Men's hoops game notes for State Farm Territorial Cup Game

Sun Devil Men's Hoops Notes For State Farm Territorial Cup Tilt Right Here...

--ASU Basketball looking at trio of guards to help next year (by Doug Haller, Arizona Republic/Feb. 25, 2012)
--Two Sun Devil Transfers play the Waiting Game (FOX Sports Arizona video feature/February, 2012)

SUN DEVILS HOST WILDCATS: Sixth-year Sun Devil coach Herb Sendek and the Arizona State men's hoops team (9-20; 5-12 in Pac-12) plays its final home game in the State Farm Territorial Cup Series vs. Arizona on Sunday, Mar. 4 at 1:30 p.m. MT on FOX Sports Net. The Sun Devil Network (KTAR 620 AM) provides the audio with Tim Healey and former ASU point guard Kyle Dodd on the call. After posting just three 20-win seasons in the previous 25 seasons, ASU posted three 20-win seasons under 2009-10 Pac-10 Coach of the Year Herb Sendek in his first five years. ASU was 8-22 in Coach Sendek's first year (2006-2007), but is 89-73 (.549) in past five and giving up just 62.2 ppg. in his 192 games as Sun Devil head coach. The past six games has marked the return of 2010-11 All-Pac-10 second-team and first-team Pac-10 All-Academic performer Trent Lockett, who battled an ankle injury suffered in the 76-66 win against Oregon State on Jan. 14 and missed six straight games. The game features the past two Pac-10 Coaches of the Year, as Sean Miller won the honor last year and Herb Sendek took home the honor in 2009-10, just the second Sun Devil head coach to do so. ASU will hope to get the services back of second-leading scorer Carrick Felix, who missed last week's UCLA/USC tilts with an illness. The last five State Farm Territorial Cup meetings at Wells Fargo Arena/Ned Wulk have been decided by an average of 8.8 points per game with three decided by five points or less and one overtime affair.

LOCKETT A 2011-2012 ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT SELECTION: Trent earned Capital One Academic All-District 8 honors in 2011-12. He was joined on the team by junior Matthew Dellavedova of Saint Mary's, senior Taylor Darby of Pepperdine, senior Wil Carter of San Jose State and senior Darin Mahoney of Weber State.

NO SENIORS: Of the 338 D-I schools, ASU is one of just nine without a senior. The others: Albany, Binghamton, UC Irvine, Illinois St., St. John's, St. Joseph's, Savannah St. and Toledo. MORE PROOF: It has been said that this year's turnovers for ASU is an anomaly based on its ranking in the Pac-10 and nationally the past few years with Derek Glasser and Jamelle McMillan handling the ball. Here is a nugget to back that fact up...in the previous two seasons combined, ASU averaged 12.05 turnovers in 64 games, the best mark in the league. Oregon was second at 12.47.

600/350: The Feb. 11 ASU-Colorado game was Coach Sendek's 600th game as a head coach. His first game was on Nov. 27, 1993, when the 30-year old mentor led Miami (Ohio) to 108-68 win over Mt. Vernon Nazarene in Oxford. Included on his staff that year were Georgia State head coach Ron Hunter and Arizona head coach Sean Miller. Coach Sendek also earned his 350th career win on Feb. 9 vs. Utah, as he is the second-youngest active coach with 350 Division I wins. He turned 49 on Feb. 22. Only Billy Donovan (395 career Division I wins entering this season) who was born on May 30, 1965, is younger in the 350-win category.

JORDAN: Sophomore Jordan Bachynski scored a career-high 20 in Feb. 2 game at Stanford and had 19 vs. USC on Feb. 26, and if you take a look at the past 11 games his improvement is solid as all of his stats compared to the first 18 games are off-the-chart good. One area of improvement is free throw shooting. He entered the Stanford Feb. 2 game 20-of-50 (.400) for the season and 40-of-90 (.444) in his career, but was 10-of-12 (.833) in that game. He has five double figure scoring games in those 11 games. Another good note on his free throw improvement is that in his past eight games, he is 27-of-39 (.692) at the charity stripe, in the first 21 games he was 20-of-50 (.400).

