Jan 6, 1998
Arizona State Travels to Washington Schools
Thurs., Jan. 8 Washington Huskies (8-2/1-0) 7:30 p.m. PT/8:30 MT Seattle, Wash. Fox Sports Net/KTAR 620 AM Sun., Jan. 11 Washington State Cougars (7-5/0-1) 12:00 p.m. PT/1:00 MT Pullman, Wash. KTVK-3/KTAR 620 AM
ARIZONA STATE Sun Devils (11-4/1-1 in 1997-98) Pos # Name Yr Ht. PPG RPG Notes G 11 Ahlon Lewis Sr. 6-0 5.9 9.3* Leads nation in assists per game; 7 double-digit assist games G 21 Jeremy Veal Sr. 6-3 19.9 4.7 1,617 career points; 359 career assts.; 7 20-point games on year G 5 Eddie House So. 6-1 12.5 3.3* 29-63 (46.0%) from 3-pt./36 steals/24 points vs. Eastern Michigan F 4 Bobby Lazor Jr. 6-9 18.9 7.6 Syracuse transfer; 9 20-pt. games in '97/60.2% from field F 24 Mike Batiste Jr. 6-8 16.1 7.2 98-173 (55.8 %) from floor/34 bks on year/Has made 8 straight FTs G 3 D'Angelo Jones Fr. 5-10 0.6 0.6 Walkon from Scottsdale, Ariz./speaks Japanese fluently G 12 Terrell McKnight Jr. 5-9 4.5 2.5 Walkon joined team Dec. 19/ 9 pts. and 4 assts. vs. La Salle G 13 Ron DuBois Jr. 5-10 2.2 0.2 Walkon who has earned scholarship/10 games in 2-year career G-F 22 Jason Patton So. 6-4 6.2 2.7 21 pts. vs. Del. St./11.8 minutes per game/10 pts. vs. E. Michigan F-C 25 Okeme Oziwo So. 6-8 2.9 5.2 Will miss season (car accident injuries in late August) F 32 Derek Smith Fr. 6-5 1.2 1.0 Walkon from Grand Junction, Colo./5 games played F 40 Urit Kelly Sr. 6-6 5.3 3.2 75.4 pct. FTs in career/8 rebs. vs. UCLA/14 pts. and 7 rebs. vs. La Salle G 42 Reggie Hester Jr. 6-2 6.3 1.9 12 pts. vs. Kansas; 5-5 FGs vs. NAU * -- denotes assists per game. Note # change for Hester (#2 to #42) from media guide.
SUN DEVILS HIT PAC-10 ROAD: The Arizona State men's basketball team, winner of five of its past six but picked to finish last in the Pac-10 preseason media poll, travels north to take on the Washington Huskies on Jan. 8 and the Washington State Cougars on Jan. 11. ASU (11-4; 1-1 in the Pac-10) is led by senior Jeremy Veal, who averaged 18.7 ppg. last year en route to earning All-Pac-10 and is averaging 19.9 ppg. this year (second in the Pac-10). The Sun Devils, who have just seven healthy scholarship players, have already surpassed their 1996-97 win total with 11 after going 10-20 last year. Three of ASU's four losses are to ranked teams (then-No. 2 Kansas 90-88 in OT and then-No. 11 UConn 82-61, both in the Chase NIT at Madison Square Garden and No. 10 UCLA on Jan. 5 in Tempe), while its fourth is to undefeated Oklahoma State (11-0). The combined opponent's record of ASU's four losses (as of Tues., Jan. 6) is 51-5 (.911), as UCLA is 10-2, Kansas is 17-2 and UConn 13-1.
TALK ABOUT IMPROVEMENTS: Much talk recently has centered around ASU Coach Don Newman and the job he has done since being named to the position on Sept. 22, 10 days after Bill Frieder resigned. A look at some of the statistics regarding the 1997-98 Sun Devils:
97-98 96-97
Games at 50% Shooting 10 of 15 5 of 30
ASU has shot at least 50 pct. in 10 of 15 games...ASU had shot 50 percent just
eight times in the past two seasons...ASU's 61.3 pct. (38-of-62) vs. NAU on Dec.
3 was the best since ASU shot 62 percent at Cal on Jan. 14, 1995...ASU has shot
above 55 percent in four games.
Team FT shooting 75.4% 66.5%
ASU is at 75.4 percent from the FT line, its best mark since the 1954-55 squad
shot that same percentage, the second-best mark in ASU history...ASU leads the
league in FT Pct.
Eddie House's 3-Pt Shooting 46.0% 31.8%
House also is 46.9% from the field after shooting 41.6% last year...is 8-of-12
(.667) from the three-point stripe in the past three games.
games of at least 80 points 12 8
ASU has scored at least 80 points in 12 games. Last year, ASU scored 80 points
eight times, two of those games against non-Division I teams...ASU scored in
triple-digits in back-to-back games for the first time since 1992-93 and has
notched triple-digits four times.
Wins 11 10
ASU was just 10-20 last year and lost its last 11 games. The Sun Devils finished
last in the Pac-10, going 2-16...ASU is 10-1 at home after going 9-9 in the UAC
last year...ASU was just 17-17 at home in the past two seasons prior to this
year...the win at Cincinnati ended a 12-game road loss streak for ASU, with its
last road win on Feb. 15, 1996 (69-66 at USC).
ON A ROLL: Junior Bobby Lazor has posted five "double-doubles" in the past six games...36-of-44 (.818) from the FT line in his past seven games...named Tribune Classic MVP after averaging 24.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in the two games...a strong candidate for Academic All-American as a business major with a 3.61 grade point average...had a career-high 16 boards vs. USC on Jan. 3...a quick look at Lazor in the past six games:
Date Opponent FGs (Pct.) FTs (Pct.) Pts. Rebs.
