TEMPE, Az. – Arizona State stacked up several more individual firsts Saturday, all the result of buying into the team concept.
Point guard Chris Colvin had a career-high 16 points, Jonathan Gilling had a career-high seven assists and Jordan Bachynski had a career-high 11 points in a 71-67 Pac-12 victory over Washington State, but what was most relevant was that all of that came within the flow of the offense.
ASU (7-14, 3-6) executed its flex offense with a precision heretofore unseen this season, especially in the first half, when extra pass after extra pass led to open shot after open shot.
"I loved the ball movement, the patience and the discipline. We made each other better throughout the game, especially some terrific possessions in the first half. It was fun to watch," ASU coach Sendek said.
"We're growing on offense."
A few weeks ago, it may have been hard to imagine ASU coalescing in this way. Three players were suspended for the opening Pac-12 trip to Los Angeles, and guard Keala King – the leading scorer at the time – was dismissed a day later. New leading scorer Trent Lockett suffered a sprained right ankle against Oregon State two weeks ago and had missed the last four games. The Sun Devils persevered through to the other side.
"Excuse my language, but we've been through hell and back. Definitely we're fighting together. We're going to keep grinding and keep believing," said leading scorer Carrick Felix, who had 20 points, five rebounds and four assists.
With Lockett watching from the bench in street clothes, ASU made 55 percent of its field goal attempts, including 7 of 15 from three-point range, and used a 23-7 run midway through the first half to take early control, although Washington State (11-10, 3-6) regained the lead later in the half.
ASU recovered and held a lead the entire second half, and the Cougars never were closer than four until the final 26 seconds despite Brock Motum's career-high 34 points. The Cougars, like ASU, were without a key component when second-leading scorer Faisal Aden missed the game after suffering a knee injury in the Arizona game Thursday.
"We executed, played together and shared the ball. All we're doing is executing now, playing slow and giving what the defense gives us. The one thing coached stressed to us was the extra pass, and we wanted to carry that over into the game," Felix said.
The Sun Devils had 16 points in six possessions in its decisive first-half run, including two threes by Felix, one by Gilling and one by Colvin. Gilling had three assists and Kyle Cain two in that stretch, when they sorted through Washington State's man-to-man defense until they found a good shot, then knocked it down.
ASU had 18 assists, its second highest total of the year, and for the first time this season had fewer turnovers than its opponent (18-16).
"If you are going to be a good shooting team, first you have to be a good passing team. The shots you shoot in rhythm are the ones you are going to make," Sendek said.
"That was the key, taking care of the ball," Colvin said.
Felix and Colvin made three threes apiece, and Colvin also had a career-high six rebounds while playing the full 40 minutes, another season first. A junior college transfer who lost his starting job early in the season, Colvin has made great strides after being suspended twice in the first half of the season, the second time for the L.A. trip.
"Trent went down, so I knew I had to step up," said Colvin, who has started the last four games.
"It was either step up or move on, and I chose to step up. My team gave me confidence to do it, and I just came out and did what I needed to do."
Seven-foot-2 Bachynski is showing the same confidence in recent weeks, another reason for ASU to feel good as it prepares for the most difficult road trip in the Pac-12, to Bay Area teams California and Stanford next weekend.
Bachynski made all five of his field goal attempts and had two rebounds and two blocked shots, although foul trouble limited him to only 17 minutes. He has averaged 10 points and 7.3 rebounds a game in the last three games, and Saturday got his third start of the season, his first since a Dec. 3 victory at Tulsa.
"We're at a good point right now," Felix said. "Without Trent it is hard. He is a great player and a leader. When he jumps back in, it will actually get better."
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