PAST 11 GAMES/FIRST 18 GAMES FOR JORDAN
POINTS PER GAME: 9.9/2.8
FIELD GOAL PCT: 37-57 (.649)/18-39 (.462)
FREE THROW SHOOTING: 35-55 (.636)/12-34 (.353)
REBOUNDS PER GAME: 6.5/2.5

GILLING PAC-12 MINUTES/OVERALL THREES: Jonathan Gilling is averaging 31.9 minutes in Pac-12 play. That currently ranks seventh in Sun Devil freshmen history and there are some Sun Devil studs in front of him. Gilling also has made 45 three-pointers on the year, already tied for eighth-best by an ASU freshman.

SUN DEVIL FRESHMEN MINUTES PER GAME PAC-10/12 GAMES
1. James Harden, 2007-08 (35.9)
2. Ty Abbott, 2007-08 (34.8)
3. Byron Scott, 1979-80 (34.2)
4. Ike Diogu, 2002-03 (33.3)
5. Derek Glasser, 2006-07 (32.2)
6. Jamal Faulkner, 1990-91 (32.1)
7. Jonathan Gilling, 2011-12 (31.9)

SUN DEVIL FRESHMEN THREE-POINTERS MADE
1. Ty Abbott, 2007-08, 76
2. Ron Riley, 1992-93, 66
3. Christian Polk, 2006-07, 64
4. Eddie House, 1996-97, 57
5. Jonathan Gilling, 2011-12, 45

USC SWEEP: ASU swept the season series vs. USC this year for the first time since 1994-95 with its 56-52 win on Feb. 25, as ASU held the Trojans without a field goal in the final 11:16.

GILLING NOTES: Freshman Jonathan Gilling in the past 20 games has 46 assists and is averaging 29.9 minutes, 8.4 points and is 40-of-102 (.392) from the three-point stripe...matched career-high with 39 minutes vs. UCLA on Feb. 23 and had 17 points...after playing career-high 39 minutes vs. Washington Jan. 26 and posting season-high 20 points he played 38 and had season-high seven assists in win over Wazzu on Jan. 28...averaged 8.8 minutes in the first eight games but is at 8.4 points in his past 20 games...has seven double-figure scoring efforts in past 16 games...posted five assists and just one turnover in 26 minutes vs. Oregon on Jan. 12...averaged 14.5 points on the USC/UCLA road trip and also had 12 at Colorado on Jan. 19...big-time good at UCLA on Jan. 7, notching 17 points, including 5-of-6 from the three-point stripe, in 34 minutes...12 points in 33 minutes along with four assists in the Jan. 5 win at USC.

CARRICK UPDATE: Junior Carrick Felix, who missed the past two games vs. UCLA and USC due to an illness, notched the fourth 20-point game of his career with 20 points vs. Washington State on Jan. 28. His career high is 22 vs. USC (Jan. 5, 2012), and he had 21 vs. Tulsa (Jan. 12, 2011) and 20 vs. New Mexico (Nov. 18, 2011).

ODD: A computer does the league slate and for the fourth straight season, ASU opened play on the road (68-51 loss in Tucson on New Year's Eve). ASU played five of its first seven league games on the road for the third time in four years, and the other year in that span (2009-10) it played four of first seven on the road. In its first seven games in past four seasons, ASU played 19 of its first 28 conference games on the road.

