March 4, 2011
78 WINS LATER, TEMPE CURTAIN CALL FOR SENIORS
The Arizona State's men's hoops team (11-18; 3-14 in the Pac-10) will play its final home game Saturday at 2 p.m. vs. Oregon State as it honors its three seniors (Ty Abbott, Rihards Kuksiks and Jamelle McMillan) who have combined for 79 wins, tied for the fourth-most in a four-year period in Sun Devil history and the most since the 1973-76 teams also won 79 contests. ASU swept Oregon on Thursday for the third straight season with a wire-to-wire 73-53 win as it had season-highs in assists (22) as well as three-pointers made (16) and attempted (36) and held Oregon to an ASU opponent's season-low .296 field goal percentage (.296). It is the second-best defensive field goal effort in Coach Sendek's 89 Pac-10 games (see chart below). Sophomore Trent Lockett has been leading the way recently, averaging 13.7 points in the past 11 games. This year's seniors are 6-1 vs. Oregon State. Saturday's game will be webcast with foxsportsarizona.com and is on your radio dial at 860 AM locally. ASU will play next Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. PT (FSN/KTAR 620 AM) in the Pac-10 Tournament at Staples Center against the #7 seed. It will either be Oregon or Stanford, depending on tiebreakers that are too confusing to go into detail right here.
ASU BEST DEFENSIVE FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE PAC-10 GAME 1987-88 TO 2010-11 (PAST 24 SEASONS)
.246/14-57 by Oregon State (Feb. 11, 2010)/Herb Sendek
.265/13-49 vs. Washington State (Feb. 7, 2002)/Rob Evans
.286/20-70 at Oregon (Jan. 22, 2005)/Rob Evans
.286/14-49 by California (Mar. 7, 1996)/Bill Frieder
.296/16-54 by Oregon (Mar. 3, 2011)/Herb Sendek
.298/17-57 by Washington State (Jan. 10, 2010)/Herb Sendek
.298/17-57 at Arizona (Jan. 21, 2009)/Herb Sendek
ABOUT THOSE 79 WINS
ASU has 79 wins in the four-year careers of the senior trio, as the Sun Devils were 21-13 (2007-08), 25-10 (2008-09), 22-11 (2009-10) in their first three seasons. Prior to their arrival, ASU won 37 games in the previous four seasons. Where does the 79 wins total stand heading towards Saturday? ASU's best four-year span of total wins was 88 from 1959-60 to 1962-63 and also from 1960-61 to 1963-64. This group of seniors 79 wins is tied for fourth and could reach third with one more wins. A look at the top four-year periods in Sun Devil history and note the only player to be with the program for all four of the top seasons is Gary Jackson.
ASU TOP FOUR-YEAR WIN TOTALS
1. 1961-1964: 88
1. 1960-1963: 88
3. 1972-1975: 80
4. 2008-2011: 79 (Ty Abbott, Rihards Kuksiks, Jamelle McMillan)
4. 1973-1976: 79 (Gary Jackson)
4. 1959-1962: 79
VS. OREGON STATE
ASU had put together a modest six-game win streak against the Beavers prior to the 80-58 win in the Pac-10 opener this year, as Herb Sendek is 6-3 against OSU...in that six-game streak ASU had held the Beavers to .339 from the field (105-of-310), .301 from the three-point stripe (41-of-136) and 49.3 points per game...Jamelle McMillan is shooting 12-of-26 (.462) from three against the Beavers and is 18-of-37 (.486) from the field despite missing last year's game in Corvallis...ASU twice held the Beavers to 38 points in the 2008-09 season, the best defensive efforts by any Sun Devil team in the Pac-10 era...ASU held Oregon State to just .246 (14-of-57) from the field on Feb. 11, 2010, the best defensive effort in a Pac-10 game in the past 24 seasons...the 66-57 ASU win in Corvallis on Jan. 16, 2010, is the closest in the past seven meetings...OSU leads the overall series 39-37...ASU swept the regular season series from the Beavers in 2009-10 for the third straight year and for the tenth time since joining the Pac-10.
