NCAA tournament.
No. 23 Minnesota 80,
SE Louisiana 71
MINNEAPOLIS — Reserves Blake Hoffarber and Lawrence Westbrook each scored 15 points to lift Minnesota in its first game as a ranked team in six years. The Gophers (11-0), who matched the program’s best start since they opened with 11 straight wins in 1976-77, finished with a 46-14 advantage in bench scoring.
Illinois 75, No. 25 Missouri 59
ST. LOUIS — Demetri McCamey scored all but two of his 20 points in the first half as Illinois won its ninth straight in the annual Braggin’ Rights game.
Pac-10 men
Arizona 84, Kansas 67
TUCSON, Ariz. — Jordan Hill had 23 points and 11 rebounds as Arizona rallied from a nine-point second half deficit to defeat Kansas. Trailing 44-35 shortly after halftime, the Wildcats blitzed the defending national champions with a 29-6 run to take command.
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