The ASU men's basketball team had everything it wanted.
The crowd was on its feet. The Sun Devils were beating No. 10 Washington. Momentum was on their side.
It lasted just 16 seconds.
In its biggest game, being played on the biggest stage of the season, ASU crumbled at the most inopportune time Sunday afternoon and succumbed to Washington 79-70 before 9,434 at Wells Fargo Arena.
"We just didn't get key stops when we needed them," ASU junior forward Ike Diogu said. "We were in the game the whole time."
The Sun Devils (15-6, 4-5 Pac-10) did everything they could to stay competitive over the first 26 minutes, never allowing Washington (17-3, 7-2) to build a lead larger than five points.
The momentum didn't last.
ASU slipped into an offensive lull over a five-minute stretch in the second half and saw its slim lead -- as well as its hopes of winning -- vanish when Washington went on an 11-0 run.
"It's really disappointing," said ASU senior guard Jason Braxton, who scored all nine of his points in the first half. "Once again, we felt like we were at home and we had them on their heels, but we couldn't capitalize on it."
The brunt of ASU's struggles came on the offensive end, as Washington's defense forced the Sun Devils well beyond the perimeter. The Sun Devils not only became out of sync, but they tried to make plays deep into the shot clock.
The speed of Washington's guards, especially junior Nate Robinson, proved too tough for ASU to overcome. Washing-ton's constant pressure rattled ASU's guards, who accounted for 14 of the team's 21 turnovers.
"I thought the pressure they had on the outside limited the ability to get the ball inside," ASU coach Rob Evans said. "We should be able to handle the pressure."
Pressure from a different source might have plagued Diogu throughout the CBS-televised game. Diogu uncharacteristically let passes that could have turned into uncontested dunks slip through his hands.
"Ike's got great hands, and I don't think it was anything other than he was trying to make plays," Evans said. "He has played a lot of great basketball games, and sometimes people expect him to be perfect. He's not perfect."
The miscues proved costly, considering Diogu had limited touches. Diogu finished with a team-high 14 points and 13 rebounds.
None of Diogu's 14 points came on a shot farther than two feet from the basket. Diogu went to the line just once -- not typical of someone who leads the nation in free-throw attempts.
Reach the reporter at matt.reinick@asu.edu.
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