Basement-dwelling Cougars vs. Stop-n-Go Devils in Tempe
Wed Feb 20, 2013 | 10:05 PM, EST | PAC-12 Network
Wells Fargo Arena | Tempe, Arizona
WASHINGTON STATE COUGARS 11-15 (2-11 Conf)
ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS 19-7 (8-5 Conf)
WAZZU
PREDOMINANT 2012-2013 STARTERS
WZU 6-03 | 175 So Royce Woolridge
WZU 6-03 | 206 So DaVonte Lacy
WZU 6-06 | 182 So Dexter Kernich-Drew
WZU 6-10 | 245 Sr Brock Motum
WZU 6-10 | 250 Jr D.J. Shelton
KEY CONTRIBUTORS
WZU 6-05 | 190 Jr Will DiIorio
WZU 6-05 | 195 Sr Mike Ladd
Cellar-dwelling Washington State is noticeably jittery
Cougs have lost BTB Home Games by 3 Total Points
Most recently, Wazzu lost to Conference Leading Ducks in OT
Not only have Cougs lost 6 in a Row & 1-8 Overall
Cougar ‘D’ has allowed 74.6 PPG during the slide
Nevertheless, WSU has reversed several ‘effort stats’ in the past few weeks
1. WZU Assist|Turnover Ratio
Cougs were Dead-Last PAC-12 most of Season
Yet they’ve exceeding their Opponents A|T% 5 of last 7 Games
2 WZU Offensive Efficiency
Wazzu was #11 PAC-12 over fist Half of PAC-12 Season Offensive Efficiency &
Even w/Coug ‘D’ floundering a little lately
Wazzu has exceeded 1.0 Points per Possession in each of their last 7 Games
3. WZU FT-Rate
WSU exceeded 5 of their last 7 Opponents Game FT Rate
4. WZU 6-10 | 247 Sr BROCK MOTUM
At long last, Cougars have TRULY been finding an ‘Option B (even Option C’)
To the all-in w/Brock Motum’ dilemma
Motum has slipped from #1 PAC-12 Scorer in 2011-12 to #3 this season
Motum has scored in 20’s just 2x this year
After hitting in 20’s SEVEN times (34 AT AZST) Last Year in PAC-12 Games
Now, Lacy pouring in 27 vs. Beavers (including 7-9 Deep)
Then Woolridge ripping out a Career-High 36 vs. Ducks
Wazzu’s young starts are erratic yet gaining serious confidence dame to game
In addition, Wazzu could’ve folded up over these last few games
Cougs showed GRIT w/TWO Game-Tying Late 3’s vs. Oregon
First to FORCE OT, the Second to Tie Game at 77 before ORE Singler’s Winning FT’s
5. WZU 3-Point Shooting
Cougs continue to shoot well from deep
WZU was 14-28 in 2 Weekend Losses to OSU & Ore
ASU
PREDOMINANT 2012-2013 STARTERS
AZST 5-10 | 173 Fr Jahii Carson
AZST 6-01 | 187 Jr Evan Gordon
AZST 6-06 | 197 Sr Carrick Felix
AZST 6-07 | 215 So Jonathan Gilling
AZST 7-02 | 252 Jr Jordan Bachynski
KEY CONTRIBUTOR
AZST 6-02 | 185 Sr Chris Colvin
ARIZONA STATE had 1-1 Weekend in the Mountains
Devils are fighting to stay in NCAA Tourney Hunt &
Devils numbers show texture of a team running low on energy
This might be elemental to Arizona State
AZST IS DEAD-LAST NCAA BENCH MIN (16.8% Min)
ASU is 2-3 Straight Up & 1-3-1 ATS last 5
AZST PACE Down Last 3 Games (PACE 58.7 Possessions/Game last 3)
After Devils had Pumped in 81 PPG game over a 4 Game Span
AZST 8.2 Three’s Made/Gm last 6 (35.7%)
ASU is back to scoring in 50’s last 3 Games (Regulation) 58½ PPG over last
AZST 5-10 Fr 173 Guard Jahil Carson (#4 Scorer in PAC-12 at 17.6)
