Chris Colvin sizes up a defender in Saturday’s game against USC. Colvin hit a floater with 19 seconds remaining to secure the Sun Devils’ sweep of the Trojans. (Photo by Aaron Lavinsky)

Junior guard Chris Colvin doesn’t even know how the ball went in, but he’s thankful it did — as well as the rest of his team.

His floater attempt as the shot clock expired while he was fouled hit nothing but net.

The 3-point play with 19 seconds left in the game propelled the ASU men’s basketball team over USC, 56–52.

It’s the sixth time the Sun Devils (9-20, 5-12 Pac-12) have swept the Trojans (6-23, 1-15 Pac-12), but it’s the first sweep since the 1994-95 season.

“I just threw it up on the rim,” Colvin said. “Hopefully our bigs would go get it. I know they’re talented enough to go get it on the rim.”

During that possession, coach Herb Sendek called a timeout with 10 seconds left on the shot clock.

Sendek said the design was to set a ball screen for Colvin. Sophomore Jordan Bachynski drew enough contact on the screen to give Colvin the ability to drive in the paint.

Colvin threw up the one-handed shot as he was fouled by junior center James Blasczyk.

Before the shot, Colvin had five points, five assists and six turnovers to his name. ASU last scored on junior guard Trent Lockett’s layup with 7:45 left in the game.

After Colvin made the miraculous attempt, Wells Fargo Arena erupted for the team’s final three points in the game, which sealed the victory.

“That’s the reality of coaching and sports,” Sendek said. “We were fortunate that went in. He made a great shot. … And just as significantly, he made the free throw, because it’s a big difference being up four in that situation as opposed to three.”

With his mom and dad in attendance, Bachynski led ASU with 19 points and nine rebounds. The Sun Devils fed him the ball early in the game. He took the first four shots, making three. Half of the team’s points came in the paint.

“Anyone could’ve scored with the passes (the guards and forwards) were giving to me,” Bachynski said. “They placed the ball in the perfect spot where I was able to be effective.”

Despite a poor shooting performance in the second half, ASU managed to shoot 46.2 percent in the game. USC’s second half was even worse from the field. The Trojans shot 33.3 percent in the final half and were held without a field goal during the last 11:16 of the game. They scored just five points off of free throws in that span.

USC freshman guard Byron Wesley had a game high of 22 points and added seven rebounds. Sophomore guard Maurice Jones had 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting from behind the arc.

Both players missed 3-point attempts following Colvin’s shot with 19 seconds remaining in the game.

“A part of it is USC missed some shots too,” Sendek said. “It’s not like it was entirely us, but it was overall a good defensive effort during that stretch.”

Felix still out

Junior guard Carrick Felix missed his second straight game due to a virus. He was not with the team last week, but Sendek said he’s getting better. With the team taking Sunday off, Sendek hopes Felix can return Monday in preparation for the season finale against in-state rival UA on Mar. 4.

“Even that won’t be easy,” Sendek said. “Those of us that have been in the bed for that long — I think we all probably at one time or another are — you show up for the first day to work or school (and) it takes a while to go again. Hopefully he’ll be able to do that for us.”

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Abe Ruiz tags out a runner in a game against UC Riverside on Saturday. Ruiz continued his season-long hot streak at the plate, hitting his third home run of the season in Friday night’s game against the Highlanders. (Photo by Sam Rosenbaum)

They bat in the four and five spots, but those are the only small numbers associated with ASU junior second baseman Joey DeMichele and senior first baseman Abe Ruiz in 2012.

The duo combined for 13 RBI, eight runs and three homers this weekend as the ASU baseball team won two out of three games against UC Riverside at Packard Stadium.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” coach Tim Esmay said. “They’ve done a really good job. I hope it puts some pressure on the other pitching staff to pick their poison. Who do they want to pitch to, and who do they want to pitch around?”

Throughout the six games this season, Ruiz and DeMichele accumulated 21 RBI and 22 runs scored, with each batting well over .450.

