ASU Quick Notes/Statistics in PDF Format (10 pages) 
Feb. 25, 2011
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SUN DEVILS VS. USC
The Arizona State's men's hoops team (10-17; 2-13 in the Pac-10) takes on suddenly hot and NCAA Tournament bubble team USC on Saturday (Feb. 26) at 4:30 p.m. PT on FOX Sports Arizona. ASU has used 11 starting lineups and 11 players have been thrust into a starting role due to various injuries, the latest being seniors Rihards Kuksiks (ankle) and Ty Abbott (shoulder) missing the 71-69 Washington State win last Saturday. ASU jumped out to a 21-9 lead at the 9:31 mark against UCLA on Thursday but could not maintain and fell 71-53 as UCLA shot 13-of-22 (.591) from the field in the second half. ASU did get 28 points from its bench, and freshman Chanse Creekmur is now 8-of-12 (.667) from the three-point stripe in the past two games (his first career starts). Jamelle McMillan has played well recently as well as he has made 14-of-29 (.483) from the three-point stripe in past seven games. UCLA had ASU opponent season highs for assists (22), steals (11) and matched opponent season-highs in blocks (10).
VS USC
ASU is 4-2 in games of three-points or less this year, but one of those losses was the 63-61 bummer to the Trojans on Jan. 27 in which ASU led 31-29 at the half...ASU was 9-of-19 (.474) from the three-point stripe but a game-changing 12-of-25 (.480) from the foul line...ASU played well enough to win the game in other areas, as it had just 12 turnovers and forced steady USC into 14...ASU also had eight blocks and did not force any bad shots in the paint against the huge Trojan front line, as USC did not register a block...ASU was outrebounded by 12 (36-24)...Sun Devils got 22 points from Rihards Kuksiks, 19 from Ty Abbott, 13 from Trent Lockett and Jamelle McMillan had six assists and just one turnover...USC leads series 50-33, while Coach Sendek is 4-7 vs. USC, with all four wins coming in Tempe as ASU is 0-4 at Galen since it opened and 0-2 at Pac-10 Tournament vs. Trojans.
LINEUP NOTES
With its injuries and illnesses ASU has used 11 different starting lineups and 11 players have started at least one game...11 lineups is most by the Sun Devils since the 2003-04 team started 13 and tied for third-most in the past 18 seasons...the 1996-97 (11 lineups) and 1995-96 (12 lineups) teams under Bill Frieder also tried some different options...each of ASU's top four scorers has missed at least two games due to injury.
TRENT NOTES
Sophomore Trent Lockett had a then career-high 22 points in the season opener at New Mexico (Nov. 16) where two of his dunks placed him No. 2 on SportsCenter's Top-10...had a career-high 24 points vs. Weber State on Nov. 26 in Alaska...also had 20 points at Washington on Jan. 22 and 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 28 double-figure scoring games...posted his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 boards vs. Richmond on Dec. 5...missed both games of the Oregon road trip on Dec. 30-Jan. 1 with a sprained big left toe...14.2 points per game in the past nine contests...in those games Lockett leads team with 49 free throw attempts, along with 33.1 minutes and 4.9 boards per game...also 5-of-9 (.556) from the three-point stripe in that time after starting season 3-of-13...in past seven games he is averaging 13.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists...averaging 13.6 points after averaging 6.7 in his freshman season.
