Wildcats head to Washington schools for 'difficult' trip

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n recent years, the Arizona men's basketball team's trip to play both Washington schools has been both long in terms of travel time and outcome of the games.

The Wildcats are just a combined 1-5 at Washington State and Washington in the last three seasons.

UA head coach Sean Miller called it "one of the more difficult trips" to make and hopes that chartered flights - and staying in Spokane, Wash., as opposed to nearby Moscow, Idaho - will make a difference when the 'Cats (18-8, 9-4 Pac-12 Conference) begin their trip Thursday night against the Cougars (13-12, 5-8 Pac-12) in Pullman.



"It will be very beneficial," Miller said. "You just try to put your team in the best position, and I believe staying in Spokane is the best position."

Wildcats junior forward Solomon Hill welcomes the change of routine.

"He's changing it up," Hill said of Miller's decision. "I think it will be, this year, one of the better trips staying in the city. Coach is taking steps to take away from that first year's trip."

Playing the Cougars first as opposed to the Huskies will also be a change from past seasons.

"We've never played Washington State first. We've always played them second," Miller said. "This trip is much different than our previous two."

UA also is banking on its recent road success to trump any past results in Washington, where the Wildcats have not swept a road trip since 2005-06.

The 'Cats have won three of their last four away from McKale Center - including an improbable Bay Area sweep over California and Stanford, becoming the first Pac-12 team to win a game this season at either venue.

The Wildcats also are hoping for a repeat of the first meeting with the Cougars. UA posted a 24-point victory over WSU, which lost key reserve Faisal Aden to a season-ending ACL tear in the contest.

But the 'Cats will still have to deal with 6-10 forward Brock Motum, whose 20.5 points per game in Pac-12 play trails only Oregon State's Jared Cunningham by one-tenth of a point. Miller said that if Motum equals his average tonight, "it's going to be hard for us to win."

"When you average 20 points a game in conference play you're a first-team all-conference player," Miller said. "He's very physical, he rebounds the ball at a very high level and he can score both facing the basket and with his back to the basket.

"He's one of the hardest individual players that there is to guard in our conference. It's not going to be a 1-on-1 matchup, we have to do it as a team."

 

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Scouting report: Arizona State



PLAYERS TO WATCH:



--- Freshman Jonathan Gilling scored a career-high 20 points on 6-for-16 shooting the last time he faced Washington. He connected on 5 of 12 three-pointers and collected five rebounds. Gilling is a long-range gunner. In conference games, he's taken 73 shots behind the arc which is more than anyone else on the team. He's shooting 39.7 percent on three-pointers in league play. Gilling was bench player in nonconference games, but has started 12 of 13 games against Pac-12 opponents. He averaged 8.8 minutes in the first eight games and is up to 29.9 minutes in the past 16 games.

--- Trent Lockett didn't play against the Huskies in January and returned last week after missing six games due to a right ankle injury. The Sun Devils were 1-5 without their star guard. It's been a topsy-turvy season for the 6-4, 210-pound junior after being chosen to the second team all-Pac-10 squad last season. ASU's inability to find a point guard has forced Lockett to assume the duties of directing the offense. He leads the team in scoring (13.6 points per game), rebounding (6.3), minutes per game (34.9), field goals made (86), three-point percentage (.447), free throws made (69) and attempted (98), steals (29), career starts (63) and games played (75). He's also third in assists (42).

Last week, Lockett scored 12 points on 2-for-4 shooting during his comeback to lead ASU to a 57-52 win over Utah. He made 7 of 11 free throws and had six rebounds. Lockett also tallied 10 points on 3-for-8 shooting and had four rebounds in his last outing.





OVERVIEW

--- Junior wing Carrick Felix teamed with Washington center Aziz N'Diaye at the College of Southern Idaho. He's capable of big scoring nights and had 20 points this season against Washington State. His career high is 22. Still, Felix had just seven points on seven shots in 37 minutes against Washington. He is the only ASU player who has started every game and second on the team with a 10.2 scoring average.

--- Sophomore center Jordan Bachynski is hitting his stride lately. In the past seven games, he's averaging 9.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and shooting 67.6 percent from the field and 62.9 percent from the line. In the first 18 games, he was averaging 2.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and shooting 46.2 percent from the field and 35.3 percent at the line.

--- Sophomore forward Kyle Cain came off the bench and played eight scoreless minutes against Washington. He's starting again and averaged 5 points and 4.5 rebounds in two games last week.

--- Arizona State is 1-6 on the road, including a 62-53 win at USC.

--- The Sun Devils are last in the Pac-12 averaging 16.6 turnovers per game.

--- ASU averages 55.7 points in conference games, which ranks 10th in the league.

--- The Sun Devils are one of nine schools among 338 Division I teams without a senior.

--- Since Sendek arrived, ASU has played a stingy matchup zone that has frustrated Washington in the past.

--- The Sun Devils are playing without sophomore guard Keala King who was dismissed after violating team rules. He was ASU's leading scorer when he was kicked off the team.

--- Point guard Jahii Carson was heralded as one of the most promising freshman in the Pac-12, However, he was ruled ineligible by the NCAA Clearinghouse and will not play this season.

--- ASU is also without two transfers Evan Gordan (Liberty) and Bo Barnes (Hawaii) who are sitting out due to NCAA rules.

--- The Sun Devils have used nine different lineups this season. The lineup (below) is 1-1.



STARTING LINEUP:

C - Jordan Bachynski, 7-2, 257, So., 4.8 ppg., 3.7 rpg., 1.2 bpg.
F - Jonathan Gilling, 6-7, 219, Fr., 6.1, 1.5, 1.8 apg.
F - Kyle Cain, 6-7, 213, So., 8.4, 5.9, 47.1 FG%
G - Carrick Felix, 6-6, 197, Jr., 10.2, 4.4, 1.4 apg.
G - Trent Lockett 6-4, 210, Jr., 13.6, 6.3, 2.2 apg.





KEY MATCHUP:

--- Arizona State is one of the biggest teams in the Pac-12, but it's also one of the slowest teams in the conference. It's not often when you get a chance to see two seven footers battle beneath the basket and N'Diaye will have a difficult time against Bachynski, who came off the bench and had 13 rebounds and nine points in 23 minutes in their first encounter. N'Diaye finished with eight rebounds and five points in 22 minutes.

In the first game, Washington never got a good read on Gilling. That's likely to change tonight. Gilling got many open looks and it's safe to say, he'll be higher on the Huskies' scouting report than he was last month.

Still the key to the game for UW is Lockett. He's the only ASU player who can get his own shot off the dribble and he creates scoring opportunities for others.