LACK OF TRENT HURT: ASU missed Trent Lockett's play for a six-game stretch (Jan. 19-Feb. 4) as he was sidelined with the ankle injury. The 1-5 record shows that, but here are some other nuggets that point it out...ASU is shooting .464 from the field in the 23 games he has played, but just .408 without...three-point shooting tailed off as well, as ASU was at a .284 clip without him but is at .381 with him...ASU outrebounds opponents by 3.4 boards per game with him, it was outrebounded by 4.1 without him...ASU is averaging 52.2 points per game with him in street clothes and is at 62.0 ppg. with him...defensively ASU holds opponents to .420 from the field with him, but that digit went up to .462 without...the Golden Valley, Minn., native leads ASU in scoring (13.0), rebounding (5.8), minutes per game (35.1) and three-point percentage (.417)....and don't stop reading. He also has made (83) and attempted (116) more free throws than any other Sun Devil, has the second-most assists (48), most steals (33) and is the only Sun Devil with more than 35 career starts (67) and more than 80 games (85).

COLVIN PLAYING WELL: Junior Chris Colvin had a season-high nine assists in the Feb. 23 UCLA loss to go along with 10 points and just three turnovers in 39 minutes. In his past 13 games Colvin is averaging 9.0 points (third on the team), 30.7 minutes and has 61 assists (4.7 per game) and is shooting .407 (11-of-27) from the three-point stripe. He has six double-figure scoring games in that time, including a career-best 18 at Washington State (Feb. 18), 16 vs. Washington State (Jan. 28) and 15 at Colorado (Jan. 19). He played all 40 minutes vs. Washington State on Jan. 28 for the first time in his career and notched 16 points and six rebounds in the Sun Devil win. Against Oregon State on Jan. 14 after Trent Lockett went down with an ankle injury, Colvin played 13 minutes (10 in the second-half). In those 10 minutes he was 6-of-8 from the free throw line and had five assists and just one turnover.

COLVIN FIRST 16 GAMES OF SEASON/PAST 12 GAMES
MINUTES PER GAME: 20.3/30.7
POINTS PER GAME: 4.9/9.0
FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE: .277 (18-65)/.440 (37-84)
THREE-POINT PERCENTAGE: .250 (5-20)/.407 (11-27)
ASSISTS PER GAME: 2.8/4.7
REBOUNDS PER GAME: 1.3/3.5

LINEUP: With its injuries and illnesses ASU used 11 starting lineups and 11 players made a start in 2010-11 and those numbers are at 11 again and eight this year...only player to see action in all 31 games last year was freshman Kyle Cain and no player has played in all 29 games this year...11 lineups past two seasons is most by the Sun Devils since 2003-04 team started 13 and tied for third-most in 19 seasons...1996-97 (11 lineups) and 1995-96 (12) teams under Bill Frieder also tried different options...each of ASU's top four scorers missed at least two games due to injury last year including leading scorer Trent Lockett missing the Oregon road trip where ASU fell at Oregon State but beat Oregon...ASU had its full compliment of players in just 10 of 18 Pac-10 tilts in 2010-11 and for just nine of 17 in 2011-12.

ASU STARTING LINEUPS 2011-12 (11)
Bachynski, Cain, Colvin, Felix, Gilling (0-2)
Bachynski, Cain, Colvin, Felix, Lockett (1-1)
Bachynski, Colvin, Creekmur, Gilling, Lockett (1-1)
Bachynski, Colvin, Felix, King, Lockett (1-0)
Bachynski, Cain, Felix, King, Lockett (1-0)
Bachynski, Colvin, Creekmur, Felix, Gilling (1-2)
Cain, Felix, King, Lockett, Pateev (1-4)
Cain, Colvin, Felix, King, Lockett (1-3)
Cain, Creekmur, Felix, King, Lockett (0-2)
Colvin, Creekmur, Felix, Gilling, Pateev (0-3)
Creekmur, Felix, Gilling, Pateev, Lockett (2-2)

