Believe.
That's what Savon Goodman said the ASU locker room is doing right now. Yes, they'll need to believe in each other, but the maroon and gold also have to have a healthy dose of faith, luck and skill to pull their season back together, and Colorado may provide the prime opportunity to do just that.
ASU update 8-9 (0-4):
The Sun Devils fell to No. 8 Utah Thursday night in front of a record crowd of students. While the "curtain of distraction" made positive headlines for ASU, the maroon and gold were on the losing end of a 76-59 final score against the Utes. ASU limited some turnovers as Sendek utilized Tra Holder at the point guard spot to try and spread the ball around. Goodman was the only Sun Devil to have any true success against the Utes, mustering 9 points and 10 rebounds. Foul trouble hampered ASU most of the night as Eric Jacobsen picked up three in the first half while Goodman and Jon Gilling fouled out. Willie Atwood played a large helping of minutes in relief.
Colorado update 9-7 (2-2):
The Buffs lost down in Tucson to Arizona 68-54. Askia Booker led the way in a loosing effort with 30 points. Tad Boyle currently has Colorado sitting eighth in the Pac-12 with Booker also leading the team in scoring, averaging 16.4 points per game. Junior forward Josh Scott is the better all-around player though, with 13.8 points and 7.2 boards per contest. The Buffs swept the Los Angeles schools but was embarrassed by Utah as well and have dropped their last two. Colorado doesn't have any overly impressive wins and also holds losses to Wyoming, Georgia, Colorado State, George Washington and Hawaii.
Keys to victory:
1. Take the physicality to them
After Thursday night's loss, Sendek touched on the fact that ASU did in fact execute well in the early going, due in part to the fact that they kept pushing the ball and stayed physical in the paint. Jacobsen then picked up his second foul and it quickly became a different ball game. ASU rebounded pretty well against Utah and if they can take that away as a positive and do so again against Colorado, they could find some success.
2. Take the open shot
This sounds a bit peculiar because it's so logical, but it's something ASU didn't do occasionally on Thursday. Even Sendek commented that their were a few times where good shots were passed up for much poorer looks. The Sun Devils need to have confidence in their shooting ability even when shots aren't falling because the only way the shots will start to fall is to shoot some more. If ASU can get some high percentage looks to fall early, it will help a lot.
3. Continue to find Goodman
Savon Goodman has been the Sun Devils most consistent player since he came on in mid December. He consistently plays in another gear and had a tremendous alley-oop dunk from Kodi Justice Thursday. If the Sun Devils are going to start winning a couple of games, it starts and ends with how well he produces around the paint on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. He certainly seemed hungry to win in the post game press conference.
For some reason, my gut tells me that if the execution in practice is there, ASU has to pull one out eventually. I think they find a way to do that Saturday.
Prediction: ASU-78 Colorado- 70