Is getting doubled, schemed & corralled (similar to WZU’s Brock Motum
Carson has been held to 14¼ PPG Last 4 Gms
Since 28½ PPG over UW/WZU Weekend
Moreover, ASU gives conflicted impression
Between desire to play newly formed, Carson-led Up-Tempo Ball or
Remain relegated to keep falling back to less-taxing methodical tempo
ASU’s HC Herb Sendeck’s career mainstay
DEVIL FREE THROW ISSUES
AZST 59.5% FT Conf Games & JUST 50.8% FT Last 5 Games
AZST has been outscored at FT Line 66-33 over their last 5 GAMES
AZST Allowed 20½ Made FT’s last 2 Games
On POSITIVE ASU side, DEVS DEFENSE continues to stand out
AZST forced Opponents into +10 Turnover differential over last 4 Games
Devils’ are least ‘rested’ starters (NCAA) & fatigue is showing in many ways
ASU’s 2 close MOUNTAIN Games (Margin 7 Total Points) over weekend
Will have to add to their exhaustion
Sun Devils will be hard pressed to match Season-Low 4 T-Overs
As they posted in Game 1 vs. Cougars
Sluggish Devils are a good matchup for higher scoring Wazzu here
Finally a team Cougs can ‘keep up with’ Offensively
2½ UNIT
WASHINGTON STATE +7 (-110 | Betonline)
ARIZONA STATE
__________
Wed Feb 20, 2013 | 11:05 PM, EST | ESPN-2
McKale Center | Tucson, Arizona
WASHINGTON HUSKIES 14-12 (6-7 Conf)
#12 ARIZONA WILDCATS 21-4 (9-4 Conf)
UW
PREDOMINANT 2012-2013 STARTERS
WASH 6-03 | 194 Sr Abdul Gaddy
WASH 6-05 | 195 Jr C.J. Wilcox
WASH 6-07 | 222 So Desmond Simmons
WASH 6-09 | 254 So Shawn Kemp
WASH 7-00 | 262 Sr Aziz N'Diaye
KEY CONTRIBUTORS
WASH 6-06 | 197 Sr Scott Suggs
WASH 6-02 | 196 Fr Andrew Andrews
INJURED
WASH 6-02 | 185 So Hikeem Stewart
WASH 6-10 | 220 Fr Jernard Jarreau
UA
PREDOMINANT 2012-2013 STARTERS
ARIZ 6-03 | 200 So Nick Johnson
ARIZ 6-01 | 200 Sr Mark Lyons
ARIZ 6-06 | 222 Sr Kevin Parrom
ARIZ 6-07 | 221 Sr Solomon Hill
ARIZ 6-08 | 235 Fr Brandon Ashley
KEY CONTRIBUTORS
ARIZ 6-03 | 200 Jr Jordin Mayes
ARIZ 7-00 | 255 Fr Kaleb Tarczewski
ARIZ 6-10 | 235 Fr Grant Jerrett
2 TEAMS seemingly STILL struggling to define a 2012-13’ ‘Team Identity’
Though Cats may be really struggling vs. Spread (3-10 Conf)
As always we must assess IF this causes AZ to be UNDERVALUED here
REALLY believe it does
AZ still excels in all/most of things that make AZ so dynamic
During Cats’ rise to 14-0 and #3 Ranking
AZ still has sparkling FT Rate Numbers
AZ BETTER FT Rate Differential 3 of 4 & 5 of last 7 Games
Moreover, things that UW has issues;
Facing TOP 20 Defense
Facing HIGH Asst|T-Over Ratio Teams
Arizona is still strikingly good in these areas
AZ 1.33 AVG Assist to Turnover Ratio last 8 Games (OVER 1.25 in 6 of 8)
AZ Held 6 of last 8 Teams to 46% eFG or Better
Not a good matchup for Dawgs
Though initial AZ at UW matchup in Seattle was a ‘Push’
Cats dictated tempo, deliberately overcame a 5 Point UW Halftime Lead
As Teams combined to make 4-30 Deep Shots (13.3%)
Like Cats here, even at 4 Possession Number
1½ UNIT
WASHINGTON
ARIZONA -12 (-110 | Betonline)
All the best, guys