Men's hoops notes as team heads to Boulder and Salt Lake City

January 17, 2012

@SunDevilHoops Game Notes For Colorado/Utah Road Trip

BACK ON THE ROAD
Sixth-year Sun Devil coach Herb Sendek and the Arizona State men's hoops team (6-11; 2-3 in Pac-12) makes it initial Pac-12 treks to Boulder and Salt Lake City this week. On Thursday (Jan. 19) at 6:30 p.m. the Sun Devils take on the Colorado Buffaloes with ROOT Sports (DirecTV channel 683/Dish Network 414) on the call, while in a non-TV game Saturday (Jan. 21) ASU takes on the Utah Utes at 3 p.m. The Sun Devil Network (KTAR 620 AM locally) 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 Herb Sendek in his first five years. ASU was 8-22 in Coach Sendek's first year (2006-2007), but is 86-64 (.573) in past five and giving up just 61.9 ppg. in his 180 games as Sun Devil head coach. Six lettermen from last year are on the squad including 2010-11 All-Pac-10 second-team and first-team Pac-10 All-Academic performer Trent Lockett, who is battling an ankle injury suffered in the 76-66 win against Oregon State Saturday. Both Lockett (35.0/second) and Carrick Felix (34.7/third) rank in the top three in Pac-12 in minutes per game. After this weekend, ASU will have 7 of its final 11 games at home after starting Pac-12 play with five of its first seven on the road for the third time in four seasons.

NO SENIORS
Of the 338 Division I schools, ASU is one of just nine without a senior (per NCAA stats czar Gary Johnson). The other eight: Albany (N.Y.), Binghamton, UC Irvine, Illinois St., St. John's (NY), St. Joseph's, Savannah State and Toledo.

QUICK REVIEW
ASU lost a bunch of close games in a short span in mid-December and then had the tough task of starting Pac-12 play with three straight road games, but despite its 4-9 start has managed to split its past four games. In those four games, ASU is shooting .551 from the floor (92-167), 31-of-62 (.500) from the three-point stripe and is averaging just under 15 assists per game (59 total). It is also holding opponents to .453 from the field and just .297 from the three-point stripe in that time. Several Sun Devils are shooting well in that time, led by sophomore Chanse Creekmur who is 16-of-25 (.640) from the field and 12-of-20 (.600) from the three-point stripe. Junior Trent Lockett is shooting .605 (23-of-38), while junior Ruslan Pateev is 13-of-15 (.867) from the field and is averaging 7.8 points.

ON THE ROAD
ASU is 2-2 on the road and has outshot its four opponents from the field (.506 to .449) and the three-point stripe (.453 to .397). Freshman Jon Gilling is 11-of-19 (.579) from the field and 9-of-15 (.600) from the three-point stripe in the four true road games, while Ruslan Pateev is 12-of-18 (.667) from the floor.

REALLY GOOD NOTE
Coach Sendek has coached in 95 Pac-10/12 games as ASU coach and has coached the third-pick in the 2009 NBA Draft (James Harden), the nation's field goal percentage leader in 2009 (Jeff Pendergraph) 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 95-game 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.

BEST SHOOTING NIGHTS BY ASU IN PAC-10/12 GAME UNDER COACH SENDEK
.651/28-43 vs. Oregon State (Jan. 8, 2009)
.611/22-36 at USC (Jan. 5, 2012)
.600/24-40 vs. UCLA (Feb.12, 2009)
.592/29-49 vs. Oregon State (Jan. 14, 2012)

A CHANSE FOR MORE MINUTES
Sophomore Chanse Creekmurhas averaged a team-best 37.8 minutes per game in the past four 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 had averaged 19.1 minutes in his first 12 games of the season. After starting season 4-of-21 (.190) from the three-point stripe in his first seven games he is 22-of-41 (.537) in the past nine.

NEEDED THAT COMEBACK
Arizona State trailed Oregon State 34-31 at the half on Jan. 14 and had lost 23 of previous 24 when trailing at the half, as it was 1-17 last year and 0-6 in 2011-12. The 76-66 win over the Beavers marked the first time ASU had come back from a halftime deficit since Dec. 23, 2010, when it trailed North Carolina A&T 29-23 but came back and won 56-50. It marked the 10th time ASU had come back when down at the half in a conference game in Coach Sendek's six seasons, and the first time it had done so since a Feb. 25, 2010, 68-60 win at Stanford after trailing 35-28.

NOTES FROM WIN OVER OREGON STATE
ASU posted a season-high 22 assists and got career highs from sophomores Chanse Creekmur (24 points) and Kyle Cain (16 points) in its 76-66 win over Oregon State on Jan. 14...ASU improved to 23-12 against Oregon State in Tempe since it joined the Pac-10 in 1978-79. It is its most wins in Tempe against any team...Cain also had career-highs in field goals made (eight) and attempted (13) in 24 minutes off the bench...Creekmur career-high 24 points (previous high was 18 vs. Washington State on Feb. 18, 2011) included six three-pointers (on just seven attempts) as he was 8-of-9 from the field and matched his career high with 39 minutes...freshman Jonathan Gilling played a career-high 34 minutes...junior Trent Lockettmatched his career high with four steals despite playing only 24 minutes as he sprained his ankle and had to leave the game in the second half...ASU shot .592 from the field (29-of-49), the fourth-best shooting percentage in a Pac-10/12 game under Coach Sendek...Arizona State matched season highs with nine three-pointers, 45 second-half points and 22 bench points...Coach Sendek is now 8-3 vs. Oregon State in his six years at Arizona State...the overall series between ASU and OSU is now tied through 78 games.

