Sun Devil's Season Ends with loss to Florida in NIT
The Arizona State men's basketball team saw their 2007-2008 season come to an end Tuesday night, falling to defending national champion Florida 70-57 in the Quarterfinals of the NIT in front of 12,306 fans at Wells Fargo Arena.
A team that finished 9th in the Pac 10 a season ago, compiling only 8 wins improved to 5th this year and their 21 wins are definite improvement for a program with a bright future. Junior forward Jeff Pendergraph, who's future as a Sun Devil is still in doubt, is proud of ASU's progress despite the loss.
ASU coach Herb Sendek spoke after the game about the tremendous crowd support. The Wells Fargo crowd was arguably the loudest of the season and has provided the Sun Devils with a newfound home court advantage. ASU won 15 games at home this season compared to 6 a year ago.
Florida (24-11) jumped out to a 17-3 lead thanks in large part to their torrid shooting. The Gators shot 61% for the game including 12-25 from the 3-point line.
ASU (21-13) would answer back however and ended the half down only 6. Freshman James Harden proved a difficult match-up for Florida and finished with 18 points. However he picked up his fourth foul with roughly 8 minutes to go in the game, and was subsequently benched for the next four minutes. Harden talked about the pre-mature end to the season, as ASU fell one game short of advancing to the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Florida capitalized with Harden on the bench, and put the game away with key baskets down the stretch. Marreese Speights finished with a double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds while Walter Hodge led the Gators with 18 points including 4 3-pointers.
Much was made of the reunion of Florida head coach Billy Donovan and Sendek, however Sendek downplayed the coaching match-up between close friends, adding that it was difficult to compete against the well schooled Gators.
last updated on 08.03.26 at 12:59 AM