ASU looking to continue hot start

TEMPE - The Arizona State Sun Devils head into their match-up with the Baylor Bears on Thursday looking to keep getting the most out of their team.

ASU is 6-1 to start the season for just the third time in 17 seasons and going for 7-1 for just the fourth time in 20 seasons.

The Baylor Bears present a formidable challenge to the Sun Devils as they are also 6-1 and bring an explosive offense to the court.

"They like to score. They're a high octane offensive team. Our defense is really going to be challenged," said coach Herb Sendek on the Sports 620 KTAR's Doug and Wolf show on Tuesday.

Sendek stressed that ASU must be able going forward to be steady on defense as much as on offense.

"You got to be good on both sides of the ball to win. To really win, you got to have balance," said Sendek.

The Sun Devils are giving up just 60.9 points per game in coach Sendek's 106 games as ASU coach.

In addition, so far this season, ASU has held six of its first seven opponents to under 40 percent from the field, as only Duke, at 42 percent shooting, topped the mark and 22 of ASU's past 42 opponents have shot under 40 percent.

The Sun Devils' offense has been a balanced attack to start the season. ASU has had six players lead or share the team lead in scoring in its seven games and has five players on its roster who have had a 20-point game in their career.

The team has been buoyed by the improved play of senior Eric Boateng who is averaging 12.0 points and 7.3 boards while shooting 71.7 percent from the field. He has scored 84 points so far this season after scoring only 57 points all of last year. Also, he was 28-of-74 (.378) from the free throw line in his first two years at ASU and is 18-of-27 (.667) this year.

"He's improved every step of the way. We're seeing the benefits of somebody who has maintained a good attitude and continued to get better," said Sendek.

Still, the team is led by senior point guard Derek Glasser who has a team best 12.3 points per game and 5.1 assists per game.

Glasser has to balance when to take charge by taking more shots and when to get his teammates involved. Some games are a mixture of the two and others make Glasser strictly a distributor and others a scorer.

"He doesn't go into a game predetermining that. He has the ability within the framework of our offense to do both. Depending on the decisions that the defense makes and the read that Derek has accordingly, determine on a given night what side of the scale gets tipped," said Sendek.

Glasser has responded this season, setting a new career high in points with 24 against LSU and establishing his season high in assists with nine against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

"I want Derek to be aggressive on offense. If he has good shots, we want him to knock them down, but make no mistake about it, he's at his best when he's making other guys better and he's distributing the ball," said Sendek.

The ASU game against the Baylor Bears is scheduled for an 8:30 p.m. tip-off on Thursday night at Wells Fargo Arena.