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TEMPE, Arizona (Ticker) -- Casey Jacobsen's hot shooting and Curtis Borchardt's inside presence gave 19th-ranked Stanford another win over Arizona State. Jacobsen scored 19 of his 28 points in the second half and Borchardt collected 19 and 17 rebounds for his 14th double-double of the season as the Cardinal held on for their ninth consecutive victory over Arizona State, 81-76, in a Pac-10 Conference contest. Jacobsen, who had 49 points in a 90-81 win for Stanford against the Sun Devils on January 31, shot 7-of-16 and made 14-of-18 foul shots. "I don't care if I make ten in a row or miss ten in a row," said Jacobsen. "I want the ball at the end of the game. In the end, I have more confidence in my shot because that's when your team needs you the most. Many games come down to free throws and we took advantage of it. "We would have liked to come into this weekend for a chance at the Pac-10 championship. But we didn't. These two wins were the most gratifying from a team standpoint because we really came together and beat two quality teams on the road." Much like the last meeting, the Cardinal (19-8, 12-6 Pac-10) had to stave of a pesky Sun Devils' team that refused to go away. Tommy Smith hit two free throws to erase a five-point deficit and give Arizona State a 47-46 lead with 12:47 left. But reserve Joe Kirchofer put back a rebound as the Cardinal started an 18-8 run, fueled by Jacobsen and Borchardt, to take a 64-55 lead with 7:07 left. The Sun Devils (14-13, 7-11) managed to fight back and trailed, 78-74 with 9.4 seconds left. Shawn Redhage, an 83 percent foul shooter, missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and two foul shots by Stanford guard Tony Giovacchini sealed the game. Arizona State was forced to foul down the stretch and Stanford converted 12-of-14 free throws over the final three minutes. The Cardinal made 25-of-29 from the line in the second half. The Sun Devils had difficulties throughout the contest from the line, shooting 12-of-24 in the second half and 20-of-36 overall. "I don't know how many free throws we shoot," Arizona State coach Rob Evans said. "We shoot tons. We shoot them every kind of way you can shoot them and I can't figure out what the problem is. We stayed and shot probably 200 free throws yesterday." "We can do it in practice," Arizona State forward Awvee Storey said. "But we need to do it when it counts. It was just an ugly game and we needed to win." Senior Chad Prewitt led Arizona State with 18 points in his final home game. The seventh-seeded Sun Devils will face No. 2 Arizona in the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 Tournament on Thursday. Arizona State concluded its regular-season by going 1-4 against five ranked teams. The Sun Devils lone win was a 69-68 triumph over then 23rd-ranked UCLA on February 16. Stanford is the fifth seed and faces No. 4 seed Southern California in Thursday's quarterfinal of the Pac-10 tournament. "We got a sweep on this trip and that's just spectacular," Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said. "We have 19 wins and the season is over. It really doesn't make a difference who we play in the tournament. Two through seven, it doesn't matter. There are no easy games in this conference." . |
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