Photo by Tony Capobianco/Tucson Citizen

PLEASE NOTE: The following article was written by freelance writer Eduardo Louzada, assisted and edited by TC Arizona Sports editor Tony Capobianco.

TEMPE, Ariz—With a 68-52 home win over to Coppin State concluding the non-conference portion of their season, the Arizona State Sun Devils are ready for the Pac-12.

They finished last year with a 10-21 record. With freshman point guard Jahii Carson as the difference, the Sun Devils finished the first two months of the season with one more win than all of last year.

“We surpassed our win total from last year so we’re pretty confident going into the conference,” Carson said

With Carson leading the way, the Sun Devils can expect around a .500 record in the Pac-12. A great improvement from the 6-12 conference record they had the previous year.

With top dogs Arizona and UCLA battling for the conference title; teams such as Oregon, Stanford, Washington, Utah and Arizona State will be looking to play the role as the conference dark horse. Dwelling at the bottom of the conference last year Arizona State has the potential to snag a NCAA bid to the tournament if they can steal a game or two on the road from a slew of potential bubble teams that will be the Pac-12 conference.

The Sun Devils will be led by freshman sensation Jahii Carson who leads the shooting of Sophomore Jonathan Gilling and senior Carrick Felix to soften up defenses for Carson. The key to the Sun Devils in conference play however, will be a suffocating man to man defense spear headed by ball pressure and consistent protection of the basket by Jordan Bachynski.

Defense will be the ASU’s offense as they lack any sort of post game to play a half court; grind it out sort of game. The pace must be kept high by Jahii Carson to open up transition 3’s and make up for the lack of a post game.

“Getting shots inside in basketball is like being able to get a few yards inside in football,” Arizona State head coach Herb Sendek said. “It’s important”

The Sun Devils will need to find ways to win games on the road where they struggled mightily last year only winning 2 games all of last year. They won their only road game in Texas Tech, but will have much tougher games coming up, including two trips to Tucson to play rival Arizona.

The Pac-12 conference will be a different beast for Arizona State as they will play teams in a different talent level then most of their non-conference teams. With 11 wins already accounted for, a .500 conference record will give them 20 wins, which should be enough for the NIT.

Photo by Tony Capobianco/Tucson Citizen

PLEASE NOTE: The following article was written by freelance writer Eduardo Louzada, assisted and edited by TC Arizona Sports editor Tony Capobianco.

TEMPE, Ariz– In another early season tuneup game, The Arizona State Sun Devils used a collective scoring attack to rout Florida A&M 97-70.

Sensational freshman point guard Jahii Carson led the Sun Devils with 20 points and 7 assists, while Chris Colvin added 15 points and renewed energy with his new role as 6th man.

With over a week off in between games, Arizona State didn’t skip a beat getting to a fast 17-4 run using pick and roll and forcing the Rattlers into numerous jump shots. The tide of the game remained the same for most of the first half as the hot shooting of Jamie Adams with 17 points kept the rattlers within striking distance. Colvin came off the bench in the first half to score 12 of his 15 points and provide most of the offense for Arizona State during the latter stages of the first half.

The second half started with a complete role reversal as the Sun Devils began in an offensive funk and Florida A&M traded jump shots for dribble penetration and offensive rebounding. They were able to close the lead down to 5 and put the Sun Devils into the penalty with over 10 minutes to go in the second half.

Carson’s three pick and rolls with Johnathan Gilling resulted in 8 points within a span of a minute and a half pushed the Sun Devil lead to 10. It sparked a 12-0 to push the game out of reach.

This game is evidence of Carson’s development as the next Sun Devil star. His impact as a point guard has been in full display during these last two games.

“He is our leader,” ASU center Jordan Bachynski said. “He’s like a young Steve Nash.”