Win your home games and split on the road. If that’s all you’re looking for, then Arizona State did just fine this weekend. Too bad a key Sun Devil has lost his shooting touch. Who’s gone cold for ASU?

James Harden finds Jeff Pendergraph for yet another assist against Stanford.

Last Week (1-1, 12-2 overall; 1-1 Pac-10): 90-60 W at Stanford, 81-71 L at Cal

What Did We Learn: In case we may have forgotten, it’s damn hard to win on the road in the Pac-10. A gritty loss against Cal shouldn’t take away from Friday’s blowout of then-undefeated Stanford. Arizona State still has an excellent chance to finish above .500 on the road in the Pac-10 and win 11 or 12 games in the conference. But the Sun Devils need to get off to better starts in games if they hope to compete for the Pac-10 title and keep fans from biting their fingernails leading up to Selection Sunday.

We also learned that Ty Abbott is in a funk. Offensively he seems out of rhythm this year, and he also made a killer defensive error late in the Cal game when he fouled Jerome Randle — a deadly three-point shooter. The resulting four-point play pushed the lead to six and effectively put the game out of reach. He totaled just eight points, three rebounds and zero three pointers in two games in the Bay Area. He’s shooting just 28 percent from long range this year. That needs to improve quickly in Pac-10 play.

Star of the Week: Despite two excellent games from the increasingly consistent Jeff Pendergraph, James Harden continues to amaze ASU fans and make NBA scouts drool. He averaged 21.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists over the weekend. His playmaking created a bevy of easy dunks for Pendergraph against Stanford. Appreciate him while he’s here, because it may be a long while before a better ASU hoopster comes along.

What’s Next: Oregon State comes calling Thursday night at 8:30, and the Sun Devils host Oregon Saturday at noon.

The Beavers are suddenly psuedo-dangerous after knocking off USC Sunday night (kinda like football, right?). Hopefully the Sun Devils will be hungry to shake off the Cal loss, but they will need to stop OSU guard Calvin Haynes. He’s averaging 18 points per game and helped the Beavers snap a 23-game Pac-10 losing streak vs. USC. Just in case you’re the last sports fan in the nation not to know, OSU head coach Craig Robinson is the older brother of Michelle Obama. No word on whether Michelle and Barack will be in the house.

After getting swept by the L.A. schools over the weekend, Oregon is just 6-8 this year and letting up 77 points per game. This is exactly the kind of game ASU needs to start well, and hopefully put the Ducks away early.

What’s Your Take, Sun Devils?
Have any insights to add from this weekend’s games? Let us know in the comments below.

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