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PACIFIC 10 ROUNDUP : Arizona State Shoots Down No. 5 Arizona, 77-74

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From Associated Press

Freshman Mario Bennett scored 35 points and had 11 rebounds and five blocked shots to lead Arizona State to a 77-74 Pacific 10 Conference victory over No. 5 Arizona Thursday night at Tempe, Ariz.

Arizona State (15-9, 6-6 in the Pac-10) defeated Arizona for the first time in six years and ended an 11-game losing streak against the Wildcats. The Sun Devils had not beaten their intrastate rivals since the last game of the 1985-86 season.

“The coaches have always told me that if I played hard good things would happen. This team really grew up tonight,” said Bennett after he produced the most points by an Arizona State player since Steve Beck had 36 against Brigham Young in December 1986.

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Sean Rooks scored 20 points and had 14 rebounds for Arizona (19-4, 9-3), which had a nine-game winning streak ended.

Bennett, who has started 16 games, had scored 26 points against Oregon on Feb. 1, but was averaging just 9.4 points a game. He provided the final margin against Arizona with a foul shot with two seconds left.

“I don’t know if he’s that good, but he was that good tonight,” Arizona Coach Lute Olson said.

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Neither team helped itself at the foul line. Arizona made only 16 of 30 free throws, and the Arizona State made 19 of 33.

Lynn Collins, the only senior on Arizona State’s roster, scored 18 points.

Collins made a layup that broke 48-48 tie and ended an 11-0 run less than two minutes later when he stole a pass and drove for another layup.

Khalid Reeves scored 18 points and Chris Mills had 17 for Arizona.

Bennett gave Arizona State its first lead over the Wildcats this season with a dunk 3:03 into the game for a 4-2 lead.

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Arizona missed 11 of its first 14 shots, and the Sun Devils took an 18-10 lead on another dunk by Bennett. The Wildcats got their last lead, 31-30, on Mills’ basket with 3:58 left in the first half.

Washington 71, Oregon 55--Chandler Naird and James French each scored 13 points to lead the Huskies to victory at Seattle.

Rich Manning added 12 points for Washington. Washington (11-12, 4-8) ended a six-game losing streak.

Oregon (6-15, 2-10) lost for the 10th time in 11 games.

Washington State 87, Oregon State 84--Terrence Lewis made two free throws with 2:08 left in overtime to lead the Cougars at Pullman, Wash.

Washington State (17-8, 5-7 Pac-10) trailed 37-31 at halftime but began the second half with an 11-1 run. The score was tied, 74-74, at the end of regulation.

Oregon State (12-13, 4-8) forced the overtime on Mario Jackson’s dunk after Scott Haskin’s missed shot with 1.3 seconds left.

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