The Sun Devils complete their road trip to Los Angeles tonight, taking on USC after losing to UCLA way back in 2009. The biggest obstacle? Overcoming USC's surprisingly strong start.
Conquest Chronicles is the blog of the home team here at SBN; feel free to visit them in case you want to read more about the Trojans. Lets take a look at some notes from the ASU athletic website:
THURSDAY RECAP
ASU fell to UCLA 72-70 after battling back from a 16-point second-half deficit, as the Bruins shot 62.9 percent (22-of-35) from the field, the best mark by an ASU opponent in the past 135 games. Utah Valley State shot 27-of-41 (.659) on Dec. 10, 2005...UCLA's 42 first-half points were the most surrendered by ASU in the opening half in the past 63 games. UCLA was up 46-24 on Jan. 31, 2008...UCLA was 15-of-18 (.833) from the field in the first half, including 8-of-10 from three ...ASU had a season-low six turnovers...Rihards Kuksiks led ASU with 15 points, while Ty Abbott and Derek Glasser had 12...Demetrius Walker gave ASU eight points in 16 minutes off the bench.
I would like to see Trent Lockett get a lot more playing time tonight - it is clear that we aren't all that athletic, and involving Lockett may give us a better shot at getting out of California with a .500 conference record.
LIKING THE ROAD
Derek Glasser is averaging 17.8 points in ASU's four games away from Tempe this year and is shooting 20-of-40 (.500) from the field, 9-of-16 (.563) from the three-point stripe and 78.6 percent (22-of-28) from the line. This trend can go back to last season as well...Glasser averaged 13.2 points in the final five games last year, all of them away from Tempe, as ASU played three games at the Pac-10 Tournament and two in Miami for the NCAAs.
Glasser is a seasoned point guard, harking back to the days of yore, when athletes played stuck around for four full years. He is our Gerry McNamara. Our T.J. Sorrentine.
Why do I name four-year, white point guards who could shoot the lights out? Because Derek is in that mold. Lets look at McNamara's stats in his senior year at Syracuse back in 2005-2006.
35 minutes a game, scoring 16.0 points, 5.9 assists, 90% FT, 33% from 3PT.
And T.J. Sorrentine's senior year at Vermont, back in 2004-2005?
36.5 minutes a game, scoring 18.7 points, 4.2 assists, 81% FT, 40% from 3PT.
Finally, the Glassman:
32.4 minutes a game, scoring 11.8 points, 5.5 assists, 89.1% FT, 46.8% from 3PT.
This guy is making his senior year count. He is helping our young players develop, and I would like to see more of it. Lets play Glasser with Lockett, Rudd, Pateev, Walker. Lets show these young guys what heart can do. And lets leave California with a win.