Dec. 20, 2004
By BOB BAUM
AP Sports Writer
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - Steve Moore scored 18 points to lead five Arizona State players in double figures and the Sun Devils pulled away for a 90-55 rout of Northwestern on Monday night.
ASU committed just six turnovers, the second-fewest in Rob Evans seven years at Arizona State, and set the school record for three-point percentage (minimum 20 attempts) by hitting 13-of-20 (.650).
Ike Diogu scored 12 of his 17 in the second half, when the Sun Devils outscored the Wildcats 55-23.
Arizona State improved to 8-1, its best start since the 1990-91 season, and won its sixth in a row, the first time that's happened since 1998-99. ASU will try and win its seventh straight on Wednesday when it hosts Santa Clara at 6 p.m. The Sun Devils have not won seven straight since the 1980-81 season.
Tyrone Jackson and Serge Angounou scored 12 apiece and Jason Braxton added 10 for the Sun Devils, who shot a season-best 59.6 percent (31-of-52), 69 percent (18-of-26) in the second half.
Arizona State made 13-of-20 3-pointers, its most 3s since Jan. 27, 1996, at Oregon.
T.J. Parker scored 14 for Northwestern (4-5). Vedran Vukusic added 12 points and Davor Duvancic 10.
The Wildcats trailed only 48-43 after Parker's 16-footer with 14:03 to play. But Kruger's 3-pointer capped a 17-6 surge that put Arizona State up 65-49 with 8:13 to go.
The Wildcats abandoned their zone defense for a man-to-man, and the Sun Devils turned the game into a blowout. The run reached 28-8 after Moore's 16-footer gave Arizona State a 76-51 lead with five minutes to go.
Diogu didn't get a shot off against Northwestern's zone for the first 12 minutes of the game and was just 1-for-2 at half for five points.
His lone first-half field goal, a 3-pointer from the top of the key, capped a 13-4 run that put Arizona State ahead 33-23 with 3:43 left in the half.
But Northwestern scored the last seven points of the half, the last two on Parker's layup with three seconds left, to cut Arizona State's lead to 35-32 at the break.
Mike Thompson, a transfer from Duke in his third game, scored on a spin move inside to open the second half and make it 35-34. But Braxton's driving slam highlighted a 13-3 surge that put Arizona State ahead 48-37 on consecutive baskets by Moore, the last a layup with 16:21 left.
KEVIN KRUGER NOTES: Sophomore Kevin Kruger is making a difference on the perimeter, as he is 18-of-37 (.486) from the three-point stripe and has notched double digits in three games. He provided a spark in the final nine games last year, averaging 29.0 minutes, 12.4 points and shot 27-of-59 (.448) from the three-point stripe. He was the team's second-leading scorer in those nine games. After shooting 4-of-27 (.148) from the three-point stripe in the first 18 games of his career, he is 45-of-96 (.469) in his past 18 contests.
ABOUT THE RECENT WINS: ASU enters the Santa Clara game on a six-game win streak. ASU has posted just one other six-game win streak in the past 10 years, as the Sun Devils won six straight from Dec. 5-29, 1998, before losing its Pac-10 opener to USC 72-70 on Jan. 2, 1999. The Sun Devils have posted four six-game win streaks in the past 24 seasons (1990-91, 1992-93, 1994-95 and 1998-99), but have not won seven straight since they won their first seven games in 1980-81 and then won 11 straight that same year.
ETC.: Diogu made seven free throws to move into eighth place on the Pac-10 career list. He now has made 513 free throws...sophomore newcomer Bryson Krueger has now made 9-of-12 (.750) from the three-point stripe in his past three games.