In our weekly update on Arizona State men’s hoops, the Sun Devils are on a roll heading into the toughest stretch of the season. Will streaking Eric Boateng and Derek Glasser stay hot in L.A.?

Don’t miss our women’s team update later this afternoon!

Last Week (2-0, 14-2 overall, 3-1 Pac-10): 69-38 W vs. Oregon St., 76-58 W vs. Oregon

What Did We Learn: The Sun Devils have little trouble rebounding from a loss. Arizona State beat UTEP by 30 after losing to Baylor in November and trounced Oregon State by 31 this week after losing to Cal last week. The Sun Devils also have little trouble taking care of inferior teams. ASU’s three Pac-10 wins have been beat-downs, and the Cal loss came to a team that appears to be one of the best in the conference this year.

We also learned that maybe Eric Boateng can finally start giving ASU some consistently productive minutes. Because of Jeff Pendergraph’s recent foul trouble and banged up knee, Boateng averaged about 19 minutes a game this week. Against Oregon on Saturday, he chipped in seven points, six rebounds and a pair of blocks.

Boateng could become even more valuable if he could make some free throws. He’s just 25-of-67 (37 percent) in 49 games as a Sun Devil. Ugh.

Star of the Week: Junior point guard Derek Glasser had his best game as a Sun Devil against Oregon, notching 15 points and 11 assists. The big difference with Glasser this year is that he finally found his shot. He’s shooting 45 percent from the field and 44 percent from beyond the arc this year. Compare that to 38 percent from the field and 31 percent from long range last year.

In four Pac-10 games Glasser is averaging 8.5 points and almost 7 assists. On top of all of that, he was featured (sort of) in Sports Illustrated last week.

What’s Next: Here come the big tests. The Sun Devils take on USC at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday in L.A. then have a nationally televised showdown at UCLA at 1:45 p.m. on Saturday. Realistically, a split should be the goal. Both USC and UCLA have deeper and more athletic rosters if you look at each team’s playing rotation.

But, what the Trojans and Bruins don’t have is hometown hoopster James Harden. He’ll be the best player on the court this week. But can he will the Sun Devils into legitimate contention for the Pac-10 title? We’ll find out this week.

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Tags: ASU Men's Basketball , derek glasser, Eric Boateng, James Harden, Jeff Pendergraph // 1 Comment »