THE SERIES: Herb Sendek is 6-6 vs. the Wildcats, including a 3-2 mark in Tucson and 2-4 in Tempe...UA has won 28 of the past 35, ASU has won six of the past 10...ASU swept UA in the regular season for the second straight time in 2008-09 and then topped the Wildcats in the Pac-10 Tournament for a five-game win streak against the state rival for the first time since a nine-game streak from 1979-83 prior to the 77-58 loss in Tempe on Jan. 23, 2010...prior to the five-game Sun Devil streak, UA had won 24 of 25 over the Sun Devils, with two 12-game Wildcat win streaks sandwiched around a Jan. 23, 2002, Sun Devil win in Tempe...ASU has held the Wildcats to 64.8 ppg. in 12 games under Herb Sendek and is 6-6, while in the 39 games prior (1987-88 season through 2005-06) UA had averaged 86.6 points and went 34-5...in its six wins over UA under Herb Sendek ASU has trailed at the half in four of the games...ASU had won three straight in Tucson prior to last year's 80-69 defeat on Jan. 15...ASU won four games over Arizona in Tempe in a 21-year period (4-17 from 1986-87 through 2006-07).

5 DAYS BEFORE GAME: The Sun Devils are now 15-8 (.652) in past five years when Herb Sendek and staff have at least five full days in between games, and seven of the wins have been against teams that would make the NCAA Tournament in that season (1-2 this season). Wins in 2009-10 included MWC Tournament champion San Diego State (five-game win streak at the time), home win over Pac-10 Tournament champ and No. 24 Washington and a win at Arizona. In 2008-09 the five-day layoff wins included ASU's first NCAA Tournament win since 2003 (over Temple), a win over Arizona (entered the game on seven-game win streak) and a neutral site win over a 10-0 BYU team that had a guy named Jimmer as a sophomore. In 2007-08, the wins included ASU's first win in Tucson in 13 seasons, an overtime win at California in which ASU was playing as a ranked team for the first time in 13 seasons and a 22-point win over #17 Xavier in December of 2007 that is ASU's largest victory margin over a ranked opponent in history.

RUSLAN: Junior Ruslan Pateev matched a career-high with 31 minutes vs. Oregon on Jan. 12 (also 31 minutes vs. California on Jan. 8, 2011) and matched season-bests with six rebounds and three assists. Pateev entered the season 23-of-42 (.548) from the free throw line but is 24-of-36 (.667) this year. In the past 15 games he is shooting 35-of-58 (.603) from the field.

CAN'T SHOW IT YET: The Sun Devils have two players who have shown the ability to make three-pointers on the D-I level, but unfortunately both of them have to watch the game in a polo shirt this year. Evan Gordon, a 6-3 guard, averaged 14.4 points per game as a sophomore at Liberty last year and made 112 three-pointers in his two-year Flames career. Bo Barnes, a 6-4 wing from Scottsdale Christian in Arizona, averaged 6.9 points per game at Hawaii in 2010-11 and was one of only two players to appear in all 32 games. He made more three-point field goals (57) than any freshman in school history and buried at least five three pointers in a game on four separate occasions. Both will be ready to go in 2012-13, along with top recruit Jahii Carson, a top-50 signee and top-10 point guard from nearby Mesa, Ariz., who has to sit this year.

SOLID SHOOTING NIGHTS: Coach Sendek has coached for six years in the Pac-10/12 and has mentored the third-pick in the 2009 NBA Draft (James Harden), the nation's field goal percentage leader in 2009 (Jeff Pendergraph), the Pac-10's field goal percentage leader in 2010 (Eric Boateng) and the first player in Sun Devil history with 1,000 points and 500 assists (Derek Glasser). With none of those players on this roster, ASU has managed to chalk up the second- and fourth-best shooting nights in his Pac-10/12 tenure. It shot .611 from the floor against USC on Jan. 5 and then shot .592 vs. Oregon State on Jan. 14.

COACH OF YEAR: The Pac-12 has five current coaches who have earned Pac-10 Coach of the Year. Herb Sendek earned it in 2009-10, while Sean Miller (2010-11), Lorenzo Romar (2008-09 and 2004-05) and Ben Howland (2005-06) earned kudos at their school. Mike Montgomery did it four times at Stanford (2003-04, 2002-03, 1999-2000 and 1998-99).