GOOD TRENT NOTE
Sophomore Trent Lockett is averaging 13.4 points per game this year after averaging 6.7 in his freshman season. A quick look at ASU's record books shows that the +6.7 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).
LINEUP
With its injuries and illnesses ASU has used 11 starting lineups and 11 players have started at least one game...11 lineups is most by the Sun Devils since 2003-04 team started 13 and tied for third-most in the past 18 seasons...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 including leading scorer Trent Lockett missing the Oregon road trip. Kyle Cain is the only Sun Devil who has played in all 29 games.
THAT SWEEP OF DUCKS
ASU has now swept the Ducks in each of the past three seasons and has won six straight in the series...ASU has swept the Ducks 12 times in its 33 Pac-10 seasons: 1979-80, '80-81, '82-83, '88-89, '90-91, '91-92, '92-93, '00-01, '04-05, '08-09, '09-10 and this season...six straight wins is third-longest current streak in Pac-10 play...ASU is 22-11 (.667) against the Ducks in Pac-10 play in Tempe, its best home record against any league foe, while its 21-12 mark against OSU (.636) is tied for second-best...ASU is 7-3 against UO under Coach Sendek, including 3-2 in Eugene and 4-1 in Tempe...ASU is 41-31 against the Ducks all-time...in the nine games under Herb Sendek ASU has held the Ducks to 62-of-196 (.316) from the three-point stripe, 191-of-486 (.393) from the field and 56.4 points per game.
HANDLE IT
ASU is taking care of the ball as it is second in the Pac-10 in fewest turnovers per game at 12.2 (USC at 11.3) and is averaging 11.5 turnovers in the past 13 games. Jamelle McMillan leads the Pac-10 in assist-to-turnover ratio and is 22nd nationally at 2.58 (98 assists and 38 turnovers). McMillan also is 17-of-36 (.472) from the three-point stripe in past nine games.
GOOD STUFF
Two freshmen have taken good advantage of some recent playing time. Keala King is averaging 16.5 minutes and 8.3 points in the past four games and is 14-of-17 (.824) from the free throw stripe in those tilts. He started the year 16-of-38 (.421) from the charity stripe...Chanse Creekmur led ASU to its 73-72 Feb. 19 win over Washington State with 18 points, including five three-pointers, just the second Sun Devil to hit five three-pointers in a game in the past four seasons (Ty Abbott was the other). Creekmur is averaging 23.7 minutes and 6.4 points in the past seven games and has made 12-of-27 (.444) in the past eight games.
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)
TRENT
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 then had 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 29 double-figure scoring games...missed both games of the Oregon road trip on Dec. 30-Jan. 1 with a sprained big left toe...averaging 13.7 points per game in the past 11 contests.
TRENT'S 20-POINT 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)
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 list for games with 129...Eric Boateng led the Pac-10 in field goal percentage (.665) and averaged 8.8 points and 7.2 boards and matched Pac-10 record by making all 11 shots from the field at Stanford on Feb. 25, 2010.
HALFTIME DIGIT
ASU is 8-2 when it leads at the half in 2010-11 and 65-16 under Herb Sendek...ASU has won 17 games under Herb Sendek when it has trailed at the half including the Dec. 23 56-50 win over North Carolina A&T when it trailed 29-23 at intermission. ASU shot just 20-of-57 (.351) in the victory, its second-lowest mark in a win under Coach Sendek. The lowest shooting mark was a 16-of-56 (.286) mark in a 53-47 win at Arizona on Jan. 21, 2009.
JMAC
Senior Jamelle McMillan has played through a nagging groin injury since December that caused him to miss three games but is averaging 9.9 points in the past nine games and is 17-of-36 (.472) from three in those tilts...has posted three of the top scoring games in his career in the past nine contests with a career-high 17 at Stanford (Feb. 5), 14 at Cal (Feb. 3) and 13 vs. UCLA (Jan. 29)... ASU is 73-47 (.608) with Jamelle and 6-5 (.545) without in his career...309 career assists and 150 turnovers...six steals vs. Long Beach on Dec. 21, most by a Sun Devil since James Harden had seven vs. USC on March 13, 2008, in the Pac-10 Tournament.