TRENT'S TOP SCORING GAMES
24 vs. Weber State (Nov. 26, 2010)
22 at New Mexico (Nov. 16, 2010)
20 vs. Washington State (Feb. 19, 2011)
20 at #20 Washington (Jan. 22, 2011)
19 vs. UAB (Nov. 20, 2010)
19 vs. San Francisco (Nov. 20, 2009)
GOOD TRENT NOTE
Trent Lockett is averaging 13.6 points per game this year after averaging 6.7 in his freshman season last year. A quick look at ASU's record books shows that the increase is the best from the first year to the second year by a Sun Devil since Jeremy Veal went from 7.4 in 1994-95 to 18.9 in 1995-96 (+11.5). Below are the top scoring jumps by Sun Devils from first to second season:
BIGGEST SUN DEVIL SCORING IMPROVEMENTS (FIRST SEASON TO SECOND SEASON)
Jeremy Veal, +11.5 (7.4 in 1994-95 to 18.9 in 1995-96)
Dennis Hamilton, +11.1 (6.2 in 1963-64 to 17.3 in 1964-65)
Art Becker, +10.1 (9.0 in 1961-62 to 19.1 in 1962-63)
Arthur Thomas, +9.4 (4.3 in 1984-85 to 13.7 in 1985-86)
Kurt Nimphius, +7.0 (1.5 in 1976-77 to 8.5 in 1977-78)
Trent Lockett, +6.9 (6.7 in 2009-10 to 13.6 in 2010-11)
Joe Caldwell, +6.4 (13.3 in 1961-62 to 19.7 in 1962-63)
Fat Lever, +5.6 (3.6 in 1978-79 to 9.2 in 1979-80)
CLOSE STATISTIC
Arizona State has done a solid job of winning the close ones. In games of five points or less in the four years of its current senior class, ASU is 18-13 (.581), the third-best mark in the Pac-10.
TOP PAC-10 TEAMS IN GAMES OF FIVE POINTS OR LESS (2007-08 THROUGH 2010-11)
UCLA 22-13 (.629)
Oregon 13-9 (.591)
Arizona State 18-13 (.581)
HALFTIME
ASU is 7-2 when it leads at the half in 2010-11 (64-16 under Herb Sendek). One of its two losses when leading at the half was the USC game...ASU has won 17 under Herb Sendek when it has trailed at half.
RECAP
The Sun Devils, the only Pac-10 team to post 20 wins in each of the past three seasons, are in their fifth season under 2009-10 Pac-10 Coach of the Year Herb Sendek. Last year's second-place Pac-10 team was 22-11, the first time ASU had posted three straight 20-win seasons since JFK was President. ASU finished second in the Pac-10 (12-6) for the first time since 1980-81 after being picked for seventh in the preseason media poll and tenth by Sporting News. After posting just three 20-win seasons in the previous 25 seasons, ASU has posted three straight under Herb Sendek in his four years. ASU lost two senior starters and three key players from last year in Derek Glasser, Eric Boateng and Jerren Shipp, who all three earned their degrees...Glasser set ASU records for games (131), assists (551) and free throw shooting (.838)...Shipp is second on the ASU career games list with 129...Boateng led the Pac-10 in field goal percentage (.665) and averaged 8.8 points and 7.2 boards.
NOTE FROM HIS ACC DAYS
From the 2001-2002 season through 2005-2006 (Herb Sendek's final five seasons) NC State won 53 total ACC games (regular season and ACC tournament). Only Duke was better (76) in that time frame. Maryland also had 53.
JMAC
Senior Jamelle McMillan has played through a nagging groin injury since December that caused him to miss three games but is averaging 10.6 points and is 14-of-29 (.483) from three in the past seven games... has posted three of his top caeer scoring games in those seven contests with a career-high 17 at Stanford (Feb. 5), 14 at Cal (Feb. 3) and 13 vs. UCLA (Jan. 29)...302 career assists and 148 turnovers.
JAMELLE'S TOP SCORING GAMES
17 at Stanford (Feb. 5, 2011)
16 vs. Weber State @Alaska (Nov. 26, 2010)
16 vs. UCSB (Dec. 21, 2009)
15 vs. USC Upstate (Dec. 23, 2009)
14 at California (Feb. 3, 2011)
14 at Oregon State (Feb. 7, 2009)
13 vs. UCLA (Jan. 29, 2011)
BLOCKS
ASU had six players combine for nine blocks vs. Arizona on Feb. 13, second-best in the Herb Sendek-era. ASU had 11 blocks vs. Southern Illinois on March 20, 2008.
INFO TO KNOW
ASU has had some poorly-timed injury/illness items since the opening of the Pac-10, as it lost at Oregon State 80-58 (Dec. 30) and won at Oregon 60-55 (Jan. 1) to close Mac Court, without leading scorer Trent Lockett (14.7 ppg.), who missed both games with a sprained left big toe. Then senior point guard Jamelle McMillan missed both games of the Bay Area home series (Jan. 6-8) and the Jan. 12 Tulsa win due to a groin injury. The Washington trip the scrambling continued as Carrick Felix and Brandon Dunson couldn't travel for the first game as both were ill. The main bummer? Felix was averaging 13.6 points (tied for team lead), 3.6 boards, 31.2 minutes and was 14-of-18 (.778) from the free throw line in the previous five games. Recently both Rihards Kuksiks and Ty Abbott missed the Feb. 19 Washington State win while Kuksiks missed the Washington game on Feb. 17 as well. Each of ASU top four scorers has missed at least two games.