CHANSE FOR MORE MINUTES: Sophomore Chanse Creekmur has averaged 28.6 minutes per game in the past 16 games, as he played career-high 39 vs. Oregon State, 36 vs. Oregon, a career-high 39 at UCLA (Jan. 7) and 37 at USC (Jan. 5). He averaged 19.1 minutes in his first 12 games of the season. After starting season 4-of-21 (.190) from the three-point stripe he is since 32-of-82 (.390). He had a career-high 24 in the Jan. 14 Oregon State win and also had 15 vs. Northern Arizona on Dec. 17.

BEST HOOPS S/A IN PAC-12?: Take it all into consideration...he was accepted into Barrett Honors College, CoSIDA District VIII All-Academic pick in 2011-12, second-team All-Pac-10in 2010-11, first-team Pac-10 All-Academic pick in 2010-11, two solid seasons....it is hard to not say Trent Lockett is the best men's hoops student-athlete in the Pac-12. He is only first-team Pac-10 All-Academic pick from last year who earned All-Pac-10 honors. He averaged 13.4 points last year en route to All-Pac-10 second-team honors, and his return means he is one of just four All-Pac-10 players returning from the 15-man 2010-11 squad. Others are Jorge Gutierrez (Cal/14.6), Jared Cunningham (Oregon State/14.2) and Harper Kamp (Cal/14.2).

ODD STREAK: ASU started 4-8 with nine games decided by six points or less (3-6). A December streak was bizarre, as four straight games between Dec. 10-21 were decided by three points or less. ASU was 1-3 in that span, and for three straight games the tilt was decided on a three-pointer at under a second. It beat North Dakota State on Dec. 10 60-57 on full-court pass and three-pointer by Carrick Felix at the buzzer. NAU drained a three with less than a second left on Dec. 17 to win 69-68, while Southern Miss hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer on Dec. 19. Entering Pac-12 play, ASU had played seven games of five points or less on the year (2-5), the other 11 teams in the league combined for 26. ASU had played just two games with a double-digit final margin, tied for fewest in Pac-12 after non-conference play. Six other Pac-12 teams played at eight games with double-digit final margins in non-conference action.

CAIN ABLE AT FREE THROWS: One year ago, freshman Kyle Cain went 11-of-25 (.440) from the free throw line. On Dec. 10 vs. North Dakota State he almost matched last year's overall made free throw total in one game as he was 10-of-14 (.714) in the 60-57 win. As a sophomore he is now 36-of-48 (.750) this year from the charity stripe. He is averaging 5.6 rebounds and 7.7 points (5.4 last year). He has two double-doubles this season with 14 points/13 boards vs. North Dakota State (Dec. 10) and 14 points/10 boards vs. Nevada (Dec. 7). He posted a career-high 18 points at California on Feb. 4 and had 16 points in Jan. 14 win over Oregon State.

NOT NORMAL: ASU is averaging a Pac-12 high 16.6 turnovers, and that is unusual for a Coach Sendek team. ASU finished tied for second in the Pac-10 in fewest turnovers per game at 12.2 last year (USC best at 11.4). It averaged 11.9 in 2009-10 (first in the league). It had a season-low 10 vs. Fresno State, but Fresno committed just nine. The Sun Devils forced a season-high 18 turnovers vs. Washington State on Jan. 28, and also had less turnovers than their opponent for the only time this season, as it had had 16 turnovers.