DeMichele was on everybody’s radar this year, but Ruiz has come out and surprised just about everyone except his teammates.

“Abe has proved what we knew before the season and is making the other manager’s job hard,” DeMichele said. “He’s a great hitter. I always knew he could hit, and I’m lucky to have him behind me.”

The pair’s Friday assault on the Highlanders’ (3-4) pitchers began early.

The No. 13 Sun Devils (5-1) scored four runs in the first inning with DeMichele providing most of the damage with a two-run triple. He then scored moments later when Ruiz delivered a base hit.

After single runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings to build on its lead, ASU broke the game wide open in the seventh when Ruiz connected for his third home run of the young season to drive in three and leave the score at 10–0.

The Sun Devils added another run in the eighth to cap the night off while junior right-handed pitcher Brady Rodgers (2-0) hurled seven shutout frames and struck out nine batters to earn the win.

“I was trying to throw strikes and let them put it in play, but they were taking the pitches,” Rodgers said. “I’m used to keeping my pitch count low and going the whole game, but I’ll take the strikeouts.”

UC Riverside scored three meaningless runs late, but ASU cruised to an 11–3 victory.

“I liked our focus,” Esmay said. “Our guys were ready to play. We made good plays in the field, our lineup provided support, and Brady set the tone.”

Saturday wasn’t as kind to the Sun Devils. The Highlanders jumped out to a 2–0 lead in the third inning thanks to a walk, a hit-by-pitch and two singles given up by ASU freshman right-handed pitcher Darin Gillies (0-1).

The Sun Devils answered an inning later when DeMichele hit his first homer of the season to cut the deficit in half. But after UC Riverside added an insurance run in the sixth, ASU couldn’t capitalize on multiple opportunities to even the score.

In both the eighth and ninth innings, the Sun Devils had two runners on with one out, but failed to push home any runs and consequentially lost for the first time this season, 3–1.

“You never like to lose, but I felt like we didn’t give away at bats,” Esmay said. “We were just making some pretty loud outs. I was upset about the loss, but I felt like we battled.”

ASU again began Sunday on the wrong foot, falling behind in the first inning when UC Riverside senior first baseman Vince Gonzalez hit a RBI single off ASU sophomore right-handed pitcher Trevor Williams.

The Sun Devils responded immediately in their first at bat with two runs of their own. ASU also had the help of two Highlander errors and a walk in the inning.

Two innings later, ASU broke through for three more scores, highlighted by a two RBI single from Ruiz.

The offense tacked on six more runs throughout the final innings, including homers from DeMichele and freshman first baseman Rouric Bridgewater.

Williams (2-0) tossed six innings, allowing six hits and two earned runs to secure the 11–2 win.

“Sometimes the ball doesn’t roll your way like Saturday, but today it did, and we made the most of it,” sophomore outfielder Kasey Coffman said. “We came out early and executed then piled on late.”

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Deja Mann drives around a defender in a game against Utah on Feb. 9. Mann and the Sun Devils were swept on their southern California road trip. (Photo courtesy of Steve Rodriguez)

Saturday featured a classic Pac-12 battle between the ASU women’s basketball team and USC. The Trojans (16-11, 10-6 Pac-12) were able to make some clutch shots in the end to beat ASU (18-10, 9-8 Pac-12), 59–53.

Despite the loss, coach Joseph Anders said he was happy with the way his team competed.

“Our team battled as well as any team that I have ever been a part of,” Anders said. “Today, again, was another one of those battles where we emptied out. I can’t be more proud of them for the way in which they come out and give me everything that they have.”

USC started off the game hot, making a couple baskets early and going on an 11–0 run.

The Sun Devils responded later in the first half to take the lead 22–18 after a jumper by senior forward Kimberly Brandon.

Brandon and senior guard Olivia Major did not play in the Sun Devils’ game against UCLA earlier in the week, but they were on the floor against USC.

The Sun Devils were on a roll going into the break, but were unable to keep the momentum going for the rest of the game.

