ASU basketball team takes momentum into road game at Creighton
The Arizona State men's basketball team finally has something to feel good about, back-to-back wins for the first time this season. The Sun Devils hope that will translate into a good showing in yet another tough game, this one a 6 p.m. game at Creighton (8-2) which will air on FS1.
The Sun Devils (4-6) last played on Thursday, registering a 67-62 win over local foe Grand Canyon. That was preceded by a 69-67 win at Oregon. So that's consecutive wins over reigning conference champions from the Western Athletic Conference and the Pac-12.
Maybe after a difficult start, the Sun Devils are starting to turn the corner. With 10 new players on the active roster it has been a work in progress.
“We got confidence as a team,” senior forward Kimani Lawrence said. “Things are starting to click a little bit. Still some things to clean up and work on but we’re getting better and building every day.”
Lawrence, the most veteran player on the squad, said the win over Oregon which snapped a five-game losing streak was the catalyst for a strong game against the Antelopes, and hopefully the rest of the season.
“We got a lot of good things from that game and worked on the things we need to work on,” he said. “Overall the win, it felt like it was a turning point in our season.”
Guard D.J. Horne (13.2 ppg), a transfer from Illinois State, is the team's leading scorer, followed closely by Lawrence (11.4 ppg, 8.5 rpg), who has notched five double-doubles.
Creighton is coming off an 83-71 win over No. 24 BYU. Its losses this season are to No. 19 Iowa State and Colorado State.
Creighton has four players averaging double figures led by senior forward Ryan Hawkins (14.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg). The Blue Jays were 22-9 last season. Like the Sun Devils, Creighton has turned over its roster with 10 newcomers.
The game at Creighton is just another in a stretch of tough nonconference games, three of which came in the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas. Most notable was a loss to the newly-minted No. 1 team in the country in Baylor. Others were against Syracuse and Loyola-Chicago.
Creighton is the second of four straight nonconference foes before the Sun Devils resume Pac-12 play on Dec. 30 at USC. The Sun Devils return home for a Sunday game against unbeaten San Francisco(10-0) at 4 p.m.
“We just need to keep attacking every game the same way we’ve been attacking them,” Lawrence said. “When we win we try and protect everything that we were doing going into the game. We got the same routine going right now. Just keep getting better. We can't get complacent and content with those two wins.”
Sophomore Marcus Bagley did not make the trip so he will miss his eighth straight game, having aggravated a knee injury. Bagley last played on Nov. 15 against North Florida.
In addition, senior guard Marreon Jackson is playing through a wrist injury which has hampered his shooting.
"He’s been fighting through it and it’s starting to get a little better and I think he’s getting a little bit more comfortable with that and if you can imagine being a right-handed player and the wrist you need to dribble and pass and shoot so as a point guard, it’s a issue.," coach Bobby Hurley said. "But he’s a tough kid and he’s playing through it and hopefully that will continue to get better.”
Reach the reporter at Michelle.Gardner@gannett.com or 602 444-4783. Follow her on Twitter @MGardnerSports.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ASU basketball team takes momentum into road game at Creighton
