ASU-Washington battle for first place

The situations are getting tense. The scenarios too numerous to dissect. It's being billed as the showdown for first place in the Pac-10, and though the winner of Thursday night's men's basketball game between 14th-ranked Arizona State and 21st-ranked Washington will, in fact, be in first place, it could last anywhere from 32 hours to two weeks.

Such is life in the Pac-10 this season. It's not quite as jumbled as two weeks ago, when nine teams were separated by four games, but five teams are within 2 1/2 games of one another with two weekends remaining, and either have three (Washington, Oregon State, Oregon) or four (everyone else) games left to play.

A late-night win against the Huskies - against whom the Sun Devils lost in ugly fashion at home on Jan. 31 but won in Seattle last year - would put ASU in first place.

A loss, and the Sun Devils would fall 1 1/2 games behind with three to play, including the often-harsh travel of reaching Pullman to play Washington State on Saturday afternoon.

Though not an avid boxing fan, ASU sophomore guard James Harden is expecting "a 15-round fight" against Washington.

"They're not going to give in easily," said Harden, who is one of 30 finalists for the Naismith Award given to the top player in college basketball. "We'll have to go in there and play our hearts out."

And then some. In the teams' last meeting at Wells Fargo Arena, the Huskies' backcourt was unstoppable.

Justin Dentmon and freshman Isiah Thomas combined for 55 points (including 20 free throws). The top scoring team in the Pac-10 shot 52 percent and put up 84 points against a normally stingy Sun Devils defense.

More impressive, the Huskies' 13-point win came without a typical night from Jon Brockman (10 points, nine rebounds), who has twice as many career double-doubles as any other active Pac-10 player.

These days, Quincy Pondexter has also scored in double figures the past six games.

"I know they have many players capable of harpooning you, and several can do it at once," ASU coach Herb Sendek said. "They're exceptionally talented. I don't know how many more teams in the country are deeper and more talented."

Then he launched into a Three Stooges-esque discussion about how defending high-octane offenses (the Huskies are No. 1 in the Pac-10 at 79.4 points per game) is similar to plugging holes on a leaky ship.

Patch up one and another bursts out. Seal that burst and another spews forth.

"They want to win a Pac-10 championship as much as we do," Harden said. "We have to be on our 'A' game. I know they're going to bring it, we have to bring it too."

The Sun Devils aren't afforded a chance to alleviate this stress, since they'll immediately face a Washington State team that beat ASU on its home floor and is coming off a win at UCLA. The Devils close the regular season at home next week against the Bay Area schools.

Forget that UCLA has won three straight Pac-10 championships. Did anyone say winning one was anything but arduous?

Not Arizona State. The Sun Devils may be on a five-game winning streak, but it might not be enough.

"We're definitely further than where we started, but I don't know how high it could go," senior forward Jeff Pendergraph said of this team's potential. "I know right now I don't think we could win it. Potential could win a championship but we know we have to step it up another notch to win."

No. 21 Washington vs No. 14 Arizona State

When: 7 p.m. Thursday

Where: Bank of American Arena

TV/Radio: FSNAZ/KTAR (620 AM)

Outlook: Washington: The Huskies have a half-game lead on ASU atop the Pac-10, and have played one more game than most of the rest of the league. The Huskies finish the regular season at home against the Arizona schools this weekend, then March 7 against Washington State (with one nonconference game in the middle). The Huskies are coming off a split of the L.A. schools last week on the road, and are No. 1 in the Pac-10 in scoring (79.4) and rebounding (41 per game, or plus-9).

Arizona State: ASU has won four consecutive road games for the first time since 1980-81 team won five straight, and is a Pac-10 best 4-0 in games decided by five points or fewer this season. The Sun Devils are one of three schools nationally with seven wins against opponents in the RPI top 50, trailing Michigan State (9) and Oklahoma (8).