Arizona State Still in Hunt

California did a better job of defending Eddie House this time, but the Pacific 10’s leading scorer still had 11 points to lead Arizona State to an 85-76 victory Thursday night.

Earlier this season, House scored a Pacific 10 record-tying 61 points in a 111-108 triple overtime victory over California.

This time, the Golden Bears effectively employed a box-and-one defense against House, limiting him to 13 shots. He made seven of his shots and all four of his free throws, however, to finish only two points off his season-scoring average of 23 points.

Arizona State, 18-11 overall and 10-7 in the Pacific 10, remains in contention for an NCAA tournament bid. The Sun Devils play No. 2-ranked Stanford at home in their final regular-season game.

California (16-13, 7-10) got 21 points from Sean Lampley.