Men's hoops hosts Washington schools

ASU Jan. 24 Men's Hoops Release

--Sun Devils to Honor Fat Lever on Thursday At Halftime
--For ASU updated stats in HTML format click here
--ASU basketball: Gilling paying off for Sun Devils (by Doug Haller, Arizona Republic/Jan. 13, 2012)
--Shorthanded ASU tops USC for first win in Galen Center (by Doug Haller, Arizona Republic/Jan. 5, 2012)
--Sun Devils sign three Arizona prep student-athletes in fall signing period
--Coach Sendek still the nation's leader in former assistants now D-I coaches with nine
--Felix embracing defensive role for ASU (by Jack Magruder, FOXSportsArizona.com/Dec. 15, 2011)
--Development of Creekmur can help solve long-range woes (by Doug Haller, Arizona Republic/Dec. 17, 2011)

HOME FOR SEVEN OF FINAL 11
Sixth-year Sun Devil coach Herb Sendek and the Arizona State men's hoops team (6-13; 2-5 in Pac-12) hosts the Washington schools this weekend and hopes to have its own version of Mr. Do-It-All back on the court. On Thursday (Jan. 26) at 6:30 p.m. the Sun Devils take on the Washington Huskies while on Saturday (Jan. 28) ASU plays host to the Washington State Cougars 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, and FOX Sports Arizona has the TV broadcast with Daron Sutton and Tom Kuyper 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 86-66 (.576) in past five and giving up just 62.0 ppg. in his 182 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 and missed both games last weekend on the CU/Utah road trip. Both Lockett (35.0/second) and Carrick Felix (34.0/fourth) rank in the top four in Pac-12 in minutes per game. ASU now has 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.

HOW IMPORTANT IS LOCKETT?
Statistically, junior Trent Lockett leads the Sun Devils in scoring (13.9), minutes per game (35.0), field goals made (81) and three-point percentage (.424)....and don't stop reading I am not done yet. He also has made (60) and attempted (83) more free throws than any other Sun Devil, has the most rebounds (109), most assists (49), most steals (26) and is the only Sun Devil with more than 35 career starts (61) and more than 70 games played (79).

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.

GETTING OLD
A computer spits out the league slate annually, and it obviously likes Sparky on the road. For the fourth straight season, ASU opened league play on the road with its 68-51 loss in Tucson on New Year's Eve. ASU played five of its first seven Pac-12 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. So that means in its first seven games in four conference seasons counting this year, ASU played 19 of its first 28 on the road in conference play (.679 of the time).

BUT 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.

CHRIS SHOWED SOMETHING
Junior guard Chris Colvin's last three games have been a step in the right direction. Against Oregon State on Jan. 24 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 (sealing the win) and had five assists and just one turnover to go with two rebounds. Thursday (Jan. 19) at Colorado in his first start since Nov. 27 Colvin was 6-of-11 from the floor and had a season-high 15 points in 31 minutes. He had six assists in 32 minutes on Saturday at Utah (Jan. 21).

RUSLAN SHOWING SOME IMPROVEMENT
Junior Ruslan Pateev matched 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-22 (.818) from the charity stripe this year. In the past five games he is shooting 15-of-22 (.682) from the field.

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 leads the team in assists in the past seven games with 24 (with just 12 turnovers) and he is averaging 30.4 minutes, 7.6 points and is 16-of-38 (.421) from the three-point stripe in that time. He averaged 14.5 points on the USC/UCLA road trip and also had 12 at Colorado on Jan. 19. He was very good at UCLA on Jan. 7, notching 17 points, including 5-of-6 from the three-point stripe, in a career-high 34 minutes. He had 12 points in 33 minutes along with four assists in the Jan. 5 win at USC.

CHANSE FOR MORE MINUTES
Sophomore Chanse Creekmur has averaged a team-best 36.1 minutes per game in the past six 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-48 (.458) in the past 10. He had a career-high 24 in the Jan. 21 Oregon State win and also had 15 vs. Northern Arizona on Dec. 17.

HOW WELL HAS THE SHOOTING BEEN RECENTLY?
Coach Sendek has coached in 97 Pac-10/12 games as Sun Devil coach and has mentored 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 97-game Pac-10/12 tenure recently. 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)

THIS WAS A GOOD SIGN
The Sun Devils 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.

BEST HOOPS S/A IN PAC-12?
Take it all into consideration...Barrett Honors College, second-team All-Pac-10, first-team Pac-10 All-Academic pick, 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).

NOTES FROM JAN. 14 WIN OVER OSU
ASU posted a season-high 22 assists and got career highs from sophomores Chanse Creekmur (24 points and 39 minutes) and Kyle Cain (16 points) in its 76-66 win over Oregon State on Jan. 14...ASU improved to 23-12 against OSU 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 had a career-high 24 points (previous high was 18 vs. Washington State on Feb. 18, 2011) including six three-pointers (just seven attempts) as he was 8-of-9 from the field...freshman Jonathan Gilling played a career-high 34 minutes...junior Trent Lockett matched 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...ASU matched season highs with nine three-pointers, 45 second-half points and 22 bench points...Coach Sendek is now 8-3 vs. OSU and the series is now tied through 78 games.