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)
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 and the as well. Each of ASU top four scorers has missed at least two games and freshman Kyle Cain is the only player to see action in all 29 contests.
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. ASU has notched at least 11 Pac-10 wins eight times, Herb Sendek has done it in each of the past two seasons.
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
PAC-10 COACH OF YEAR
Herb Sendek became the second Sun Devil to earn Pac-10 Coach of the Year in ASU's 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).
TY NOTES
Returning first-team All-Pac-10 performer Ty Abbott had some back, knee and shoulder issues the past three weekends, as he missed all but four minutes of the game at Stanford on Feb. 5 and all of the Feb. 19 WSU game...has 11 20-point games in his career, including four this year...he is averaging 32.4 minutes per game this year. Only James Harden in each of his two seasons (35.8 in 2008-09 and 34.4 in 2007-08) has averaged more than 34 minutes per game in Herb Sendek's first four seasons at ASU...now has 1,308 career points which is 16th on the ASU career list...also has 117 starts, second on the ASU career chart. Jeff Pendergraph has the ASU record with 120 starts...Abbott missed the Nov. 25 Houston Baptist game due to a knee bruise and the Feb.19 Washington State win with a shoulder injury...currently fourth on the Sun Devil career chart for minutes played. Eddie House has the career mark, playing in 124 games from 1996-2000 while notching 4,164 minutes (33.6 per game). Abbott is at 3,948 and could become just the second Sun Devil to play 4,000 career 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)--3,948/128/30.8
THIS IS ABNORMAL
If something hasn't happened in 18 years, it is probably safe to say that it is an anomaly. Consider a team struggling at the free throw line under Coach Sendek just that (.629). 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 free throw 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 (Jameer Nelson and Delonte West) 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 best free throw 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).
KEEP IT CLOSE
ASU is 22-15 (.595) in games games decided by six points or less/OT in the past four seasons. ASU is 4-2 this year in games of three points or less.
GAMES OF SIX POINTS OR LESS OR OVERTIME (2007-08 TO PRESENT/PAST FOUR SEASONS)
UCLA (24-13/.649)
Arizona State (22-15/.595)
Oregon (14-10/.583)
ASU WINS IN GAMES OF SIX POINTS OR LESS IN 2010-11
ASU 69, UAB 66 (Nov. 20, 2010)
ASU 59, Weber State 58 (Nov. 26, 2010)
ASU 78, @Nevada 75 (Dec. 17, 2010)
ASU 56, North Carolina A&T 50 (Dec. 23, 2010)
ASU 60, @Oregon 55 (Jan. 1, 2011)
ASU 71, Washington State 69 (Feb. 19, 2011)
RIHARDS
Senior Rihards Kuksiks is 55-of-130 (.423) from the three-point stripe in his past 19 games after starting the year 8-of-30 in the first four games. Kuksiks posted the tenth 20-point game of his career with 22 points vs. Oregon on March 3, and ASU is 7-3 in those games. He now has 273 career three-pointers, second on the ASU career list and seventh on the Pac-10 list. He became the 34th member of ASU's 1,000-point club against Long Beach State, as he now has 1,168 points.
TOP SCORING GAMES FOR RIHARDS
27 vs. #24 Washington (Jan. 8, 2010)
27 vs. San Francisco (Nov. 20, 2009)
25 at Oregon (Jan. 14, 2010)
24 vs. USC (Mar. 4, 2010)
24 vs. UCSB (Dec. 21, 2009)
22 vs. Oregon (March 3, 2011)
22 vs. USC (Jan. 27, 2011)
21 vs. Jacksonville (Mar. 16, 2010/NIT)
20 at Nevada (Dec. 17, 2010)
20 vs. Syracuse (Mar. 22, 2009 @Miami/NCAA)
HEAD COACH
Herb Sendek, 87-74 (.540) 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 341-232 (.595) and was 191-132 (.591) at NC State. The 48-year-old (born Feb. 22, 1963) Pittsburgh, Pa., native remains the third-youngest coach in the Pac-10.