ASU’s Bachynski unleashing ‘inner animal’

Where did that come from?

Arizona State didn’t have enough to upset the Washington
Huskies on Thursday, but it wasn’t due to a lack of effort
by sophomore big man Jordan Bachynski.

The 7-foot-2 Canadian had 9 points and a career-high 13
rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench in the 60-54 loss.

After the game, Bachynski downplayed his performance.

“I’m just trying to carry my weight on the team,” he said.

And he has been. After a three-game stretch during which
Bachynski had just 1 point and 6 rebounds, he’s averaging
9.5 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 67% in ASU’s
last two contests. He’s also blocked 5 shots, changed
several others and is hustling for loose balls.

His head coach, Herb Sendek, had a much more detailed
description of what’s going on with Bachynski.

“I think last week, before the Utah game, he just decided
he was going to be more of an animal,” Sendek said.
“That’s kind of the picture he has in his mind for himself
at this point. Even though it’s still a work in progress,
that mindset is serving him very well.”

Unfortunately, Sendek didn’t have such a clear answer when
asked about how to get sophomore Chanse Creekmur on track
again.

“I don’t know,” Sendek answered honestly. “He’s not
getting a lot of looks but really the best way to get
going is to make plays and not just to limit it to one
facet of the game.”

Against Oregon State two weeks ago, Creekmur was simply on
fire, hitting 8 of 9 shots and 6 of 7 three-point attempts
en route to a career-high 24-point night. He hasn’t
scored in his last three games despite playing an average
of 33 minutes per game.

Lockett Update: Sendek didn’t sound too confident
when discussing the possibility of Trent Lockett’s return
for Saturday’s game against Washington State.

“At this point we have to continue to be prepared to not
play with him,” he said.

Lockett, ASU’s leading scorer, has missed the last three
games with an ankle injury suffered in the second half of
the win over Oregon State.

Follow @Vincemarotta