Sun Devil hoops takes on Utah and Colorado at home

ASU basketball: Colvin hitting stride (by Doug Haller, Arizona Republic/Feb. 1, 2012)

SUN DEVILS AT HOME FOR FIVE OF FINAL SEVEN:
Sixth-year Sun Devil coach Herb Sendek and the Arizona State men's hoops team (7-16; 3-8 in Pac-12) plays at home for five of its final seven and hopes to have its own version of Mr. Do-It-All back on the court after a Jan. 14 injury. On Thursday (Feb. 9) at 6:30 MT the Sun Devils take on the Utah Utes (FoxSportsArizona.com webcast) while on Saturday (Feb. 11) ASU hosts the Colorado Buffaloes at 4:30 p.m. MT. The Sun Devil Network (860 AM Thursday and KTAR 620 AM Saturday) provides the audio, while Saturday both Fox Sports Arizona and ROOT Sports Rocky Mountain has TV broadcasts. 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 87-69 (.558) in past five and giving up just 62.1 ppg. in his 186 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 on Jan. 14 and has missed the past six games.

600:
Coach Sendek will be a head coach in his 600th game on Saturday. 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.

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.

LOCKETT FACTOR:
Junior Trent Lockettleads ASU in scoring (13.9), rebounding (6.4), minutes per game (35.0), field goals made (81) and three-point percentage (.424)....and don't stop reading. He also has made (60) and attempted (83) more free throws than any other Sun Devil, has the third-most assists (37), most steals (26) and is the only Sun Devil with more than 35 career starts (61) and more than 75 games (79).

MORE ON LACK OF TRENT:
ASU has missed Trent Lockett'splay the past six games as he has been sidelined with the ankle injury. The 1-5 record shows that, but here are some other nuggets that point it out...ASU is shooting .476 from the field in the 17 games he has played, but just .408 in the past six...three-point shooting has tailed off as well, as ASU is at a .284 clip wihtout him and was at .383 with him...ASU was outrebounding opponents by 3.1 boards per game with him, it is being outrebounded by 4.1 without him...ASU is averaging 52.2 points per game with him in street clothes and was at 64.0 ppg. with him...defensively ASU held opponents to .414 from the field with him, but that digit has gone up to .462 in the past six games.

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 five games his improvement is solid. His 11.0 points per game leads the team in the past five 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 FIVE GAMES/FIRST 18 GAMES FOR JORDAN
POINTS PER GAME: 11.0/2.8
FIELD GOAL PCT: 17-22 (.773)/18-39 (.462)
FREE THROW SHOOTING: 21-34 (.618)/12-34 (.353)
REBOUNDS PER GAME: 6.0/2.5

GIILLING PAC-12 MINUTES:
Jonathan Gillingis averaging 32.0 minutes per game in Pac-12 play. That currently ranks seventh in Sun Devil freshmen history and there are some Sun Devil studs in front of him.

SUN DEVIL FRESHMEN MINUTES PER GAMEPAC-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 (32.0)

GILLING NOTES:
Freshman Jonathan Gillingleads the team in assists in the past 14 games with 42 (with just 21 turnovers) and he is averaging 29.1 minutes, 8.2 points and is 27-of-66 (.409) from the three-point stripe in that time...after playing a career-high 39 minutes vs. Washington Thursday he played 38 vs. Washington State. He averaged 8.8 minutes in the first eight games but is at 8.2 points in past 14 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-29 (.724) from the charity stripe this year. In the past nine games he is shooting 25-of-38 (.658) from the field.

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.

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 32.6 minutes per game in the past 10 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 23-of-63 (.365) in the past 14. He had a career-high 24 in the Jan. 14 Oregon State win and also had 15 vs. Northern Arizona on Dec. 17.

SOME THINGS THAT STAND OUT IN PAC-12 STATS:
Freshman Jonathan Gillingis 32-of-80 (.400) from the three-point stripe on the year, which is tenth in overall Pac-12 stats and second among freshman...Carrick Felix ranks second in the league in overall games at 34.0 minutes per game...Gilling's .407 three-point percentage in Pac-12 games is ninth-best in the league and best by a freshman as is his 2.2 made threes per game (24 in 11 games) and his assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.7 (35 assists/21 turnovers) is seventh overall and best by a freshman.

