Chris Colvin wasn't Arizona State's first choice to play point guard this season. The Sun Devils intended to go with incoming freshman Jahii Carson, who never became eligible.
Colvin also wasn't the second option. That was sophomore Keala King, who was converted from shooting guard but then struggled with his attitude and was dismissed from the team in early January.
Colvin wasn't even the third choice. That was versatile junior wing Trent Lockett, who took over when King was dismissed. But when Lockett sprained his right ankle three weeks ago, Colvin was the only option. And even then he wasn't an obvious choice, as he has been suspended from the team twice this season.
The junior transfer finally is beginning to deliver, though, as he had a career-high 16 points in a 40-minute effort as Arizona State ended a three-game losing streak with a 71-67 home victory over Washington State on Saturday.
"Chris Colvin arguably played his best game as a Sun Devil," coach Herb Sendek said. "Obviously, he had his career high in scoring, but much more importantly, he's settling in and starting to get more comfortable with what we're doing."
In the four games Lockett has missed, Colvin has averaged 11.5 points, 4.8 assists and 4.5 turnovers. Not perfect, but getting better.
In fact, the Sun Devils delivered some of their best ball movement of the season against Washington State, shooting 54.4 percent, thanks partly to 18 assists.
"If you said, 'At the halfway point of the Pac-12 season, what is the single most improved area for this basketball team?' I would have to say our ball movement, our passing, our ability to play together," Sendek said. "If you go back and look in the rearview mirror, we were a team that obviously suffered from an awful lot of dribbling and ball sticking. And I thought today, it was just fun to watch."
NOTES, QUOTES
-- The Sun Devils had played four consecutive games without junior G Trent Lockett, sidelined by a right ankle sprain. Arizona State hopes to have him back for the upcoming games at Stanford and Cal.
-- G Chris Colvin made arguably the biggest play in the Sun Devils' win over Washington State when he rebounded his own badly missed shot and converted the put-back for a 66-60 lead with less than two minutes left.
-- Arizona State shot just 37.3 percent from the field, including 7 for 23 from 3-point range, in a 60-54 loss to Washington on Jan. 26. The league's most turnover-prone team, the Sun Devils also coughed the ball up 15 times.
BY THE NUMBERS: 18 -- Turnovers forced by the Sun Devils against Washington State, nearly eight more than Arizona State was generating per game in Pac-12 action.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "We're not spending a whole lot of time (looking ahead). The message to myself -- and to the extent I can convey it to the team -- is to really stay in the present. That's kind of what we're trying to do." -- Arizona State coach Herb Sendek, after his team beat Washington State to snap a three-game losing streak.
PLAYER NOTES
-- Sophomore C Jordan Bachynski is starting to make a
difference. A 7-foot-2 native of Calgary, Alberta,
who hardly contributed much of this season, Bachynski delivered nine
points and a career-high 13 rebounds off the bench in Arizona State's
60-54 loss to Washington on Jan. 26. Two days later, he scored a
career-high 11 points, shooting 5 for 5 from the field, as ASU topped
Washington State 71-67. Over the past three games,
Bachynski has averaged 10.0 points and 7.3 rebounds while shooting 11 for 14.
-- Freshman G Jonathan Gilling scored a career-high 20 points in Arizona State's loss to Washington on Jan. 26. The native of Vaduz, Denmark, shot 5 for 12 from 3-point range and added five rebounds. He contributed 10 points and seven assists to the win over Washington State.
-- Junior G Carrick Felix scored 20 points, including four free throws in the final 18 seconds, to lead ASU in the win over Washington State. It was his third double-digit game in the past four; Felix is averaging 13.3 points in that span.
