Wacky win over ASU a tale of two halves for streaking Wildcats

For the first 20 minutes of the game the Wildcats showed why they are the No. 1 team in the nation.

They held ASU to only 20 points in the half, 25 percent from the field and kept the Sun Devils best player ÷ Ike Diogu ÷ in check. The freshman was held to just seven points, had three turnovers, took three shots but more importantly had only two rebounds.

Diogu's first half struggles can be credited to sophomore center Channing Frye, who played deny defense on Diogu and didn't let him get any open looks.

"Not that I have anything against Ike but all (the media) talked about all week is Ike this and Ike that," said Frye, who finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. "I took that personally. We're just trying to go in there and make a statement."

"Our game plan on him was just to play him straight up and we always double the player in the post," he said.

So when UA entered the locker room at halftime with a 20-point lead and a frustrated Diogu in the opposing locker room, it looked like Fil Torres, the Wildcats lone walk-on, was going to get some unusual playing last night.

But once again Arizona was unable to play a complete 40 minutes of basketball, and nearly got burned.

Typically, the Wildcats had trouble getting the engine started at tip-off ÷ this time it stalled when Arizona needed it most, in the second half.

Whether it was a case of the players' already preparing for the frigid temperatures in Kansas when the team leaves today, or just poor shot selection and a lack of intensity on defense, UA let ASU right back into the game.

Hoop-by-hoop, the visiting Sun Devils crept back from a 26-point deficit and cut what once looked like an out of reach game to just five points with still five minutes remaining.

"The other team played really well in the second half," UA head coach Lute Olson said. "Sometimes we forget that the other team wants to win too."

The Sun Devils could have easily packed up and gone back to Tempe with another loss on their record in a game where nobody thought they had a chance to win in the first place, but Rob Evans' team didn't quit.

"I'm proud of these guys for the way they played in the second half," said the fifth-year Sun Devil head coach. "If we play with the kind of passion that we played in the second half, we'll be ok."

Part of the problem for Arizona in the second half near-collapse was their struggles from the free throw line. At one point in the game the Wildcats missed eight straight free throws and made only 8-of-15 in the second half.

"Everyone on this team can shoot free throws and we knock them down in practice," said UA point guard Jason Gardner, who missed his first three of the game but made six straight after that. "We just need to step up and knock them down."

Another problem was ASU finally found a way to solve the Wildcats 1-3-1 zone by running their motion offense and swinging the ball to the weak side to an open Kenny Crandall. He hit four of seven 3-pointers, but more importantly three in a 2 minute and 30 second span in the second half.

"In the second half we stopped playing defense as hard," forward Luke Walton said. "It was just a lack of intensity, it was stuff we can't do."

Maybe the Wildcats will learn an important lesson from this game ÷ that no win should come easy. Just ask UA's next opponent, Kansas. The No. 6 Jayhawks were stunned by Colorado last night 60-59, in a game that should never have been close.

"It just shows you anything can happen in college basketball," Walton said.

Last night, it almost did.