Arizona State pulled out all the stops Thursday night, wearing its 1960s throwback uniforms and debuting stylish gold and black James Harden model shoes.
It might have taken Harden returning from the NBA, though, for the Sun Devils to upset No. 5 UCLA, even with a home-court boost from the first sellout (10,176) in two years at Wells Fargo Arena.
The Sun Devils were much more competitive than in a 22-point loss in Los Angeles on Jan. 19 – ultimately, shooting from 5 feet or less will trump shooting from 21 feet and beyond. The much-taller Bruins (25-3, 12-3 Pac-12) had a Paul Bunyan-esque edge in rebounding (49-30) and points in the paint (50-22) in their 87-75 victory.