Freshman guard Tra Holder drives to the basket against Arizona, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015 at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. The Sun Devils defeated the Wildcats 81-78. (Ben Moffat/The State Press)Coming off a weekend split in Washington, the ASU men's basketball team may be without a key player heading into its matchup with UCLA Wednesday.
The UCLA Bruins (16-10, 8-5 Pac-12) have won five of their past six games heading into their only matchup with the ASU men's basketball team this season and have fought their way back into third place in the standings.
Sophomore forward Savon Goodman simplified what ASU (13-12, 5-7 Pac-12) has to do in order to win Saturday.
"We just got to go out there and follow our scout," Goodman said. "Do what we're supposed to do on defense and our defensive assignments and execute on offense. This team traps a little bit, this team also plays a little bit of zone. We just have to go out there and and our guards and big men have to recognize whether they're in zone or man."
The Sun Devils may have to do that without senior guard Bo Barnes, who injured his ankle against Washington State. He is day-to-day, coach Herb Sendek said. He said Barnes has not participated in practice since the injury and it will be a game-time decision on whether he plays against UCLA.
With Barnes out, Sendek said the same thing he's said no matter which player was unable to play: It's about the next man up.
"As much as we talk about Bo's shooting and his offense, he's one of our better defensive players because he knows what to do," Sendek said. "As we always say, it's an unfortunate part of the game and the guys who are available have to play to the best of their abilities."
Two players who have stepped up in the past couple games are Goodman and junior guard Gerry Blakes. Both players hit rough patches during Pac-12 play, but Sendek said he knew his team would find a groove.
"The one thing we've maintained all along: We believed our team would get better and I think they have," Sendek said. "We have two things in place: We have guys with good attitudes and guys who really work at it."
After a light stretch in terms of games, ASU is in the midst of its most difficult stretch and Sendek said that fatigue can't play a role.
"It's a really quick turnaround for our team. This is going to be our third game in six days, including some pretty extensive travel," Sendek said. "Here we are in mid-February and as much as anything, our team needs to be fresh because the games are physical and they're hard fought, so hopefully our team plays with good energy and effort."
Reach the reporter at mtonis@asu.edu or on Twitter @Tonis_The_Tiger.
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