Senior forward Kali Bennett, who had nine points and eight rebounds in the loss, said the team needs to figure out how to keep playing consistently the entire game.

With 12 seconds to go, junior guard Deja Mann hit a clutch 3-pointer to cut the Trojans’ lead to four. Mann said she loves playing in close matchups.

“Those games are fun,” Mann said. “To me, those are the type of games that you prepare for to execute at the end.”

Bennett said the way ASU battled at the end showed the team’s true heart.

“Our team has always been known for being tough,” Bennett said. “If there is adversity, you kind of fight through. As much as we fought back and were tough at the end, their shots prevailed.”

As a team, ASU did not have a strong shooting night, shooting just 34 percent from the floor.

Mann kept the Sun Devils in the game offensively. The point guard broke her career high in scoring against the Trojans, putting up 22 points.

She was especially clutch near the end of the game, hitting three shots with less than two minutes left.

Mann said she was not keeping track of the amount of her points. She was only focused on the win.

“I just wanted to step up and be big for my team,” Mann said. “We needed a bucket, so I just put it on myself. I am going to go get this bucket. I just had to do what the team needed (me) to do.”

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Cameron Palmer will replace David Lowe in the lineup, and Stan Gautier will start in favor of Austin Quick.

On the season, Gautier holds just over a two-stroke edge per round of golf over Quick, but has not yet competed this spring.

Quick struggled in the fall, but turned around his game in the spring. In the first spring invitational, Quick led ASU in scoring with a 5-under par.

He finished 15-over on a tough course the following week, and ASU head coach Tim Mickelson decided it was time for a change.

Mickelson said after not being able to practice over winter break, Gautier rediscovered his stroke and is playing better than Quick.

“We just feel like we need to make a change right now and get somebody else in there and see if they’re able to play,” Mickelson said. “Stan, in our vision, is playing a little better than Austin right now.

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Don’t they know nobody cares?

Don’t they know nobody realizes they haven’t lost in regulation since January?

They’re playing like 20,000 fans are cramming Jobing.com Arena every night, instead of the 11,955 — which is the lowest attendance in the NHL — they currently see.

The Suns even pile in an average of 15,299 fans into the US Airways Center, and they are awful.

Heck, the only reason I enjoy driving almost an hour to Glendale to watch a hockey game is because the arena serves Dippin’ Dots.  Mmm, banana split.

If the NHL season ended today, the Coyotes would be the No. 3 seed in the postseason. That would mean they’d be awarded “home ice advantage.” Excuse me while I scoff at that thought. The Coyotes have more points on the road this year than at home.

My point? I have no idea what in the name of Lord Stanley this team is playing for.

Regardless, I’ll happily continue to be impressed for as long as the Coyotes want to continue this. I’ll just be impressed from my couch in Tempe, not from a seat in Glendale.

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Dallas Escobedo pitches in the Littlewood Classic on Feb. 17. Escobedo threw her first no-hitter of the season during the Sun Devils’ sweep of Central Connecticut State University last weekend. (Photo by Sam Rosenbaum)

In four games against Central Connecticut State, the No. 4 ASU softball team didn’t let its opponent reach the sixth inning.

Ending games early by way of the eight-run mercy rule — which goes into effect once the teams reach the fifth inning — has become a bit of a habit for the Sun Devils (14-2).

Sophomore pitcher Dallas Escobedo (5-1), who won games on Friday and Sunday, noted that even though the team uses a three-man rotation, it is still extremely beneficial to end games early.

“It cuts down on all the stress and worries as a pitcher,” Escobedo said.

Her best performance came Friday as she pitched the first no-hitter for the team this season. Her no-hit bid included nine strikeouts in five innings pitched.

Sophomore pitcher Mackenzie Popescue (3-1) had almost as good of a weekend. Popescue shut out CCSU in the first game Saturday and allowed only three hits in five innings of work.

