Pierre Newton may have had a "career" game last night up in Boulder, hitting a late three-pointer for the ASU men's basketball team near the end of a Pac-12 contest against Colorado.
The problem for the Sun Devils was that Newton was in the game at all. He is a 6-4 walk-on freshman from Laveen, where he starred at Betty Fairfax High School, and is an upbeat guy who seems thrilled just to be in an ASU uniform.
But the deep bench guys like Newton rarely get into games unless the outcome is decided, and last night's beat-down at the hands of the Buffalos was no exception.
Final score: Colorado 69, ASU 54, in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the final score indicated.
With the road loss, the Devils fell to 6-12 overall, and 2-4 in the mediocre Pac-12, as an already woeful season got ever-worse. ASU is one depleted program, what with the recent dismissal of leading scorer Keala King and the ankle injury of Trent Lockett, who is the team's heart-and-soul and best player.
Colorado is better than advertised, and improved to 12-6 (4-2 in conference play). The Arizona Wildcats--which routed Utah last night--will have their hands full when they travel to Boulder and its mile-high altitude for an important Saturday afternoon game.
An hour earlier, ASU will take the court against the equally weak Utes, who dropped to 4-14 overall and 1-5 in the Pac-12 with the 77-51 loss to the Wildcats. That game will not be televised (joining Gil Scott-Heron's "revolution" of late 1960s fame), but will air on KTAR-860 if anyone is interested in listening in.
One more game note: Coach Herb Sendek got the boot with about four minutes remaining last night after picking up two quick technical fouls for bitching too hard at the refs.
The frustration level for Sendek, who seems like a really good guy, obviously is off the charts.
