Washington St. @ Arizona State preview
T-Mobile Arena
Last Meeting ( Feb 27, 2021 ) Washington St. 74, Arizona State 77
Arizona State and Washington State enter their Pac-12 tournament first-round matchup Wednesday in Las Vegas with personnel questions that have dogged them since midway through the season.
The eighth-seeded Sun Devils (10-13, 7-10 Pac-12) played Marcus Bagley (sprained ankle) sparingly in last week's loss at Colorado, and he did not see action in Saturday's setback at Utah. He has missed eight of ASU's last nine games.
Fellow freshman standout Josh Christopher (back) did not make the trip to Colorado and Utah and has been out for eight straight games.
No. 9 seed Washington State (14-12, 7-12) has been without leading scorer Isaac Bonton (injuries to both ankles) in four out of the last five games. His status is undetermined for the matchup against the Sun Devils.
The Cougars have not played since losing at Arizona State, 77-74 in overtime, on Feb. 27 without Bonton, who averages 17.7 points per game. The teams were scheduled to play again on March 1 in Tempe, Ariz., but the game was canceled because of COVID-19 contact tracing within Arizona State's program.
Bonton played the previous game against Arizona, a 69-53 loss in which he scored only three points in 19 minutes.
"I kind of knew he would be out (against Arizona State) and maybe he came back too soon against Arizona," Washington State coach Kyle Smith said. "He's still rehabbing and getting ready. I'm always hopeful (Bonton can play). God works in mysterious ways."
Aljaz Kunc and Noah Williams have played well in Bonton's absence. Kunc scored a career-high 15 points and Williams also had 15 in the loss to Arizona State. Williams leads the Cougars with 19 double-digit scoring games.
Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley is hoping to see a revitalized Remy Martin in the Pac-12 tournament after the Sun Devils' captain had a miserable trip to Colorado and Utah.
Martin had a streak of eight straight 20-point games snapped when he managed six against Colorado. He then finished with eight points and struggled at the free throw line, making only one of four attempts against Utah.
He is averaging 19.9 points a game and shooting 78.3 percent from the free throw line (108 of 138).
"It's going to be hard to see; you've got to pick the pieces up," Hurley said after the losses last week. "We'll see what our response will be this week in practice, and who is going to be available is another issue when we go (to the Pac-12 tournament)."
--Field Level Media