Arizona State 72, #7 Stanford 68 (OT) – It was a seesaw game out west last night, with both Stanford and Arizona State overcoming double-digit deficits in the second half. James Harden led the way for the Sun Devils down the stretch, tying the game with six seconds left in regulation and carrying his team to an overtime victory in front of the home crowd. A huge rebound from little-used Duke transfer Eric Boateng helped ASU milk the clock at the end of OT, and he sealed things up at the line with two seconds to go. The loss drops the Trees a half-game behind UCLA heading into this weekend’s action.

#10 Butler 89, Youngstown State 73 – The Bulldogs just keep marching on, this time cruising to a victory against the over-matched Penguins. A.J. Graves scored 15 points in the contest — all coming from the field— and grabbed five boards in the winning effort. This now marks the second-straight year that Butler has started the season 23-2, and with only five games left in Horizon League play, the Bulldogs could sew up the conference title by next weekend.

#20 Washington State 70, Oregon State 57 – There’s bad, there’s abysmal, and then there’s Oregon State. Wazzu ran all over the homestanding Beavers, who have lost 14 straight games, including all 12 of their Pac-10 contests. The Beavers’ quest for conference imperfection continues on Saturday against Washington before asskicking appointments with USC and UCLA next weekend. It’s safe to say at this point that the fans are ready for college baseball season in Corvallis.