The last time the ASU men's basketball team won at McKale Center, Kevin Kruger was probably learning long division.
The 1994-95 Mario Bennett-led Sun Devils were ranked No. 18 in the country at the time and would go on to a trip to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
ASU swept the season series with the Wildcats that season, closing out conference play with a 103-98 double-overtime victory in Tucson. But the Sun Devils have come up short on the road against UA for the past decade.
"We're not going to get caught up in the history of [the rivalry]," Kruger said. "We're going to play like it's just another away game, which it pretty much is."
Since ASU last defeated UA on its home court, the Wildcats have won the next 10 meetings by an average of 16 points. The Sun Devils dropped the last two games on the road by margins of 18 and 25 points.
"All those stats erase once the ball is tipped off," sophomore point guard Antwi Atuahene said. "I don't really worry about those numbers. I just worry about getting the 'W' on Saturday."
Bench brings boost
A trademark of this year's ASU team has been its inconsistency off the bench. But Saturday a pair of reserves were responsible for the Sun Devils coming back from Northern California with a victory.
Junior guard Bryson Krueger scored a team-high 19 points off the bench and hit the game-winning shot to give the Sun Devils a 65-64 road win over Pac-10 leader California.
With ASU trailing by two, Krueger stepped up and buried a well-defended 3-pointer as time was running out.
"It was kind of a morale booster," Krueger said of the win. "It reassured us that we can play with anybody in the league."
Seldom-used freshman power forward Chad Goldstein also came up big down the stretch for ASU with Jeff Pendergraph forced to the bench after fouling out.
Goldstein came in for the final three minutes of the second overtime, and held the Pac-10's leading scorer and rebounder Leon Powe in check.
"Chad sat for 47 minutes and then coach called on him to keep Leon Powe from scoring," Kruger said. "That just speaks volumes about our coaching staff for keeping each one of us ready and into the game."
Lights Out
ASU leads the Pac-10 in 3-point accuracy this season at 38.3 percent. It is its best percentage since the 1988-89 team set the school mark with 43 percent.
Reach the reporter at derrik.miller@asu.edu.