ODD STREAK
ASU is off to a 6-13 start with nine games decided by six points or less (3-6). A recent streak was even more 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.

NOTES FROM USC JAN. 5 WIN
ASU hit the hardwood on Jan. 5 without two starters (Keala King and Kyle Cain) and another top reserve (Chris Colvin) and had only six scholarship players available, but played one of its best road games in recent history with a 62-53 win at USC Jan. 5. It shot .611 from the field (22-of-36), the best performance in a road game since it shot .612 at USC on Jan. 17, 2004 (previous 84 road games)...junior Carrick Felix had career highs in points (22) and blocks (four) in 39 minutes...ASU won at Galen Center for the first time in six tries..sophomore Jordan Bachynski grabbed six rebounds for first time in career...sophomore Chanse Creekmur played 37 minutes for the first time in his career...freshman Jonathan Gilling posted 12 points in 33 minutes...junior Trent Lockett matched his career-high with 39 minutes and was 7-of-9 from field, made all four free throws, knocked down one three-point attempt, had nine boards, four assists and three steals to end with 19 points...ASU attempted 36 field goal attempts, its fewest since it had just 35 on Nov. 18, 2008 at San Diego State. Prior to that you have to go back to Jan. 27, 1991, when it was 19-of-33 in a 58-47 win at Stanford for an amount less than 35 to get a grip of how odd that it.

CAIN ABLE AT FREE THROWS
One year ago, freshman Kyle Cain went 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 24-of-33 (.727) this year from the charity stripe. He is averaging 6.4 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 16 points in Jan. 14 win over Oregon State.

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).

CARRICK UPDATE
Last year Carrick Felix made 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 29-of-80 (.363). 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 .776 (38-of-49) 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, also has 20 steals on the year (14 all of last year). Felix 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 34.1 minutes per game in Pac-12 contests. Felix has played at least 34 minutes in 13 games this year.

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 six years on the job. 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 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) (also matched six other times in Sendek era)

GOOD ROAD WIN ON DEC. 3
ASU took the lead early, gave it back, but came home from Tulsa with a 67-64 quality road win on Dec. 3...Sun Devils gave Tulsa just its seventh home loss in 58 non-conference tilts under Doug Wojcik and the Hurricane were 81-10 in previous 91 home tilts prior to Sun Devil game...ASU attempted just seven three-pointers (made four), its fewest since a Jan. 29, 2004 tilt at Washington State...Coach Sendek has now won a game in 26 states with the win in Oklahoma...Tulsa had held seven of first eight opponents to under 50 percent shooting and six of those teams under 40 percent.

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 previous 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.

TOP SUN DEVIL SHOOTING GAMES UNDER COACH SENDEK
.721/31-43 vs. Saint Francis (Pa.) (Dec. 29, 2007)
.653/32-49 vs. Central Connecticut State (Dec. 29, 2008)
.652/30-46 vs. Delaware State (Dec. 5, 2007)
.651/28-43 vs. Oregon State (Jan. 8, 2009)
.613/38-62 vs. San Francisco (Nov. 20, 2009)
.611/22-36 at USC (Jan. 5, 2012)
.610/25-41 at Tulsa (Dec. 3, 2011)
.610/25-41 vs. LSU @New York City/NIT (Nov. 27, 2009)
.595/25-42 vs. #17 Xavier (Dec. 15, 2007)
.593/32-54 vs. Wake Forest (Nov. 25, 2011)
.592/29-49 vs. Oregon State (Jan. 14, 2012)

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 game and just five in the second half. It had a season-low 10 vs. Fresno State, but with Fresno committing just nine ASU has yet to have a game with less turnovers than its opponent.

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)

MORE LOCKETT
Junior Trent Lockett hurt 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., and a student in Barrett, the Honors College...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

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)

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)

REPLACE THREE
Last season saw the careers of seniors Ty Abbott (B.S., Sociology), Rihards Kuksiks (B.I.S., Communication/Sociology) and Jamelle McMillan (B.S., Communication) come to a close as the trio produced 80 wins, the most by any seniors in ASU history. The Sun Devils were 21-13 (2007-08), 25-10 (2008-09), and 22-11 (2009-10) in their first three seasons. Prior to their arrival, ASU won 37 games in the previous four seasons. ASU's best four-year span of total wins was 88 from 1959-60 to 1962-63 and also from 1960-61 to 1963-64, before freshman were eligible. The 80 wins by the seniors is the best by any four-year player. One thing that has to be accounted for is three-point shooting of Kuksiks and Abbott, as they combined for 553 career threes. Kuksiks is seventh in Pac-12 history with 280 while Abbott ended eighth with 273.

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).

ASU STARTING LINEUPS 2011-12 (7)
Bachynski, Colvin, Felix, King, Lockett (1-0)
Bachynski, Cain, Felix, King, Lockett (1-0)
Cain, Colvin, Felix, King, Lockett (1-3)
Cain, Creekmur, Felix, King, Lockett (0-2)
Cain, Felix, King, Lockett, Pateev (1-4)
Colfin, Creekmur, Felix, Gilling, Pateev (0-2)
Creekmur, Felix, Gilling, Lockett, Pateev (1-3)

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 Sendek has done it in two of the past three 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