Arizona State is 9-9 on the year and 1-5 in conference with their lone win coming over Oregon on the road. The most recently lost to WSU by 17 in a 78-61 game.
ASU only has 3 players who have competed in all 18 games this year, a little strange considering a team needs 5 players on the court to start the game (yes this is not always true, but for college it essentially is). Those 3 players are Rihards Kuksiks, Kyle Cain, and Ruslan Pateev.
ASU is led in scoring by Ty Abbott with 13.5 points per game, followed closely by Trent Lockett with 13.3 points per game. Kuksiks is the only other major point contributor with 9.4 per game. ASU is a low scoring team, averaging 63 per game and only 58 in conference.
ASU does not rebound extremely well either, averaging only 33 per game. Kyle Cain is picking up 6.2 per game and Lockett adds 5.6 boards per match up. To say the least, this is a big opportunity for our bigs to put up some big rebounding numbers as ASU lacks a strong post player with rebounding talents.
Both Abbott and Kuksiks are strong outside shooters. Kuksiks really took it to the Dawgs last time, if my memory serves me well. Both are shooting around 40% from range. Abbott is 48 of 120, while Kuksiks has made 43 of 112 attempts from range.
Thankfully, ASU is a terrible free throw shooting team as well, with only two players near or above 75% on the year. Kuksiks leads the team with 81% and Carrick Felix is 74% on the season.
ASU does not have any stand out players except for Rihards Kuksiks and he is only mildly impressive. Much like Jorge Guitierrez of Cal, Kuksiks is good because he has to be. At least that is how I see it. He shoot well from outside, but doesn't do much more.
Jamelle McMillian is a fairly good point guard, averaging 4.2 assists and 1.5 turnovers per game. He only scores 6.2 points per game.
Starting Line Ups
Arizona State
Jamelle McMillian 6-2 180lb G
Ty Abbott 6-3 205lb G
Trent Lockett 6-3 210lb G
Rihards Kuksiks 6-6 206lb G/F
Ruslan Pateev 7-0 249lb C
Washington
Isaiah Thomas 5-9 185lb G
Scott Suggs 6-6 195lb G
Justin Holiday 6-6 185lb F
Matthew Bryan-Amaning 6-9 240lb F
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb C
Keys to the Game
Rebounding
As usual, rebounding will be key. Unlike the Arizona game, ASU does not have a dominate rebounding force, nor are they a highly competitive team for UW. Regardless, more rebounds = more chances for us and less for ASU. Personally, I would love to see a 15 board advantage by games end including 10+ for both MBA and Aziz. I think it is very plausible for both as Aziz was able to play 27 minutes by avoiding foul trouble. He and MBA combined for 15 boards last game against a strong Arizona frontcourt. Pateev, despite being 7 feet tall, only picks up 2.3 boards per game.
Outside Defense
This is one of the few places ASU could hurt us. As I stated earlier, Kuksiks was on fire from range last time the teams met and along with Abbott there could be a closer game if they are hitting. Strong outside, man to man defense will be key in preventing this. I think putting Suggs in the starting 5 will help prevent this as he is a taller defender and can get his hand up higher.
Push the Middle
This has been working extremely well for the Huskies as I.T. has really stepped up his passing game, creating hell for the opposition. With UW having a big size advantage inside there is a big opportunity for MBA and/or Aziz to put up major numbers. Once our bigs get going or I.T. is slashing the court up, ASU will be forced to double up on the defenders or resort to a zone, giving out shooters space to put up their shots.
Outside Shooting
Once the middle is strong we need to take advantage by abusing ASU from range. Holiday has been shooting well and I.T. as well. Hopefully C.J. Wilcox can break out of his slump and move his way back up the rotation. Let it rain, Dawgs.
Free Throw Shooting
Thank goodness Thursday's game was not a close one or our FT shooting would have killed us. I.T. had a now unusual off night and MBA continued to shoot around 50%. Holiday and Ross were very solid. Let's hope I.T. corrects his mistakes and the rest of the team can hit well.
A quick side note for those who missed the game Thursday. MBA was fouled hard on a break away and had an eye problem. He went to the sideline to get it checked out. The refs did not call a medical timeout and I.T. stepped to the line and for whatever reason the refs gave him the ball. I.T. shot it and missed, then told the refs I'm not the shooter. The refs were pissed I.T. was making them look bad. MBA got fixed up and hit both free throws. Hilarious.
Ball Handling
UW had some early miscues and mishandles early in the UA game and it kept UA in it til late. In the second half they cleaned up their play and, no surprise, they dominated. Handling the ball well will mean a blow out on Saturday as UW is statistically superior in every way.
Final Thoughts
This should be an easy game for UW, but they cannot afford to over look ASU. As long as they play with the toughness and tenacity they brought against UA, the Dawgs will not have any problems handling ASU. We will likely see big numbers from I.T., MBA, and Holiday again and I think we could see some solid numbers from Aziz and either Ross or Suggs. I think Wilcox is having some confidence issues that aren't quite dealt with yet and it may take another few games of slow, steady progress to get back to where he was. He is a freshman and has plenty of time to reemerge as a dominant, offensive threat. With good passing, strong post play, and some decent outside shooting the Huskies should have this one in the bag big and early. I think this is another Pac-10 team we could drop 100 on. ASU does not have a lot of size, experience, or talent. They are rebuilding after losing Derrick Glasser and the other ASU seniors.
Final Score UW-104 ASU-66
Links
Dirt: http://tinyurl.com/DPD-ASU
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