Jan 24, 2002

Box Score

By BOB BAUM
AP Sports Writer

TEMPE, Ariz. - Chad Prewitt scored 22 points and Curtis Millage added 19 as Arizona State ended a five-year drought against Arizona on Wednesday night with an 88-72 victory over the 10th-ranked Wildcats.

The Sun Devils (11-7, 4-5 Pac-10), who shot 54 percent, beat a nationally ranked opponent for the first time in 24 tries in coach Rob Evans' four seasons. They were 0-10 against Arizona - 0-6 under Evans - since sweeping the Wildcats in 1995.

Arizona (13-5, 6-3) had rallied from 21 points down to beat Oregon State and 20 down to beat UCLA, but those comebacks were in Tucson. The Wildcats couldn't pull it off in the hostile atmosphere of Wells Fargo Arena, which was filled to near-capacity.

Arizona State led by 17 points in the first half and 20 in the second. The Wildcats never got closer than 11 after that.

Luke Walton scored 26 points and Jason Gardner had 16 for Arizona, which had won a season-best five straight.

Tommy Smith added 16 points for Arizona State and Jason Braxton had 10.

The Wildcats were just 2-for-16 from 3-point range and missed nine free throws.

The Sun Devils never were in serious trouble after a 20-3 run gave them a 40-23 lead on Millage's 3-pointer with 2:26 left in the half. They led 46-31 at halftime.

Prewitt ignited the outburst with consecutive 3-pointers after Arizona had used a 7-0 spurt to tie it at 20.

It was the same 15-point margin that UCLA had at halftime Saturday against Arizona before losing 96-86.

As the Bruins had done, the Sun Devils boosted the lead to 20, going up 61-41 on Millage's 3-pointer with 14:36 remaining.

Arizona cut the lead to 77-65 on Gardner's drive with 4:31 to play. Braxton missed two free throws, but Prewitt rebounded the second and was fouled. He made both free throws to boost the lead to 79-65 with 3:50 remaining.

Will Bynum's driving layup cut it to 79-68 with 2:46 to go, but Kyle Dodd's two free throws with 2:19 left made it 81-68, then Smith sealed it with an uncontested stuff 1:57 from the finish.

The victory-starved students rushed the court when the final buzzer sounded.

The Sun Devils shot 54 percent in the first half, compared with Arizona's 41 percent. The Wildcats were 10-for-16 from the foul line in the first half with Walton going 1-for-5.

In all, the Sun Devils had lost 26 straight to ranked teams.