MORE MINUTES COMING HIS WAY
Junior Carrick Felixplayed 39 minutes vs. Oregon State Saturday after playing 38 minutes vs. Oregon, as he is now averaging 36.6 minutes per game in Pac-12 contests. Felix has played at least 34 minutes in 13 games this year.

RUSLAN SHOWING SOME IMPROVEMENT
Junior Ruslan Pateevmatched a career-high with 31 minutes vs. Oregon on Jan. 12 (also had 31 minutes vs. California on Jan. 8, 2011) and matched season-bests with six rebounds and three assists. Pateev, who entered the season 23-of-42 (.548) from the free throw line, is 18-of-21 (.857 from the charity stripe this year. In the past four games he is shooting 13-of-15 (.867) from the field and is averaging 7.8 points.

GILLING AND ABLE
Freshman Jonathan Gilling continues to impress with his passing ability. He posted five assists and just one turnover in 26 minutes vs. Oregon on Jan. 12. He is second on the team in assists in the past six games with 22 (with just 10 turnovers and just one behind Trent Lockett's23) and he is averaging 29.5 minutes and 7.7 points and is 11-of-25 (.440) from the three-point stripe in that time.

WHEN THEY DO SHOOT IT, THEY SEEM TO MAKE IT
ASU is now 46-8 (.852) under Coach Sendek in games where it shoots 50 percent.

OFF THE BENCH
Not only was Kyle Cain's16 points vs. Oregon State on Jan. 14 a career high, it tied for the seventh-most points off the bench by a Sun Devil in the Coach Sendek era.

MOST POINTS OFF THE BENCH BY A SUN DEVIL IN COACH SENDEK ERA
22, Rihards Kuksiks vs. Oregon (Mar. 3, 2011)
18, Christian Polk vs. Arizona (Feb. 25, 2007)
18, Christian Polk vs. Washington (Feb. 1, 2007)
17, Rihards Kuksiks vs. Arizona (Feb. 21, 2010)
17, Trent Lockett vs. Texas State (Nov. 16, 2009)
17, Jerren Shipp vs. Xavier (Dec. 15, 2007)
16, Kyle Cain vs. Oregon State (Jan. 14, 2012)
16, Derek Glasser vs. North Carolina A&T (Dec. 21, 2006)

VS. COLORADO
Colorado and Arizona State have met just four times on the hardwood and the series is even, with the last meeting taking place in Boulder on Dec. 12, 1968, as CU won 112-81...ASU won in Tempe the previous season 83-79 on Dec. 16, 1967...fourth-ranked ASU lost a 92-70 game in Boulder on Dec. 16, 1963, while ASU defeated sixth-ranked Colorado 71-53 on Dec. 21, 1962 in Tempe...that win over sixth-ranked Colorado was ASU's first defeat of a ranked team in Sun Devil history...Coach Sendek has never faced the Buffaloes in his 19-year career and Colorado is not one of the 26 states where he has won a game.

VS. UTAH
ASU records have the Utes on top of the Sun Devil series 25-17 in an old Border Conference and Western Athletic Conference rivalry that dates to the early 1960s...the teams have not met since the 2002-03 season, when they actually met twice, with ASU winning an 83-79 double overtime game in the Maui Invitational on Nov. 27, 2002 and then the Utes beating ASU in Salt Lake City 79-55 on Dec. 7...ASU also beat NCAA Tournament bound Utah 71-62 at America West Arena in Phoenix on Dec. 4, 2001...current ASU radio analyst Kyle Doddplayed in all three of those games...ASU has lost five straight at Salt Lake City, but you have to go back to the 1981-82 season for a SLC meeting prior to the 2002-03 game...Coach Sendek has never coached against the Utes...Utah is one of the 26 states where Coach Sendek has earned a head coaching victory, as his NC State squad won at BYU 72-61 on Dec. 21, 2004.

SHARING THE BALL
ASU notched 22 assists vs. Oregon State on Jan. 14, tied for the third-most in a Pac-10/12 game in Coach Sendek's six years on the job. Only twice has ASU had more assists in a Pac-10 game, as it had 24 vs. Oregon State in the final regular season game of 2011 (Mar. 5, 2011) and it had 23 vs. Stanford on Jan. 30, 2010. Eight of the nine players who saw action notched an assist. Trent Lockett had seven in just 24 minutes, Chris Colvin had six in 13 minutes while Carrick Felix added four.

MOST ASSISTS BY ASU IN PAC-10/12 GAME UNDER COACH SENDEK
24 vs. Oregon State (Mar. 5, 2011)
23 vs. Stanford (Jan. 30, 2010)
22 vs. Oregon State (Jan. 14, 2012)
22 vs. Oregon @Pac-10 (March 9, 2011)
22 vs. Washington State (Jan. 10, 2010)
22 vs. UCLA (Feb. 12, 2009)
22 vs. Oregon State (Jan. 8, 2009)
22 at Stanford (Jan. 2, 2009)
22 at California (Jan. 17, 2008)

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