SUN DEVIL TURNOVERS PER GAME UNDER COACH SENDEK
2011-12: 16.6
2010-11: 12.2 (t2nd for fewest in Pac-10)
2009-10: 11.9 (1st in Pac-10)
2008-09: 11.5 (2nd in Pac-10/15th in nation)
2007-08: 12.6 (t3rd in Pac-10)
2006-07: 14.5 (7th in Pac-10)

CARRICK UPDATE: Last year Carrick Felixmade 9-of-44 (.205) three-pointers, but this year he hit the game-winner with 1.8 seconds on the clock on Dec. 10 vs. North Dakota State, which was his 13th on the year and he is 37-of-116 (.319). He had monster game at USC on Jan. 5 in 62-53 win with 22 points in 39 minutes on 8-of-12 shooting and is shooting .735 (50-of-68) from the free throw line and has 15 double-figure scoring games, including a 20-point effort vs. New Mexico on Nov. 18. Felix, a junior college transfer last year as a sophomore, saw action in 30 games last year and showed great flashes but was sidelined by illness in the middle of year that basically cut his season in half. He played 39 minutes vs. Oregon State (Jan. 14) after playing 38 minutes vs. Oregon (Jan. 12)

MORE LOCKETT: Junior Trent Locketthurt his ankle in the Jan. 14 win over Oregon State but he had eight points, seven assists, five boards and four steals in 24 minutes...missed six games with bum ankle but returned for Utah win on Feb. 9...23 points in 40-minute effort on Jan. 12 vs. Oregon...played 39 minutes and had 19 points (on 7-of-9 shooting, nine boards, four assists and three steals in 62-53 win at USC on Jan. 7...19 points and career-high 12 rebounds vs. DePaul on Nov. 27 in Orlando...20 points and 10 boards vs. Wake Forest on Nov. 25...posted a double-double vs. Montana State (17 and 10) and 23 points and nine boards vs. Pepperdine on Nov. 15...finished last season with 22 points in the Pac-10 Tournament as he made his first 10 shots vs. Oregon on March 9...had a then career-high 22 points in 2010-11 season opener at New Mexico (Nov. 16) and two of his dunks placed him No. 2 on SportsCenter's Top-10 that night...earned 2010-11 second-team All-Pac-10 honors...had a career-high 24 points vs. Weber State on Nov. 26, 2010, in Alaska...also had 20 points at Washington on Jan. 22 and then had 20 in 71-69 Washington State win on Feb. 19...native of Golden Valley, Minn....comes from one of the top high school programs in the country (Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, Minn.)...earned a spot on the five-man Pac-10 All-Freshman Team in 2009-10.

TRENT'S EIGHT CAREER 20-POINT SCORING GAMES
24 vs. Weber State (Nov. 26, 2010)
23 vs. Oregon (Jan. 12, 2012)
23 vs. Pepperdine (Nov. 15, 2011)
22 vs. Oregon @Pac-10 Tournament (Mar. 9, 2011)
22 at New Mexico (Nov. 16, 2010)
20 vs. Wake Forest @Orlando (Nov. 25, 2011)
20 vs. Washington State (Feb. 19, 2011)
20 at #20 Washington (Jan. 22, 2011)

PAC-10 COACH OF YEAR: Herb Sendek became the second Sun Devil to earn Pac-10 Coach of the Year in ASU's first 32 Pac-10 seasons in 2009-10 (Ned Wulk/1978-79). What is even more eye opening is the 30 years between Sun Devil winners. That is nothing new as his 2003-04 ACC honor was NC State's first in 15 seasons (Jim Valvano/1988-89). HERB PAC-10 NOTE: ASU's second-place Pac-10 finish in 2009-10 matched ASU's best in its three-plus decades of Pac-10 play and its 12 wins were the most since 1994-95. ASU has notched at least 11 Pac-10 wins eight times, Herb Sendekhas done it in two of the past four seasons.

MOST SUN DEVIL WINS IN PAC-10 PLAY
1980-81, 16-2/2nd/Ned Wulk
1979-80, 15-3/2nd/Ned Wulk
2009-10, 12-6/2nd/Herb Sendek
1994-95, 12-6/3rd/Bill Frieder
1982-83, 12-6/T-3rd/Bob Weinhauer
2008-09, 11-7/T-3rd/Herb Sendek
2002-03, 11-7/4th/Rob Evans
1992-93, 11-7/T-3rd/Bill Frieder