Though she finished strong, the sophomore from Chaparral High School looked a bit uncomfortable in the early going by letting up two hits and a walk in the first inning, which she attributed to thinking too much about the umpire’s ball and strike decisions.

Fortunately for Popescue, sophomore Bailey Wigness had her back, throwing out CCSU sophomore Arielle Bruno at the plate in the first inning.

Wigness, who assistant coach Scott Woodard said has been “unconscious” at the plate, continued her strong season, accruing three hits in six at bats with six walks this weekend.

However, it was the position she played — third base — that might cause the most stir.

Before the four games this weekend, coach Clint Myers said there was a possibility of moving senior outfielder Annie Lockwood to the infield to strengthen the lineup.

“Our practices are pretty structured and organized to get a nice blend of infield and outfield,” Myers said.

Wigness had some trouble adjusting to third base, but Lockwood fit right in at first.

Lockwood came in to get a handful of bunts and looked very comfortable at the position, despite playing right field for most of her Sun Devil career.

“A lot of people don’t know, but I came into the program playing first base and third base in high school,” Lockwood said.

Despite saying the pitchers kept her off balance and were “surprisingly better than what she expected” coming into the weekend, Lockwood recorded a hit every single game.

Aggressive base running also played a major role for the ASU offense, as whenever a throw would get away from a CCSU player, the Sun Devils wouldn’t hesitate at taking another base.

“That’s something we practice each and every day,” Woodard said.

With their aggressive mentality on the base paths, the Sun Devils built up large leads early on and could afford to give some playing time to members of the team that don’t usually get on the field.

Myers subbed six straight pinch hitters during Saturday’s first game.

Woodard commented on the uniqueness of the occurrence.

“There is not another team in the country, at least that I’ve seen, that can have a 25-player roster,” Woodard said.

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Two ASU starters were not able to play in the game. Senior forward Kimberly Brandon was feeling ill and senior guard Olivia Major had a separated shoulder.

Coach Joseph Anders said the team responded well to the injuries despite the loss.

“I am really, really proud of this team because life is an adversity at times,” Anders said. “They stepped up. We were not able to do what we wanted to do. When basically two of your key hubs go down with injury, it is part of basketball. We just have to keep pushing forward.”

Redshirt junior forward Janae Fulcher got the start Thursday against UCLA, and she did not disappoint.

From the opening tip, Fulcher attacked the Bruins offensively. In the first six minutes, she had nine of the Sun Devils’ 11 points. Fulcher finished the game leading the team with 16 points.

With the help of Fulcher, the Sun Devils were able to push their lead to 20­–8 early in the first half.

The young Sun Devils would play a pivotal role in the game. Freshmen forward Jada Blackwell saw the court for 23 minutes and guard Promise Amukamara played 19. Both players combined for just six points.

Late in the first half, the Bruins were led by senior forward Rebekah Gardner and went on a 7–0 run to cut the ASU lead to two to entering halftime. Gardner scored nine points for the Bruins.

In the early minutes of the second half, the Sun Devils were plagued with another injury to a starter. Senior forward Kali Bennett injured her ankle. She returned later in the game, but ASU missed her post presence.

The Sun Devils kept their lead for the early part of the second half, but the Bruins tied the score at 31 with less than 13 minutes left in the game.

UCLA was not content with just keeping the game close at that point. They went on another 7–0 run to put them up 38-31.

UCLA junior forward Markel Walker’s offensive game came alive in the second half to push the UCLA lead. She finished the night with 21 points and 11 rebounds.

The Bruins’ zone defense stepped up its intensity to stifle ASU’s offense, holding the Sun Devils to only 13 points in the second half.

Anders said that when the shots are not falling, rebounding becomes even more important.

“In that case, you have to be able to get on the boards,” Anders said. “It’s not like we’ve been shooting lights out for the year, so we know that some of those shots are not going to go. We just did not get enough effort in terms of covering each other and getting second shots.”

The Sun Devils look to move forward from the loss when they travel to USC on Saturday.

Reach the reporter at ehubbard@asu.edu