VS. UTAH:
Back on Jan. 21 in Salt Lake City Utah jumped out to a 12-0 lead and led by as many as 28 in a 64-43 Sun Devil loss...Utah shot 21-of-40 (.525) from the field including .577 (15-of-26) in the first half en route to a 38-21 halftime lead...Carrick Felix led ASU with 13 points while Kyle Cain and Jordan Bachynski each added 10 points off the bench...ASU shot just. 386 (17-of-44) from the field and just 8-of-25 (.320) in the second half...ASU's 43 points is a season low as is its six free throws made and .462 free throw percentage (6-of-13)...ASU records have the Utes on top of the Sun Devil series 26-17 in an old Border Conference and Western Athletic Conference rivalry that dates to the early 1960s...the teams had 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 now lost six straight at Salt Lake City...Coach Sendek had never coached against the Utes prior to meeting earlier this season...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...Thursday will mark Utah's first visit to Tempe since a 60-58 Ute win on March 24, 1992 in the NIT.

VS. CU:
Colorado took control early and posted a 31-15 halftime lead over ASU back on Jan. 19 in Boulder en route to a 69-54 CU win...CU outrebounded ASU 34-22 and was 20-of-25 from the foul line compared to ASU's 6-of-9, as the six free throws made matches a Sun Devil season low...ASU's nine free throw attempts is a season low as was its 22 rebounds...ASU and CU have now met five times with the last meeting prior to this year 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...win over sixth-ranked Colorado was ASU's first defeat of a ranked team...Coach Sendek had never faced the Buffaloes in his 19-year career and Colorado is not one of the 26 states where he has won a game.

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.

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)

PLAYING THE SHARING GAME:
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 tenure. Only twice has ASU had more assists in a Pac-10 game, as it had 24 vs. Oregon State on March, 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 before getting hurt while Chris Colvin had six in 13 minutes while Carrick Felixadded four.

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).

COACH OF YEAR:
The Pac-12 has five current coaches who have earned Pac-10 Coach of the Year. Herb Sendekearned 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).

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 Felixat 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 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 6.0 rebounds (5.5 last year) and 8.7 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.

BEST SHOOTING NIGHTS BY ASU UNDER COACH SENDEK:
The 25-of-41 (.610) shooting at Tulsa on Dec. 3 was the best shooting night in a road tilt since a Jan. 17, 2004 clinic at USC, but ASU topped that on Jan. 5 this year with a 22-of-36 (.611) at USC, its best shooting performance in a road game in 84 road games. ASU also shot 32-of-54 (.593) vs. Wake Forest in Orlando. The marks are the best since it shot .613 vs. San Francisco on Nov. 20, 2009. Of the top 11 shooting games for ASU since Coach Sendek took over, four of them have happened this season.

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 33-of-101 (.327). 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 .734 (47-of-64) from the free throw line and has 12 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), as he is now averaging 34.0 minutes per game in Pac-12 contests. Felix has played at least 34 minutes in 15 games this year.

THIS ISN'T NORMAL:
ASU is averaging a Pac-12 high 16.4 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: 16.4
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)

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...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...has 43 double-figure scoring games...22-of-50 (.440) from the three-point stripe in past 27 games after starting last season 2-of-13...has led ASU in scoring 17 times in his career...led team in rebounding a team-best 13 times in 2010-11 and 21 times in career...has shared team lead or led team in assists 14 times...also earned first-team Pac-10 All-Academic honors in 2010-11.

OFF THE BENCH:
Not only was Kyle Cain's18 points at California a career high, it tied for the second-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, Kyle Cain at California (Feb. 4, 2012)
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)

PAC-10 COACH OF YEAR:
Herb Sendekbecame 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).

LINEUP:
With its injuries and illnesses ASU used 11 starting lineups and 11 players made a start in 2010-11...those numbers are at eight and eight this year...only player to see action in all 31 games last year was freshman Kyle Cain...11 lineups was most by the Sun Devils since 2003-04 team started 13 and tied for third-most in 18 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 five of 11 in 2011-12.