Men's hoops off to Seattle, Pullman

ASU Game Notes For Washington Road Trip (Feb. 14, 2012)

SUN DEVILS BACK ON ROAD
Sixth-year Sun Devil coach Herb Sendek and the Arizona State men's hoops team (8-17; 4-9 in Pac-12) hits the road in Pac-12 play for the final time in 2011-12 with games at Washington (Thursday, Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. PT on FOX Sports Net) and Washington State (Saturday, Feb. 18 at 5 p.m. PT on ROOT Sports Northwest). The Sun Devil Network (KTAR 620 AM Saturday) 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 88-70 (.557) in past five and giving up just 62.1 ppg. in his 188 games as Sun Devil head coach. Last week 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.

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.

600
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.

LOCKETT FACTOR
Junior Trent Lockettleads ASU in scoring (13.6), rebounding (6.3), minutes per game (34.9), field goals made (86) and three-point percentage (.447)....and don't stop reading. He also has made (69) and attempted (98) more free throws than any other Sun Devil, has the third-most assists (42), most steals (29) and is the only Sun Devil with more than 35 career starts (63) and more than 75 games (81).

MORE ON LACK OF TRENT
ASU missed Trent Lockett'splay 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 .469 from the field in the 19 games he has played, but just .408 without...three-point shooting has tailed off as well, as ASU was at a .284 clip without him but is at .377 with him...ASU outrebounds opponents by 3.6 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 62.8 ppg. with him...defensively ASU held opponents to .410 from the field with him, but that digit went up to .462 without.

JORDAN PLAYING WELL
Sophomore Jordan Bachynskiscored a career-high 20 in Feb. 2 loss at Stanford, and if you take a look at the past seven games his improvement is solid. His 9.7 points per game leads the team in the past seven games, and all of his stats compared to the first 18 games are off the chart good. A huge 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.

PAST SEVEN GAMES/FIRST 18 GAMES FOR JORDAN
POINTS PER GAME: 9.7/2.8
FIELD GOAL PCT: 23-34 (.676)/18-39 (.462)
FREE THROW SHOOTING: 22-35 (.629)/12-34 (.353)
REBOUNDS PER GAME: 6.7/2.5

GILLING PAC-12 MINUTES/OVERALL THREES
Jonathan Gillingis averaging 32.6 minutes per game in Pac-12 play. That currently ranks fifth in Sun Devil freshmen history and there are some Sun Devil studs in front of him. Gilling also has made 37 three-pointers on the year, already 10th-best by an ASU freshman in school history.

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. Jonathan Gilling, 2011-12 (32.6)
6. Derek Glasser, 2006-07 (32.2)
7. Jamal Faulkner, 1990-91 (32.1)

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. James Harden, 2007-08, 44
5. Gee Gervin, 1996-97, 44
5. Jeremy Veal, 1994-95, 44
8. Stevin Smith, 1990-91, 40
9. Kenny Crandall, 1998-99, 39
10. Jonathan Gilling, 2011-12, 37

GILLING NOTES
Freshman Jonathan Gillingis second on the team in assists in the past 16 games with 42 (with just 26 turnovers) and he is averaging 29.9 minutes, 8.3 points and is 32-of-80 (.400) from the three-point stripe in that time...after playing a career-high 39 minutes vs. Washington Jan. 26 he played 38 vs. Washington State Jan. 28. He averaged 8.8 minutes in the first eight games but is at 8.3 points in his past 16 games...had season-high seven assists in win over Washington State on Jan. 28 after posting season highs in points (20) and minutes (39) against Washington on Jan. 26...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 Felixnotched 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).

COLVIN NOTES
Junior Chris Colvin played all 40 minutes vs. Washington State on Jan. 28 for the first time in his career and notched a season-best 16 points and had six rebounds...against Oregon State on Jan. 14 after Trent Lockettwent 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 (sealing the win) and had five assists and just one turnover...on Jan. 19 at Colorado in his first start since Nov. 27 Colvin was 6-of-11 from the floor and had 15 points in 31 minutes...had seven assists and 10 points vs. Washington (Jan. 26).

RUSLAN NUMBERS
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 21-of-30 (.700) from the charity stripe this year. In the past 11 games he is shooting 29-of-45 (.644) 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.

CHANSE FOR MORE MINUTES
Sophomore Chanse Creekmurhas averaged 29.8 minutes per game in the past 12 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 26-of-73 (.356) in the past 16. 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 Lockettis 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).

CAIN ABLE AT FREE THROWS
One year ago, freshman Kyle Cainwent 11-of-25 (.440) from the free throw line on the season. 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 33-of-44 (.750) this year from the charity stripe. He is averaging 5.9 rebounds (5.5 last year) and 8.4 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.

THIS ISN'T NORMAL
ASU is averaging a Pac-12 high 16.8 turnovers per game, 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 was best at 11.4) and averaged 11.6 turnovers in final 15 games. It averaged 11.9 in 2009-10 (first in the league). ASU took a step vs. Tulsa as it had just 14 for the victory. 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: 16.8
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)