---

brought to you by the ASU WebDevil and the State Press

Senior guard, by own admission, 'sucked'

By Nick Piecoro
State Press

On the rare occasions when Stadium Way thumps and 14,203 fill Wells Fargo Arena to the brim to see the Wildcats and the Sun Devils clash for trash-talking rights, dreams can exist for ASU of upsets and runs and sugarplums.

But Wedneday night it all came crashing down with a resounding thud.

In this 82-55 trampling and dismantling by the No. 5 Wildcats, the only thing left for the Sun Devils is their belief that their embarrassing performance was an anomaly.

"It's one of those games that they just totally dominated us in every phase of the game," ASU coach Rob Evans said.

On an aggravating night, UA shut down ASU guard and conference scoring leader Eddie House, holding him to 4 of 14 shooting (0 for 6 from beyond the arc) for eight points, nearly 15 points below his average.

A crestfallen House typified the postgame angst the Sun Devils had after their mistake-ridden performance. When speaking with the media, he placed an overestimated blame squarely upon his shoulders.

"I sucked tonight," House said. "In every aspect of the word I sucked. I sucked offensively. I sucked defensively. As a leader, I sucked.

"I think I didn't give the team anything in any way. I usually come in and give the team a spark and I didn't give them anything. ... I didn't play particularly well tonight. I take full blame.

"It's all on me. Take (the blame) away from the rest of the team -- they played good. I sucked."

And with that, House departed -- his eyes watery and his head down.

If it were only that simple, if House were the only one to blame.

"They took us out of everything we wanted to do," Evans said.

Like making shots. ASU (11-7, 3-4 Pac-10) shot only 32.8 percent in losing its third consecutive game and ninth consecutive against the Wildcats. UA shot 55.9 percent.

Caught up in the emotion of the game, the Sun Devils hurried shots, taking ugly ones, and found themselves out of it by the half.

"We got into a one pass, shot situation," Evans said, "and you're not going to beat too many teams like that."

Especially a team of the Wildcats' (17-3, 6-1) caliber. The backcourt duo of Jason Gardner (16 points, seven assists) and Gilbert Arenas (24 points, eight rebounds) set the tone, both offensively and defensively.

But as much blame should go to the Sun Devils as credit does to the Wildcats.

"I think some of it was (stage fright)," Evans said. "When you're fumbling passes and you're not executing. We took time out to tell them something and they went back out and didn't execute it. They got caught up in the moment."

For the over-capacity crowd that witnessed this one -- and duly evacuated with about 10 minutes left and the Wildcats up by 30 -- the only fun came when football player-turned-hoopster Todd Heap saw his first action after joining the team on Monday. His line: Three minutes, 0 for 1 shooting, two rebounds, one personal foul.

It took a little while for the laugher to manifest. An energetic ASU squad burst onto the floor, playing up-tempo and out of control. There was a glimmer of hope at the start, when Awvee Storey threw down an alley-oop pass from point guard Alton Mason on ASU's first possession.

But after that, it was a litany of mistakes in every way imaginable. There were missed shots, blown defensive assignments and a plethora of turnovers.

Right when the game was redolent of a blowout, guard Tanner Shell hit a three to bring ASU within 23-19 with six minutes left in the first half.

But UA stormed in front and blew it wide open. A 16-3 run ended the half at 39-22 in UA's favor and it was never close from then on.

For much of the second half, the Wildcats had a larger lead than the Sun Devils had total points.

Nick Piecoro can be reached by e-mail at nick.piecoro@asu.edu.