The ASU men’s basketball team will need players to step up in a big way Thursday if it wants to walk out of the Coors Events Center with a win over Colorado. No Pac-12 team has accomplished the feat so far this season.
It is unlikely junior guard Trent Lockett will play during the Sun Devils’ first Pac-12 matchup against the Buffaloes (11-6, 3-2 Pac-12), who are 3-0 at home. That leaves ASU (6-11, 2-3 Pac-12) junior guard Chris Colvin and freshman walk-on Max Heller as the only two available options at point guard.
Colvin is expected to start at point guard, but both Colvin and Heller will look to try and continue the successful offense with Lockett at the position.
In the last four games in which Lockett started at point guard, ASU shot 55 percent from the floor and 50 percent from three-point range. It resulted in a 2-2 record, bumping coach Herb Sendek’s record to 46-8 at ASU when his team shoots 50 percent or better.
The Sun Devils are sharing the ball better in their half-court sets and working the shot clock down to its final seconds to find high percentage shots. They’ve had 59 assists in the four-game span.
“I think we’re getting more valuable shots,” sophomore wing Chanse Creekmur said. “We’re going inside and we’re looking backside. We’re playing smart. We’ve always played together, but now we’re capitalizing on our shots. We’re finishing around the hoop and knocking down our shots.”
Despite the increase in assists, turnovers continue to be a problem. It’s one aspect that has hurt the offensive flow, no matter who has been at point guard. Out of 338 Division I teams, ASU is tied for No. 318with 16.8 turnovers a game. Its -5.9 turnover margin is the third worst in the country.
“We’re averaging 17.5 turnovers in the last four games and that is exasperated by the fact that we’re only forcing 8.5,” Sendek said. “So there’s a nine-possession differential in turnovers that makes it exceedingly difficult for our team in terms of margin of error.”
The Buffaloes are just behind the Sun Devils, ranked No. 227 with a -1.9 turnover margin. Colorado is ranked ninth in the conference, committing 14.4 a game.
Colorado also ranks toward the bottom of the conference in shooting percentage, ranked No. 8 in the conference as they only shoot 45.3 percent.
The Buffaloes are led by sophomore forward Andre Roberson. He’s the only player in the Pac-12 to average a double-double at 11.5 points and 11.4 rebounds a contest. The 6-foot-7-inch, 195-pound forward ranks No. 6 in the country in rebounding. Nearly four of his rebounds are second-chance opportunities.
Roberson will be a handful for junior forward Ruslan Pateev and sophomore forward Kyle Cain to guard.
“We’re just going to have to battle and know where he is and try to get a body on him,” Sendek said. “Some guys just have a knack, a sixth sense, for getting the ball. Other guys, the ball can hit them in the head or the hands and they don’t come down with it. He’s one of those guys who he gets the ball.”
Tipoff is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. on ROOT Sports and locally on 620 AM.
Reach the reporter at mtesfats@asu.edu
Click here to subscribe to the daily State Press newsletter.
