Bucknell University
4-5
Arizona State
7-3
Arizona State Upends Bucknell
12/27/2002 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - Freshman Ike Diogu scored a game-high 16 points and hot-shooting Arizona State used a balanced attack and suffocating defense to turn back Bucknell 79-52 in the opening round of the azcentral.com Hoops Classic at Wells Fargo Arena.
Bucknell (4-5) will play UC Santa Barbara in Saturday's consolation game, while Arizona State (7-3) will host Nebraska. The Cornhuskers defeated UCSB 60-57 in the other first-round game.
Despite playing without starting forward Brian Werner (shoulder) for the second straight game, the Bison hung with the athletic Sun Devils for 16 minutes. Dan Blankenship's free throws with 5:54 left in the first half cut Bucknell's deficit to 25-20, but Donnell Knight scored on two straight put-backs to kick start a 14-2 ASU run and give the Sun Devils a 39-22 halftime edge.
Arizona State outscored Bucknell 22-6 over the first 10:40 of the second half, with Jamal Hill's 3-pointer giving the hosts their largest lead of the night, 34 points at 62-28.
The Bison closed within 22 points at 74-52 after Jack Namvou's 3-pointer with 1:42 to play, as both coaches emptied their benches in the final minutes.
Blankenship and Boakai Lalugba led Bucknell with 12 points apiece. The Bison shot only 37.0 percent from the field and were coaxed into 21 turnovers by Arizona State's swarming defense. Bucknell was solid on the glass, grabbing 14 offensive rebounds and claiming a 30-28 overall rebounding edge.
Knight finished with 15 points and Curtis Millage had 13 for the Sun Devils, who made eight of their first nine shots in the second half and shot 63.3 percent from the floor for the game.
