Huskies

Nearing the midpoint of the Pac-12 season, Washington is still an imperfect team due to its offensive chemistry issues, relatively thin back court and instability on the road.

However, the Huskies' problems pale in comparison to the troubles that have plagued Arizona State.

The Sun Devils — picked ninth in the conference media poll — needed good fortune to improve upon last season's 12-19 finish.

Instead, academic failures, dismissals, suspensions and injuries have ruined the first half of the conference season and reduced the roster to seven available scholarship players.

With 11 regular-season games remaining, coach Herb Sendek said he hasn't lost the team and still has command of the players' attention.

"We tell them the truth," he said. "We make sure that we are giving them constant and accurate feedback of what we're doing well, where we're making improvements and where we need to move forward."

Washington (12-7, 5-2) can move into a first-place tie in the Pac-12 with a victory against Arizona State (6-13, 2-5) at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena.

The Sun Devils have lost eight of their past 10 games and they've been clobbered by an average of 15.8 points in the Pac-12 defeats, including last week's 64-43 drubbing at Utah and a 69-54 loss at Colorado.

Sendek stressed the Sun Devils need to improve defensively and noted their trademark matchup zone has allowed Pac-12 opponents to shoot 46.5 percent from the field, which is eighth in the conference.

The offense is a bigger concern.

ASU averages 57.4 points in league play, 10th in the Pac-12. Against Utah, four starters accounted for eight points.

The Sun Devils' biggest problem is their high rate of turnovers, a Pac-12-leading 16.6 per game.

The sloppy ball handling was expected, considering the revolving door at the point guard position.

Prized freshman Jahii Carson, the presumed starter, sat out this season after being declared academically ineligible by the NCAA Clearinghouse.

Junior Chris Colvin, a transfer from Iowa State, began the season at point guard, but he lost the job after committing 14 turnovers in the first three games.

Sophomore Keala King reluctantly took over and was averaging a team-high 13.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists before he was dismissed Jan. 8 for violating team rules.

Junior wing Trent Lockett assumed the duties of running the offense and ASU beat USC 62-53 on the road and upset Oregon State 76-66 at home.

However, the Sun Devils lost Lockett in the win over the Beavers. He suffered a severe right ankle sprain and has not played the past two games. Reportedly, he had a recent setback and is questionable for Thursday.

"We don't have any one player who can be expected go into a phone booth and become Trent," Sendek said. "We all have to carry an extra bucket of water."

If Locket is unavailable, ASU's most dangerous player is junior wing Carrick Felix, who averages 10.7 points and 4.4 rebounds.

To direct the offense, Sendek likely will give control to Colvin again. He's had a rocky first season with the Sun Devils in which he's been a starter, benched and suspended from two games before returning to the starting lineup last week.

Sophomore forward Kyle Cain also served a two-game suspension and junior center Ruslan Pateev sat out a game for his involvement in a skirmish against Southern Mississippi.

Losing King highlighted Sendek's inability to retain players. Since 2009, nine players have left the program.

ASU is off to its worst start since Sendek took over the program in 2006 and stumbled to an 8-22 start. He averaged 23 wins the next three seasons, which included an NCAA tournament run in 2009.

However, the past two seasons, ASU is 18-32.

Despite the downturn, Sendek is relatively secure after signing a two-year contract extension in December. His deal with ASU expires in 2016.

Washington coach Lorenzo Romar acknowledged the Sun Devils' struggles, but said: "They're going to fight and they're going to scrap until that horn goes off."

Washington has won seven of the past eight games at Arizona State. But the Huskies are 1-5 on the road this season.

"We have been in there when that place gets loud and it can really get loud," Romar said Monday during his weekly radio show. "They haven't been drawing as well, but ... we have to play against that matchup zone that is very problematic for a lot of teams.

"We're going to have to be nails against it."

Note

• The Huskies will submit sophomore guard C.J. Wilcox, who missed the past three games because of a stress fracture in his left leg, to a battery of test Thursday to determine if he's able to play.

Percy Allen: 206-464-2278 or pallen@seattletimes.com. On Twitter @percyallen.