Dec 13, 2001
By MEL REISNER
AP Sports Writer
PHOENIX (AP) - Kyle Dodd scored Arizona State's last four points as the Sun Devils avoided losing to another Big Sky Conference team with a 72-69 win over Montana State on Thursday night.
Chad Prewitt had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Sun Devils (5-2), who dropped a 79-69 decision to Portland State of the Big Sky in overtime on Nov. 20. It marked the third 20-point game of the season for Prewitt, who had just two 20-point games in his career entering this season. The senior was 9-of-12 from the floor and 2-of-3 from the three-point stripe. The Pac-10 is now just 3-2 against the Big Sky on the season.
Curtis Millage had 11 points and Awvee Storey 10.
Aaron Rich scored 23 points for the Bobcats (3-5), and James Clark had a career-high 16.
Rich completed his 10-for-10 free-throw effort with two at the 1:42 mark of the second half, pulling Montana State within 68-64, but Dodd answered with a driving layup with 1:19 to go.
The Bobcats' Damir Latovic hit a 3-pointer 16 seconds later, and Clark made two free throws with 12 seconds remaining, cutting the deficit to 70-69.
Dodd hit two free throws with 4.4 seconds to go, and Clark missed a shot at the buzzer as Arizona State won its fourth in a row before starting Pac-10 play next week. The Dec. 20 game at Oregon will be ASU's earliest Pac-10 game since Nov. 30, 1989, when it opened the regular season against Oregon State. Pac-10 play starts next week due to the league reinstating the Pac-10 Tournament March 7-9 at the Staples Center. ASU is 4-3 at McArthur Court in the past seven seasons, tied for the second-best record of any Pac-10 team in that time and is 4-2 under Rob Evans on the Oregon road trip.
The game was played at the America West Arena because of winter commencement exercises in Arizona State's arena. One of the graduates is Awvee Storey, who completed his Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies degree with concentrations in communications and sociology this fall. ASU is now 3-1 at AWA, including a 3-0 mark under Rob Evans.
ASU committed 24 fouls to Montana State's 12 and had 19 turnovers.
The Bobcats made 5-of-10 3-pointers while assuming seven-point leads four times in the first half.
But Arizona State closed the first half with a 7-0 spurt for a 37-35 lead.
ASU shot a season-high 58.8 percent from the field (30-of-51), as the Sun Devils are now 21-2 under Rob Evans when they shoot 50 percent, including 11-0 the past two seasons.