ASU's 'bright light' expected to be turned on this week

He took a significant step Monday when he practiced--- albeit without contact, for the first time since spraining his ankle three weeks ago against Oregon State.

"It's been tough," Lockett said about missing the Sun Devils last six games. "But there's nothing I can do about it so I'm not going to get frustrated over it. All I can do is try to help my teammates the best I can."

Over the last three weeks, the junior playmaker has been reduced to a spectator, forced to watch either practice or games from the sideline.

"It's definitely a different perspective watching and watching games from the bench and sitting next to the coaches."

Said head coach Herb Sendek, "We're going to have to take it one step at a time and just see how he feels. What is his conditioning like? As you know riding the stationary bike is a far cry from playing Pac-12 basketball.

"He was really in a good place and playing outstanding basketball when he injured his ankle," continued Sendek. "In every statistical category he was a bright light for us."

Lockett leads the team with 13.9 points per game and has the most rebounds and steals of anyone on the roster. Without that on the floor, ASU won just once during Lockett's absence.

"I was planning on going to get a shot and coming back into the game," he explained about the injury suffered on January 14. "But when we took the tape off it kind of ballooned up and that X'd out that opportunity. It was obviously longer than I expected."

The Sun Devils (7-16, 3-8) host Utah Thursday night at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe.