GAME NOTES: The Arizona State Sun Devils of the Pac-10 Conference welcome the Richmond Spiders of the Atlantic 10 Conference to Tempe this afternoon.
Richmond put together a four-game win streak recently to improve to 6-1 on the season, but the squad suffered a 77-70 defeat on Wednesday to Old Dominion. The Spiders enter today's tilt having played two true road games to date, and both have resulted in defeat.
As for Arizona State, it has suffered back-to-back losses to fall to 3-3 overall. After dropping a nine-point decision to St. John's of the Big East Conference last weekend, the Sun Devils tell to Baylor of the Big 12 on Thursday by a 68-54 final. ASU has failed to score 60 points in three consecutive games, so offensive production is a major area of concern.
The Spiders won their only previous meeting with ASU by a 76-63 final during the 1987-88 campaign.
Richmond has played well at both ends of the court, as it is scoring 74.8 ppg on 51.2 percent shooting from the floor, including 43.4 percent from three- point range, while limiting foes to 58.8 ppg on 37.8 percent field goal efficiency, including 28.5 percent from behind the arc. Kevin Anderson is the top performer for the Spiders, as he is netting 17.0 ppg on the strength of his 48.4 percent shooting from three-point range. He also leads the squad with 29 assists and 10 steals. Justin Harper checks in with 12.5 ppg on 59.7 percent shooting from the floor, and he is pulling down 5.9 rpg as well. In the loss to Old Dominion last time out, Richmond suffered a 41-29 rebounding disadvantage and was outscored 15-1 from the foul line. Anderson played quite well in defeat, as he tallied 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the floor, including 5-of-6 from behind the arc. Cedrick Lindsay posted 15 points off the bench, and Justin Harper contributed 14 points and eight rebounds.
Trent Lockett is scoring 16.2 ppg to pace Arizona State, and he is a 66.7 percent shooter from the floor. Lockett is second on the team in rebounding with 6.3 rpg and second in assists as well with 19 helpers. Ty Abbott checks in with 11.8 ppg, and Rihards Kuksiks is close to joining those two players in double figures, as he is tallying 9.0 ppg. The Sun Devils are generating a mere 62.5 ppg, and they are allowing 65.0 ppg to the opposition. In the loss to Baylor last time out, Lockett only attempted two field goals in 29 minutes of action, and that lack of aggressiveness certainly contributed to the negative outcome. Kuksiks led ASU with 13 points in that affair, and Abbott tallied 12 points. The Sun Devils connected on 5-of-9 three-point attempts in the first half, but a 3-of-14 showing from behind the arc over the final 20 minutes led to the loss.
Give a narrow edge to ASU today, as Lockett figures to bounce back strong. Still, don't be surprised if Richmond wins this tilt.
GAME NOTES: The Arizona State Sun Devils of the Pac-10 Conference welcome the Richmond Spiders of the Atlantic 10 Conference to Tempe this afternoon.
FACTS & STATS: Site: Wells-Fargo Arena (14,088) -- Tempe, Arizona. Television: FSN-AZ. Home Record: Richmond 4-0, Arizona St. 1-0. Away Record: Richmond 0-2, Arizona St. 0-2. Neutral Record: Richmond 2-0, Arizona St. 2-1. Conference Record: Richmond 0-0, Arizona St. 0-0. Series Record: Richmond leads, 1-0.
Sunday, December 5th, 2:00 p.m. (et)
Arizona State 64, Richmond 63