January 14, 1999
TEMPE, Ariz. - A.J. Bramlett, who matched his career-high with 24 points, hit a 10-foot bank shot with 10 seconds to play Thursday night to give No. 7 Arizona a 74-73 victory over Arizona State, the Wildcats' seventh consecutive win over their arch-rivals.
Arizona (12-1, 4-1 Pac-10) trailed by as many as nine points in the second half before finally catching the Sun Devils thanks to the inside play of Bramlett and freshman Michael Wright, who had 18 points and 12 rebounds.
Bramlett had 11 rebounds as the Wildcats outrebounded the Sun Devils 42-30.
Eddie House scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half for Arizona State (10-7, 2-3), but he missed an off-balance 3-pointer over Jason Terry's pressure defense at the buzzer.
Bobby Lazor added 21 points for the Sun Devils, but only six in the second half. Alton Mason added 13 points but missed a crucial free throw with 25 seconds to go.
The Sun Devils missed eight of their last 11 free throws. House, an 84 percent free throw shooter this season, made just one of five.
Terry, the Pac-10's leading scorer and top free throw shooter at 87 percent, managed just 11 points on 4-for-15 shooting and missed two free throws with 27 seconds to go and Arizona State leading 73-72.
Terry fouled Mason on the rebound, but he missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 25 seconds to go. Arizona's Richard Jefferson grabbed the rebound, and coach Lute Olson called a timeout to set up what proved to be the winning play.
Arizona State, in its first season under coach Rob Evans, led throughout the first half and was up 40-35 at the break.
House, who scored 10 points over the first 6 1/2 minutes of the second half, made a 16-footer to give the Sun Devils their biggest lead, 49-40, with 16:24 to play.
Terry's breakaway stuff after Mason's turnover capped a 9-0 run that gave Arizona its first lead since early in the game, 61-60, with 9:19 to go. Neither team led by more than three the rest of the way. Terry's 3-pointer put Arizona up 70-67 with 2:22 to go, then Mason countered with a 3 to tie it with 1:53 to go.
It was the second straight year Arizona has beaten Arizona State by one point on the Sun Devils' court. The Sun Devils haven't beaten the Wildcats since 1995.