The men’s basketball team is gearing up to face Washington, but there is a chance it may have to play another game without junior guard Trent Lockett.
Coach Herb Sendek said Lockett is improving, but with his inability to return to practice, his status is unknown. Lockett still wears a boot on his sprained right ankle and continues to receive treatment.
The Sun Devils (6-13, 2-5 Pac-12) were blown out by Colorado and Utah last week without their leading scorer. They lost both contests by a combined 36 points.
Despite Lockett’s absence at practice Monday, sophomore forward Jordan Bachynski said it was one of the best practices this season.
“We’ve all decided that it’s not going to be one person that’s going to step up but everyone,” Bachynski said. “We need everyone to carry a little bit of the burden. It can’t just be one person because Trent is an amazing player.”
Bachynski had arguably his best performance as a Sun Devil Saturday in the 64-43 loss versus Utah. With his friends and family in attendance, he reached double figures for the first time in his career, finishing with 10 points, seven rebounds and four blocks.
He’ll have to maintain that effort level, along with junior center Ruslan Pateev and sophomore forward Kyle Cain, to beat the Huskies (12-7, 5-2 Pac-12).
Washington is very physical and one of the best rebounding teams in the country. The Huskies are tied for eighth in the nation, averaging 40.6 boards a game. Junior center Aziz N’Diaye leads the team with 8.1 rebounds a game, but their guards also do a solid job of contributing. Sophomore guard Terrence Ross grabs 6.5 per game and freshman guard Tony Wroten pulls down 4.5 per game.
“We’ve got to be tough in the post,” Bachynski said. “We’ve really been working in practice to get lower, wider, not give up dumb fouls and to be physical and strong when we get the ball.”
The Huskies can also put up a ton of points, ranked No. 2 in the Pac-12 in scoring, averaging 78 points per game. Wroten is second in the conference with 16.8 points per contest. Washington also has two other players in the top 10.
Sophomore guard C.J. Wilcox is fifth with 15.5 points per game and Ross is seventh with 15.2 points per game.
The Sun Devils will be challenged on the defensive end, where they haven’t exactly played well this season. They’re No. 7 in the conference in field goal percentage defense, allowing opposing teams to shoot 42.2 percent.
“I really have been disappointed in our defensive play as of late,” Sendek said. “I think we’re giving up too many easy baskets.”
Sendek uses deflections as a stat to measure how active his team is defensively. He said ASU is averaging 16.5 deflections a game, very low from what he expects. ASU had nine deflections against Utah, which he said was an all-time low.
“When you look at the composite, our guys know what to do,” Sendek said. “They have to play with a high basketball IQ in real time and we have to, as a team, find a way to sustain greater effort on the defensive end on the floor.”
Tipoff is Thursday at 6:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Arizona and 620 AM.
Fat Lever honored
At halftime, another jersey will hang in the rafters at Wells Fargo Arena.
Lafayette “Fat” Lever will have his No. 12 retired during Thursday’s game.
The 11th overall pick in the 1982 NBA Draft averaged 10.1 points per game during his four years at ASU. Lever is one of three Sun Devils to record at least 200 steals and 400 assists.
He earned All-Pac-10 honors in 1980-81 and 1981-82. He was inducted into the ASU Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Pac-10 Hall of Honor in 2004.
Lever is now the fourth Sun Devil to have his number retired. Last year, the school honored Joe Caldwell, Byron Scott and Lionel Hollins.
“It’s one of the best things we’ve done, to go back and begin to honor some of the great and legendary players,” Sendek said. “We’re thrilled to be able to do it for Fat this Thursday and (we) look forward to continuing that tradition next year. We have several other guys who have been identified to join in that honor.”
Reach the reporter at mtesfats@asu.edu
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