WITH TRENT OUT
When Trent Lockett was not in the lineup to open Pac-10 play ASU had to replace a player who in the Pac-10 ranked at the time 11th in scoring (14.7) and rebounding (6.5) and fifth in field goal percentage (.571) and in minutes per game (33.5). With Lockett out and three seniors in foul trouble at Oregon on Jan. 1, first-year player Carrick Felix had then-season highs of 19 points, six boards, four assists and 34 minutes while Brandon Dunson did the same (14 points and 29 minutes). Ruslan Pateev (career highs with 10 points in 28 minutes) also helped the cause.
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).
BEST TREE IN THE LAND
Herb Sendek has eight former assistants who are D-I coaches, the best mark of any coach in the nation in 2010-2011. Twelve-year sidekick Mark Phelps earned the Drake spot in the spring of 2008 while former NC State sidekick John Groce also earned the Ohio University position in the spring of 2008. The others are Jim Christian at TCU (Miami assistant in 1995-96), Charlie Coles at Miami of Ohio (Miami assistant from 1994-96), Larry Hunter at Western Carolina (NC State assistant from 2001-05), Ron Hunter of IUPUI (Miami assistant from 1993-94), Ohio State's Thad Matta (Miami assistant in 1994-95) and Arizona's Sean Miller (assistant at both Miami from 1993-95 and at NC State from 1996-2000).
TY NOTES
Returning first-team All-Pac-10 performer Ty Abbott had some back, knee and shoulder issues the last three weekends, as he missed all but four minutes of the game at Stanford on Feb. 5...10 20-point games in his career...1,285 career points which is 17th on the Sun Devil career list while Al Nealey has 1,304...115 starts, second on the ASU career chart. Jeff Pendergraph has the ASU record with 120 starts...missed the Nov. 25 Houston Baptist game due to a knee bruise and the Feb.19 WSU win with shoulder injury...fourth on the Sun Devil career chart for minutes.
ASU CAREER MINUTES/GAMES/MPG
1. Eddie House (99-2000)--4,164/124/33.6
2. Jeremy Veal (94-98)--3,980/122/32.5
3. Derek Glasser (06-10)--3,955/131/30.2
4. Ty Abbott (07-11)--3,886/126/30.9
HERB PAC-10 NOTE
Last season's second -place Pac-10 finish matched ASU's best in its 32 seasons of Pac-10 play and its 12 wins were the most since 1994-95.
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
ABNORMAL
If something hasn't happened in 18 years, it is probably safe to say that it is an an anomaly. Consider a team struggling at the free throw line under Coach Sendek just that (.627). Consider the following when talking about Coach Sendek's teams his 18 seasons as a head coach: NC State led the nation and set an ACC record for FT shooting (.799) in 2003-04. That mark is tied for the best in the nation in the past 12 seasons with St. Joseph's in 2005-06 and is tied for seventh-best in NCAA history...has coached four teams at ASU and two of them rank fifth (.739 in 2007-08) and sixth (.737 in 2008-09) on the ASU charts for top FT seasons...last year's team shot .713 in Pac-10 games, third-best in the loop. In overall statistics, ASU has been a top-five Pac-10 free throw shooting team in each of the past three seasons...in his 10 seasons NC State led the ACC in FT percentage four times, including three straight seasons from (2001-02 to 2003-04).
COACH
Herb Sendek, 86-73 (.541) at ASU, is in his 18th season as a head coach in 2010-2011 and has averaged 19.4 wins per season. He led the NC State Wolfpack to five straight NCAA appearances from 2002-06 and is now 340-231 (.595) and was 191-132 (.591) at NC State.
PAC-10 COACHES YOUNGEST TO OLDEST
Sean Miller (42), Arizona, 11/17/68
Johnny Dawkins (47), Stanford, 9/28/63
Herb Sendek (48), ASU, 2/22/63