Even star freshman James Harden couldn't save the Sun Devils on this weekend.

Hindered by a groin injury, Harden seemed to tire in the second half of Arizona State's 72-61 loss to Washington. He had 13 points in the first 12 minutes, then only four more on 1-for-3 shooting in the second half.

"With that kind of injury," Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said, "it only gets worse when you get tired."

Two days later against Washington State, Harden had the ball and a chance to win the game. He drove to the hoop and got neither the basket nor a call from officials, and WSU escaped with a 56-55 win.

"I wanted the ball," said Harden, whose 25-point effort was his 10th 20-point game of the season. "Coach drew up the play. We just didn't come up with the victory. I didn't come up with it."

Harden came up with almost everything else, adding five rebounds, four assists and three steals from his guard position.

The Sun Devils have lost three in a row since a 14-1 start, and coach Herb Sendek didn't take this one lying down.

"We got James, who's having a terrific half, going hard to the basket," Sendek said. "He got two feet in the paint. He was at the rim. You guys saw what I saw."

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