The ASU men’s basketball season tips off Friday against Montana State with the Sun Devils hoping to improve on last year’s 12-19 record, the worst in the Pac-10.
The Sun Devils have had less time to work with. This is the second earliest start in school history.
Sendek made tweaks during the offseason in the offensive scheme to fit his personnel with the absence of graduates Ty Abbott, Rihards Kuksiks and Jamelle McMillan. The Sun Devils averaged 64 points per game last season, last in the Pac-10.
This season, the offense includes an emphasis in pushing the ball upcourt, and junior forward Trent Lockett said he pushed his teammates in the offseason during conditioning in preparation for the adjustment.
“If I see somebody jogging, I’m trying to get them to run,” said Lockett, who led the Sun Devils in scoring last season. “Every year we say we’re going to emphasize that but that’s what I’m really trying to emphasize this year.”
During its 89-69 exhibition win Saturday over Grand Canyon University, the team shot 57.9 percent from the field including 73.1 percent in the second half.
Sendek played a variety of lineups on the floor. As the team awaits for the NCAA ruling on freshman point guard Jahii Carson, Sendek started his two point guards together in the backcourt, Palm State College transfer Chris Colvin and sophomore Keala King. Colvin finished the game with 15 points and seven assists. King had 15 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.
Sendek also started sophomore forward Kyle Cain and junior forward Ruslan Pateev in the frontcourt. Sendek said the tandem practiced well together recently, which led to the decision Saturday, but both were in foul trouble early.
“They both had a couple of nice plays each but I think their game and somewhat their contribution was derailed by the foul trouble,” Sendek said.
The Sun Devils also showed signs of improvement on the glass Saturday. They grabbed 42 rebounds, 12 offensive. The Sun Devils were last in the Pac-10 in both categories last season.
“We most certainly have room for improvement in that area,” Sendek said. “But looking in the rear view mirror over the course of the last week, that’s one of the areas we’ve really tried to focus and saw a step in the right direction Saturday.”
The Antelopes shot 36.7 percent in the exhibition, but 43.8 percent in the second half and grabbed 12 offensive rebounds on the Sun Devils defense.
“We did OK,” Lockett said. “It seemed like they were scoring on a lot of their possessions. They got far too many offensive rebounds. Some of our rotations were a little late, but we’ll definitely look at the film and continue to improve on that.”
Montana State finished last season with a 12-17 record, falling to NAU in the first round of the Big Sky tournament. The Bobcats steamrollered over Colorado Christian 106-54 in their lone exhibition game, but have not typically seen success in their conference.
Reach the reporter at master.tesfatsion@asu.edu
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