No. 14 UA presses ASU into submission

Karen C. Tully Arizona Daily Wildcat Junior forward Bennett Davison dunks the ball in the first half of Arizona's 87-71 victory over Arizona State last night at McKale Center.

The Arizona basketball team found itself in a deficit at halftime last night. Then, the Wildcats started the second half with a relentless pressing defense. After forcing ASU into nine early second half turnovers, Arizona went on to defeat the Sun Devils, 87-71 in front of 14,338 fans at McKale Center

"We came in the second half as a very aggressive team," UA coach Lute Olson said. "We increased our defensive pressure and finally gave our fans something to cheer about."

While Arizona played its best 20 minutes in the second half, their first half performance was perhaps their worst yet this season. UA allowed the Sun Devils to shoot 60-percent in the first half.

"We came out pretty flat and they did a good job of slowing down the tempo," UA forward Michael Dickerson said. "When we were down by six at half, I could feel the Pac-10 Championship sliding away."

ASU junior Jeremy Veal used a 19 point first half to inspire his Sun Devil teammates to take a 36-30 lead at the break.

"Veal came out and hit some tough shots," Olson said. "They did a good job of controling the tempo and Veal was a big reason for their success."

Once the second half started, however, Arizona came out a different team. In the first 27 seconds the Wildcats commited three fouls and showed no mercy on a timid ASU squad. When Veal was slapped with his fourth foul early in the half, Arizona seized their opportunity to get back into the game.

Led by the spirited play of junior guard Miles Simon, the Wildcats forced three turnovers in just two minutes. ASU was so overmatched by Arizona's defensive intensity that they didn't even cross half-court in five straight possessions.

"We could see that they were afraid to get the ball inbounds," UA freshman guard Mike Bibby said. "We went with a four guard lineup and really pressured them into making some mistakes. We should play that lineup more often."

In a three minute stretch, the Wildcats outscored the Sun Devils by 13 points to regain the lead for good. The catalyst of this run was Simon. He shook off a tough case of back spasms to play a season-high 31 minutes and assume the reigns as team leader.

"I felt I had to take it upon myself tonight," said Simon, who scored a team-high 22 points and added nine rebounds. "In the past two games I've felt that I have let the team down and I knew I had to get the guys going in the second half."

The Sun Devils went as far as the shooting of Jeremy Veal, who finished with 27 points on 50-percent shooting.

The key might have been the play of platooning centers A.J. Bramlett and Donnell Harris. The two combined for 15 points and 13 rebounds while playing tough defense.

"A lot of people have been critical of our post-man situation all year," Olson said. "But, if I told you that if I could get a five-man to average 15-16 points and 12 rebounds, you probably take it. If you look at Donnell and A.J., that's what they have been averaging in the last couple of games."