Creekmur propels ASU to win over Oregon State

TEMPE — For the first seven games this season, ASU sophomore Chanse
Creekmur could barely hit the broad side of a barn from three-point
range. The Marshalltown, Iowa product made just 4-of-21 threes to
start the season, including a 4-game stretch in which he went 0-for-8
from behind the arc.

Oh, how times have changed. Creekmur scored a career-high 24 points
and canned 6-of-7 three-point attempts as Arizona State beat Oregon
State 76-66 at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe.

“It was just one of those nights,” Creekmur said following the game.
“One of those nights where you can just keep building off the first one
and as they start falling, you just feel more confident.”

This may have been a career night for Creekmur, but that confidence he
mentioned has been on display for the Sun Devils’ last nine games. In
that stretch, Creekmur is shooting 53.7% (22-of-41) from behind the
arc.

Creekmur’s outburst came at a good time for the Sun Devils, as leading
scorer Trent Lockett went down with an right ankle injury with 10:11
remaining in the game. Lockett was doing a little bit of everything for
ASU before the injury, filling the stat sheet with 8 points, 5 rebounds, 7
assists and 4 steals before the injury.

Head coach Herb Sendek said that x-rays on Lockett’s ankle came back
negative, but he suffered a pretty bad sprain.

The Sun Devils (6-11, 2-3 Pac-12) also got 16 points and 8 rebounds off
the bench from sophomore Kyle Cain and a significant contribution from
point guard Chris Colvin.

Colvin, who was suspended for two games last week and pulled after a
mistake-prone :28 stint in Thursday’s loss to Oregon, took charge after
the injury to Lockett, drawing praise from his head coach.

“I thought Chris did an amazing job when Trent went down with the
injury,” Sendek said. “It’s no secret that Chris has been struggling and
his confidence has been on the rocks, but for him to gather himself and
play the way he did over the last quarter of the game is just a real tribute
to him. I’m very happy for him, very proud of him.”

Colvin’s night started shaky again against the Beavers. After getting off
the bench with 12:50 to go in the first half, Colvin committed a turnover
and was pulled with 12:17 to go. This time, his first action lasted :33.
The difference tonight was that he bounced back, finishing with 6 points
and 6 assists in 13 minutes.

Noteworthy

– For just the third time this season, ASU had a positive assist-to-
turnover ratio as a team with 22 assist and 21 turnovers. The 22 assists
was a season-high for Arizona State, besting their previous high of 17
set in losses to NAU and Fresno State.

– With 10 points, Ruslan Pateev hit double-figures for the third time in
his last five games. He’s shooting 70.8% (17-of-24) from the field in
that stretch.

– Oregon State head coach Craig Robinson is now 1-6 lifetime vs.
Arizona State.

– The Sun Devils made 9-of-17 three pointers and 9-of-17 free throws
in the game.

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