By John Sleeper
Herald Writer
SEATTLE – Count Oregon State men’s basketball coach Ritchie McKay as a believer in Arizona State this season.
McKay’s Beavers split with the Sun Devils in two rugged games Dec. 22 and last Friday and can say that the 2002 ASU team bears little resemblance to last year’s squad that finished 5-13 in the Pacific-10 Conference, 13-16 overall.
The 2000-01 Sun Devils were a rudderless ship at times. Young, inexperience players dotted the roster. The team had to deal with the emotional hit of discovering that forward Justin Allen, counted on to bring toughness and rebounding, was found to have Hodgkin’s Disease and would be lost for at least the season. And it was the worst outside shooting team in the Pac-10 last year, connecting on just 29 percent of its three-point attempts.
But after getting a close look at the Sun Devils (2-2 Pac-10 play, 9-4 overall) in a 62-57 victory in Corvallis and a 67-58 loss in Tempe, McKay came away impressed.
“They’re playing great,” he said. “They’re playing very good team basketball, especially on the defensive end.”
That comes as bad news for the Washington Huskies (0-4, 6-8), swimming in a six-game losing streak and in the midst of a brutal early-league schedule.
The Huskies, victims of too many turnovers and not enough defense, face a vastly improved Sun Devils squad at Hec Edmundson Pavilion tonight. Rugged, experienced forward Chad Prewitt is averaging 21.6 points and 8.2 rebounds in his last five games and is catching the eyes of pro scouts. Allen isn’t all the way back, but has been an inspiration simply by rejoining the team.
Far from the turnover-plagued team of last season, the Sun Devils make few mistakes, as evidenced by just seven turnovers against the Beavers Sunday. Junior guard Kyle Dodd, who shares the point guard spot with freshman Jason Braxton, has 36 assists and just seven turnovers for the season.
Any questions about ASU’s quality were answered Sunday in a 95-88 victory over a strong Oregon team that swept yearly-power Arizona.
“They gained great confidence with that win,” UW coach Bob Bender said.
Washington needs a victory in the worst way, especially after having lost two games to USC by a combined 42 points. The Huskies haven’t won in more than a month, not since Dec. 8 , when they beat New Mexico State 74-62 on the road. A win tonight, and/or one Saturday against Arizona, would do wonders for a painfully young team whose confidence has taken hits.
” ‘Important’ is too easy of a characterization,” Bender said. “There has to be a total understanding in what we need to accomplish – winning. That’s what all this comes down to, is winning a basketball game. I’ve kept referring to the need for improvement, and I continue to do that. But in improvement, we need to win.
“For us to accomplish the goals of winning, that next step has to occur.”
Bender said his team, which includes six regulars who weren’t on the active roster last year, has to accelerate the maturation process. To that end, the coaching staff is turning the screws a tad, communicating that all five on the floor have to be productive. If they aren’t, they’ll sit.
“Against the Pac-10 opponents, we’re not good enough to beat people with one, two or three players,” Bender said. “I think it’s become pretty obvious.”
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