Short-handed ASU travels to Washington schools

Jan 20, 2011, 12:22 AM | Updated: 3:48 am

TEMPE – The ASU Sun Devils head north on a two-game road trip to take on Washington St. on Thursday and Washington on Saturday and looking to get their season turned around.

“We put ourselves in this situation so we’ve got to get ourselves out,” said guard Jamelle McMillan.

ASU(9-8, 1-4 in the PAC-10) is coming off a loss to the rival Arizona Wildcats last week and will still be shorthanded this weekend.

Freshman guard Chanse Creekmur will miss the trip because of the passing of his grandmother and guards Brandon Dunson and Carrick Felix will also be out because of illness.

The team will especially miss Felix who has been playing well of late, averaging 13.6 points in his last five games.

Felix and Dunson have missed practice all week.

Senior forward Rihards Kuksiks (illness) has also missed practice time this week but did make the trip.

All the injuries and illnesses have made it difficult for the Sun Devils to find any rhythm as a unit.

“I don’t think we’ve had the entire roster all year,” said McMillan.

However, ASU’s achilles’ heel lately has been their lack of rebounding.

The Sun Devils are getting out-rebounded by almost 12 boards a game in conference play and they’ve been out-rebounded in their last six games overall.

“The main thing is we’ve got to find our block out assignments and find a way to rebound the ball. Until we’re able to do that, we’re going to struggle,” said McMillan.

ASU has started to see some emergence from 7-foot-2 freshman Jordan Bachynski who had a season-high four block shots against Arizona.

“Being able to alter shots and block shots is just as important as anything else because stopping two points is just as good as getting two points,” said Bachynski.

The 21-year-old is just now getting back into basketball shape and finding his role on the team after being away on his mission and away from the game for the past two years.

“I need to be willing to play whatever role coach Sendek needs me to play,” said Bachynski.

The Sun Devils know that no matter the mounting injuries and absent players the team is running out of time to get it together and start winning games.

“As a team, we’ve had enough. We’re ready to start winning and start putting everything behind us and really perform,” said Bachynski.

The Sun Devils swept Washington St. last year and split with Washington.

Arizona Sports’ Craig Grialou contributed to this report.

Arizona State Basketball

Arizona State guard Malachi Davis. (Instagram Photo/@malachiidavis)...
Jake Anderson

Arizona State picks up JUCO guard Malachi Davis in transfer portal

Arizona State men's basketball coach Bobby Hurley got his first domino to fall in the transfer portal on Thursday in JUCO guard Malachi Davis.
1 day ago
Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley, right, and guard Frankie Collins pause near the team bench during...
Jake Anderson

After contract extension, ASU’s Bobby Hurley wasting no time building toward future

ASU men's basketball coach Bobby Hurley has had very little time to celebrate his two-year contract extension through the 2025-26 season.
2 days ago
Arizona State's Austin Nunez (2) pushes away from UCLA's Jaylen Clark (0) during the second half of...
Arizona Sports

ASU freshman Austin Nunez entering transfer portal

Arizona State guard Austin Nunez will enter the transfer portal after playing a reserve role as a freshman for the Sun Devils.
3 days ago
Miles Byrd #21, Demarshay Johnson Jr. #11 and Elijah Saunders #25 of the San Diego State Aztecs run...
Associated Press

San Diego State holds off Creighton to advance to Final Four

SDSU muscled its way into its first Final Four, grinding out a 57-56 victory over Creighton on Sunday in the Elite Eight.
5 days ago
Arizona State quarterback Jaden Rashada. (Instagram Photo/@jadenrashada)...
Arizona Sports

State of the Sun Devils podcast: Could QB Jaden Rashada start for ASU in 2023?

On the latest episode of State of the Sun Devils podcast, the guys broke down ASU's quarterback competition at 2023 spring ball practice.
6 days ago
Florida Atlantic players celebrate after defeating Kansas State in an Elite 8 college basketball ga...
Associated Press

Florida Atlantic punches ticket to Final Four with upset win over Kansas State

Florida Atlantic had never won an NCAA Tournament game prior to this season. Now in its second-ever tourney trip, FAU is Final Four bound.
6 days ago
Short-handed ASU travels to Washington schools