Boateng leads Arizona State past UCLA 56-46, boosts Sun Devils’ NCAA hopes

ASU beats UCLA 56-46, keeps NCAA hopes alive

TEMPE, Ariz. — Eric Boateng had 16 points, a career-high 14 rebounds and a career-best four blocked shots as Arizona State breathed a little more life into its NCAA tournament hopes with a wire-to-wire 56-46 victory over UCLA on Saturday.

The 6-foot-10 senior had a layup, two blocked shots and consecutive offensive rebounds on a late possession for Arizona State.

The Sun Devils (22-9, 12-6) already had wrapped up the No. 2 seed in next week’s Pac-10 tournament. Their shot at a Pac-10 co-championship ended when California beat Stanford on Saturday.

Arizona State raced to a 13-0 lead and UCLA never caught up.

Nikola Dragovic and Malcolm Lee scored 15 apiece for the Bruins (13-17, 8-10), who are, barring some miracle finish, headed for their third losing season since 1947-48.