Sophomore center Jordan Bachynski put it bluntly.
"Losing ... hurts down to my core," he said.
Arizona State has had its share of setbacks lately. The Sun Devils (6-14 overall) enter Saturday's Pac-12 home game against Washington State buried in the conference standings at 2-6.
Progress is measured in effort simply because there's little else. The Sun Devils, who lost 60-54 to Washington on Thursday, haven't had leading scorer Trent Lockett since Jan. 14. The junior guard -- recently moved to the point -- has a right ankle sprain that's left the Sun Devils without their best player for three games, all losses. And it doesn't look promising for Saturday, either.
"At this point, with the short turnaround and only one day in between -- he really hasn't done anything yet -- we have to be prepared to play without him," Arizona State coach Herb Sendek said.
In four games with Lockett at the point, the Sun Devils shot 55 percent. In three losses since his injury, they have shot 41.7 percent, 38.6 percent and 37.3 percent.
Still, with greater effort, particularly on defense, the Sun Devils showed improvement against the Huskies. They hit the game's first shot, providing their first lead in 12 days. They actually led 24-22 at halftime, but it didn't hold.
"There were a number of instances where with greater awareness and alertness and just following through to make plays, especially on (defense), we could've been in a far better position," Sendek said.
One player who has the coaching staff excited is freshman Jonathan Gilling. The 6-foot-7 forward from Denmark started slowly against Washington, but he finished with a season-high 20 points, hitting five 3-pointers. For the season, he's averaging 5.8 points and shooting 41 percent from 3-point range.
"I am just thrilled with his progress," coach Herb Sendek said. "He's a tremendous shooter, and he's just a gamer. He missed his first few shots (against Washington), so I took him out at the first TV timeout. He quickly regained his composure, and he still goes on to make five 3s. That's pretty telling for a freshman."
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
-- The Cougars pulled off a home sweep of Stanford and Cal last weekend before falling to Arizona on Thursday, and they have found more ways to score in recent weeks. Sixth man Faisal Aden had 57 points in the sweep of the Bay Area schools, but freshman G DaVonte Lacy and junior PF Brock Motum are also legitimate offensive threats. This has been a very even series, but Arizona State has won three of the past four.
-- Sophomore SG Chanse Creekmur scored a career-24 points in the Jan. 14 Oregon State victory. He hasn't made a shot in the past three games, going 0 for 5 against Colorado, 0 for 3 against Utah and 0 for 4 against Washington.
-- Carrick Felix also has struggled. The athletic junior pretty much has been reduced to perimeter shooting, which isn't his strength. Felix scored just seven points in the Washington loss, and four of his seven shots were from 3-point range. At his best, Felix slashes to the basket, drawing fouls. However, over his last six games, he hasn't attempted more than three free throws in a game.
-- Center Ruslan Pateev, a 7-foot junior, did not score at Utah despite going against an team that had just one healthy player taller than 6-6. He had eight points against Washington.
