It took the Oregon Ducks until March 9 in the Pacific-10 Conference tournament to win 15 games last season.
They matched that win total Thursday night at Arizona State (6-10, 0-5 Pac-10) with a 60-55 victory at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe, Ariz.
The Ducks had to grind it out against the slumping Sun Devils, now losers of their last six games, but Oregon improved to 15-1 on the season and continued its best start since going 16-1 in the 1937-38 season.
Oregon also improved to 4-0 on the road this season.
“We certainly thought it was going to be a hard fought battle,” Oregon coach Ernie Kent said in a broadcast interview. “(Arizona State) played a great ball game. That’s why it was good for us because I thought we responded to the challenge and we played a really good game too for the road.”
Bryce Taylor and Aaron Brooks combined for 16 points each and Malik Hairston returned for the first time in five games to score 13 points and grab eight rebounds in 20 minutes of action.
“I thought he played very well in the game,” Kent said. “He’s a little rusty, but I thought he rebounded well, he defended well, he got into the paint, made a lot of great basketball plays.”
Said Hairston: “First of all, it’s just great to get another win, and it was great to be able to get out on the court and help these guys win a basketball game.”
Forward Jeff Pendergraph scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Arizona State, which kept things interesting nearly the entire game with a 2-3 zone that successfully kept Oregon out of rhythm at times.
“It’s a tough style to play against when a team zones you the whole game and, unlike Idaho State, they really work in the zone,” Kent said. “I thought my guys did a good job of just hanging in there and finding a way to get it done.”
Oregon took a 29-26 lead into the break and extended that to its largest lead of 15 with 10:56 to play on consecutive three pointers by Brooks, which capped a 12-0 Oregon run.
Arizona State responded with an 11-0 run spanning a little more than five minutes and eventually cut the lead down to three on three separate occasions. But each time Oregon had an answer.
“Basically I think this team’s just matured. We’re able to close about basketball games a lot more, and I think that’s the big difference (this season),” Hairston said, referring to the team’s many close losses last season.
Leading 54-51 with 4:16 remaining, Taylor tipped in his own missed lay-in. Then, leading 56-53, freshman guard Tajuan Porter nailed a floating jumper with 1:26 left to keep the Sun Devils at bay. After a lay-in by Antwi Atuahene cut the lead to 58-55 and Porter missed on a three attempt, Arizona State had a chance to tie but Atuahene committed a costly turnover with seven seconds remaining by dribbling the ball off his knee and out of bounds.
Brooks then iced the game with a pair of free throws.
“I think they’re a pretty composed team,” Kent said of his Ducks. “I didn’t ever feel like we were in trouble in terms of losing the game.
“I thought this team did a great job of managing this game on the road, which allows you to manage your schedule, and get us ready for a big-time showdown coming on Sunday.”
That showdown will be the Ducks and the No. 10 Arizona Wildcats at the McKale Center, a venue the Ducks have not won at since the 2001-02 season. The Wildcats have won 13 of their last 14 and rebounded from a 77-73 overtime loss at Washington State last Saturday with an 83-72 win against Oregon State on Thursday. Sophomore forward Marcus Williams led Arizona with a game-high 27 points and eight rebounds while freshman forward Chase Budinger added 16 points and 10 rebounds.
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