Previewing the Matchup Versus the Sun Devils

This weekend the Huskies will travel down to Arizona to take on Arizona State and Arizona, respectively. This could very well be the perfect timing for this trip, as the Sun Devils are struggling this year, and Arizona isn't up to the level they were last year when they were led by super-stud Derrick Williams. This trip comes after strong second half showings at home versus the NoCal schools Cal and Stanford. You can find post-game reports here and here. If the Huskies want to take down the post-Williams Wildcats however, they will have to put forth an effort that they did similar to the second half of these games. Sean Miller built a strong program over at Xavier, and will have these Wildcats turned into regular attendees to the Big Dance in no time.

First the Huskies will have to get through the Sun Devils however.

This Arizona St. squad is coached by Herb Sendek, who has a 93-87 (0.517) record in his career with the team. They have been down the past two years however posting a combined record of 18-32 (0.360). His teams went downhill with the loss of James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph, as the team has not posted records near where they were when those two were leading the Sun Devil charge.

This should be an opportunity for the Dawgs to get an easy confidence builder on the road, but with this team one can never be certain what sort of a performance that can be expected from these guys game to game, or even half to half.

The Sun Devils are led in scoring by 6-4 Junior guard Trent Lockett at 13.9 points per game, followed closely behind by 6-4 Sophomore guard Keala King. King, however, has been kicked from the team for disciplinary reasons. This has left a hole at the point guard slot, which King was reluctantly filling. King was suspended along with Kyle Cain and reserve guard Chris Colvin for "unacceptable conduct" and King has subsequently received the boot. Cain and Colvin have since returned however, and when Lockett went down with a sprained ankle, Colvin started in his place. Lockett has yet to return and I do not have any info on the status on neither he nor our own man C.J. Wilcox and his fractured femur. This Sun Devil team is down on offense and the scoring has since been provided by Colvin, along with 6-6 guard Carrick Felix and Freshman forward Jonathon Gilling.

The main man in the middle for Arizona St. has been 7-0 Russian center Ruslan Pateev. He is averaging just under five points per game and 3.6 boards per contest.

This game should be a good confidence builder for the Huskies as they head to face off against a formidable opponent in the Arizona Wildcats.

All stats provided via www.statsheet.com