GameTrax: Stats and more
By Jack Magruder
FOXSportsArizona.com
Navigating the balanced Pac-10 is difficult enough, even at home, even against an opponent that does not enter conference play with obvious title aspirations.
To try to do without the team leader was too much for ASU to overcome in a 55-41 loss to Stanford on Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena, the fewest points the Sun Devils have scored in the 35-year history of the building.
Lead guard Jamelle McMillan, who has not practiced since the first week of December because of a groin strain, finally was forced to sit out, and without him the Sun Devils were unable to get into any kind of rhythm. Shots were contested, or a bit out of range.
ASU committed nine turnovers in the first half and made only seven shots (in 26 attempts) in the second to lose its home opener to the Cardinal, which scored the final 10 points and at 2-0 joins Washington as the only undefeated teams remaining in conference play.
The Sun Devils shot 35.4 percent from the field and were 1 of 14 from three-point range. Five of their 3-point attempts came in the final two minutes in desperation mode, but many of the others were taken under duress or by players not expected to shoot from those spots on the floor.
Ty Abbott made ASU's only 3-pointer during an 11-0 run late in the first half, but other than that stretch ASU was unable to make much happen.
"It always hurts when you lose your point guard. It showed," said Abbott, who was 1 of 5 from the field and was hounded defensively by the Cardinal's Jarrett Mann. "We had too many contested shots. That was pretty much all we could get."
"Obviously the point guard is an important spot. He has a lot of experience. We really rely on him heavily. Unfortunately, that's all part of the process. We really struggled on offense in every possible way this evening," ASU coach Herb Sendek said.
"It's a really dangerous road to go down if you want to start attributing our team's play to the absence of any one player. The guys who are in the lineup have to step up, not one man for him but collectively to make up for a player's absence."
ASU did it last week, when Carrick Felix stepped in for Trent Lockett in the split on the Oregon trip, but it was not that easy Thursday. McMillen entered the weekend leading the Pac-10 with a 4.5 assists average and third with an almost 3:1 turnover to assist ratio. He is not a scorer, but his penetration and understanding of the offense sets up others.
Lockett, back in the starting lineup after missing two games with a sprained left big toe, added some oomph with 10 points and seven rebounds in his return.
Reserves Felix and Ruslan Pateev also scored 10 points apiece while combining for seven rebounds in 53 minutes, and may not be reserves much longer. Felix is the most athletic player on the floor when he plays, and his drive from the left wing for a slam dunk five minutes into the second half brought ASU to within one, 32-31, the closest it would get.
He and Lockett play the same small forward position, but Felix saw time at both off guard and big forward at times Thursday as Rik Kuksiks continued to struggle from the field. Kuksiks missed all of his three 3-point attempts and had two points, two rebounds and two assists in 22 minutes.
Pateev, 7-foot, scored on three dunks, a layup and an 8-foot hook shot, and his girth also provides an inside presence for a team that otherwise lacks a physical presence underneath. Six-7 Kyle Cain, who replaced Pateev in the starting lineup in the fourth game of the season, missed his only field goal attempt and had one rebound in 15 minutes.
"Ruslan was one of the bright spots. When we got it inside to him, some good things happened for us," Sendek said.
Abbott, who as a spot-up perimeter shooter benefits from drive-and-dish, has 11 points and three field goals in his last two games.
"He didn't get a whole lot of looks tonight. They did a good job on him. Obviously, teams know who he is, like we try to identify the guys who can hurt us on the other team. So that means we're going to have to work extra hard to help him get some shots," Sendek said.
"He's our leader. As a team, we have to do a better job of getting him shots. Finding his man and screening for him getting him the ball where he likes it," Lockett said.
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