STANFORD, Calif. -- Jeff Pendergraph found it much easier to go up against Stanford now that the Lopez twins are in the NBA instead of prowling the lane at Maples Pavilion.
Pendergraph scored 21 of his career-high 31 points on a variety of dunks and layups in the first half and No. 17 Arizona State handed Stanford its first loss of the season, 90-60 on Friday night in the Pac-10 opener for both teams.
"It's a big difference. Those guys are 7 feet tall and they were two of them," Pendergraph said. "That's 14 feet of monsters that's gone."
Despite losing shot-blocking phenoms Brook and Robin Lopez to the NBA after last season, the Cardinal (10-1) came into the game as one of six unbeaten teams remaining in Division I. But their soft nonconference schedule raised questions as to whether undefeated or untested was a better description for Stanford heading into the Pac-10 season.
Pendergraph helped answer that question quickly by dominating on the inside to help the Sun Devils (12-1) overcome a scoreless first half by Pac-10 scoring leader James Harden and extend the best start for the school since going 15-1 in 1974-75.
"We came out pretty intense today," said Pendergraph, who made 13 of his 14 baskets on layups or dunks. "We knew we would face a really good Stanford team. They were undefeated. You don't go 10 games without losing for no reason. We knew this was going to be a big-time game. We knew we would have to step up our intensity."
Facing their first ranked opponent of the season, the Cardinal couldn't handle the step up in competition and were handed their most lopsided loss ever in the series and biggest Pac-10 loss since a 90-58 defeat to Arizona in 1998.
That leaves No. 1 North Carolina, No. 3 Pittsburgh, No. 6 Wake Forest, No. 20 Clemson and Illinois State as the only undefeated teams in the country.
"That was a team tragedy," forward Lawrence Hill said. "We've been putting on a front. We put on a swagger like we're going to be a good team but that's not going to happen if we don't play Stanford basketball."
Harden, who came into the game averaging 23.7 points, missed his first five shots but ended up with 17 points to go with a career-high tying 10 assists.
Pendergraph scored the first basket of the game and didn't slow down the rest of the half. In one stretch, he scored all 13 points for Arizona State during a 13-4 run that gave the Sun Devils a 36-20 lead. He got two dunks off nice feeds from Harden, who played in a distributor role.
"The thing he did was he found open teammates when we pressured him and brought help to contain him," first-year Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins said. "He found the right guys. That's what he does. He's a terrific player."
The Sun Devils led 43-30 at halftime, shooting 60 percent while holding the Cardinal to just 38.7 percent from the field and 1-of-11 from 3-point range. The deficit didn't get below double figures the rest of the way.
Derek Glasser scored 13 points for the Sun Devils, who have won eight straight since an early season loss to Baylor. Pendergraph added 11 rebounds and finished 14-for-19 from the field.
Arizona State won for just the second time in its last 11 trips to Maples Pavilion and has now won two straight overall in the series after losing 18 of 20 to the Cardinal.
Hill led Stanford with 14 points. The Cardinal shot just 37.5 percent for the game, including 2-for-18 from 3-point range.
"It was a very difficult start for us," Dawkins said. "I feel like we were always fighting uphill based on how we got started. That's hard to do. You have to come out right from the tip ready to go. I thought they were and I didn't think we were."
