Without starters Keala King and Kyle Cain and reserve guard Chris Colvin (all suspended), the Arizona St. Sun Devils came out on Thursday against the USC Trojans and delivered. The team shot over 60% overall and over 50% from behind the three-point line to compensate for 15 turnovers and claim a 62-53 win over USC.
Down three players, the Sun Devils got big games from Carrick Felix and Trent Lockett to make up for lost production. Felix scored 22 points to lead all scores and went three-for-four from behind the arc to give ASU an offensive boost early. Meanwhile, Lockett had 19 points in addition to nine rebounds, four assists and three steals. His all-around effort was mired by seven turnovers, but overall Lockett did a fine job of managing the offense and helping ASU get shots (for both himself and for others).
USC did a good job of cutting down its own turnovers (only six total ), but the team shot only 27% from distance and 38% overall. Compared with ASU's totals of 53% and 61%, respectively, the Trojans couldn't score consistently enough to move ahead in this game.
ASU had the lead from the beginning and used a barrage of quick three-pointers from Chanse Creekmur, Jonathan Gilling and Felix to gain some early momentum. By halftime, the Sun Devils had a 34-22 lead. When the Trojans managed to close within one point with 9:12 left to play in the second half, Lockett and Felix went back to work and sealed the deal. By night's end, the Sun Devils had earned their first conference win of the year.
ASU is now 1-1 in Pac-12 play. The Sun Devils will look to improve to 2-1 when they face off against the UCLA Bruins on Saturday. ASU will play without King, Cain and Colvin for Saturday's game as well.