Dec. 19 Texas A&M 8-13 (.615) 6-7 (.857) 23 10
Dec. 22 Weber St. 4-7 (.571) 7-10 (.700) 16 10
Dec. 27 La Salle 8-13 (.615) 7-7 (1.000) 24 9
Dec. 28 E. Michigan 10-16 (.625) 4-4 (1.000) 25 12
Jan. 3 USC 3-7 (.429) 7-10 (.700) 13 16
Jan. 5 UCLA 9-19 (.474) 2-3 (.667) 20 11
Totals 42-75 33-41 121 68
(.560) (.804) 20.2 11.3
REMARKABLE TURNAROUND: Point guard Ahlon Lewis, who arguably could be the nation's most improved player this year, has posted 131 assists on the year after posting just 77 last year. He set the school record on Dec. 3 vs. Northern Arizona with 16. The 16 assists also is tied for the fourth-best mark by any Pac-10 player and is the most assists by a Pac-10 player since Jason Kidd posted 18 vs. Cal on Jan. 20, 1994. A look at the improvement of Lewis:
97-98 96-97
Games Started All 15 10 of 29
Minutes Per Game 33.4 16.4
Free Throw Percentage 84.4 57.1
Rebounds Per Game 4.1 1.7
Assists Per Game 9.3** 2.7
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio 1.88-to-1 1.2-to-1
Steals Per Game 1.7 0.7
Points Per Game 5.9 2.7
Double-Digit Assist Games 7 0
Double-Digit Point Games 2 0
**As of Jan. 5, Lewis leads the nation in assists per game with 9.3.
GOOD HOUSEKEEPING NOTES: Eddie House has 36 steals (2.4 per game) and 49 (3.3) assists through 15 games this year and has just 22 turnovers...was 5-of-8 (.625) from the floor with two three-pointers in UC win...had 22 points vs. No. 2 Kansas on Nov. 26...has 157 assists and 61 turnovers through 45 games in his career, a 2.57-to-1 ratio...Mike Bibby and House were the only Pac-10 players to notch at least 50 three-pointers, 50 steals and 100 assists in 1996-97...posted 59 steals, an ASU freshman record, and also hit 57 three-pointers and dished out 108 assists, the second-best amount for a freshman in ASU history last year...has played 18 turnover-free games in his 45 game-career, averaging 31.9 minutes per game...had 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting in Eastern Michigan win on Dec. 28...is 19-of-33 (.576) from the field and 8-of-12 (.667) from the three-point stripe in his past three games.
UW-WSU SERIES INFORMATION: Jeremy Veal averaged 30.5 points against Washington last year in the two Husky wins...ASU leads the all-time series 25-16 that began in 1978...UW has won three straight...UW swept the season series for the first time since 1986 last year...ASU had won 14 straight prior to the current three-game win streak...UW is 9-11 against the Sun Devils at Hec Edmundson Pavilion...Bob Bender is 3-5 against ASU...WSU leads the ASU series 21-20, winning the past five and eight of the past nine...WSU has wonfive straight in Pullman over the Sun Devils.
BATISTE NOTES: Last season at this time, junior college transfer Mike Batiste had just joined the Sun Devil roster as the 6-8 forward transferred in December and played in 22 games (his first on Dec. 22, 1996) despite having left knee surgery the previous March...shooting 56.6 percent from the floor on the year...posted 12 points, six boards and four blocks in win at UC...had career highs with 36 points and 20 rebounds vs. Wagner on Nov. 19...posted six blocks in opener vs. Northridge...made the Pac-10 All-Newcomer team last year with big games vs. Stanford and Arizona...posted three 20-point games in 1996-97 and has four in 13 games this year...turned 20 years old on Nov. 21...already has 34 blocks on the year after posting just 17 last season...has two games of double-digit rebounds...has two "double-doubles" and three other games of double-digit points and nine rebounds...made the Tribune Classic All-Tournament team, averaging 16 points and 10 boards in the two-game tournament...has hit eight straight free throws entering the UW/WSU games.
LEAGUE'S BEST SHOOTER???: Jeremy Veal is shooting 79.1 percent (273-345) from the FT line in his career...posted 32 points against Cal State Northridge and 25 at Cincinnati...has seven 20-point games on the year...needs 162 points to become ASU's career leader...third on the ASU career scoring list (1,617 points...only the second player in ASU history to notch at least 1,400 points and 300 assists...averaging 4.7 boards per game and had a career-high 10 boards vs. Northern Arizona...has been (or shared) ASU's leading rebounder in four games...is the only player in the Pac-10 returning this year who finished in the league's top 10 in both 3-point shooting percentage and FT percentage...finished third in 3-point percentage (.443/58-of-131) and 10th in FT percentage (.774/106-of-137)...has yet to miss a game in his 105-game career.
MORE QUICK NOTES: The 123 points vs. Delaware State on Dec. 1 is the fourth-most points in ASU history, and the most since ASU topped DePauw 124-73 on Jan. 2, 1971...ASU's 39 assists vs. Delaware State was the most by any Sun Devil team in the 1990s...the last two times ASU has started the season 3-0, it has advanced to the NCAA Tournament (1990-91 and 1994-95), ASU's only NCAA appearances since 1980-81...this year also marked just the third time in the past 10 seasons ASU has started 3-0. The last time was in 1994-95, when ASU won the Maui Invitational and advanced the Sweet Sixteen and ended the season 24-9. ASU also was 3-0 in 1990-91, when it ended 20-10 overall, and lost to Arkansas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In 1987-88, ASU started 3-0 but ended the season 13-16...ASU has outrebounded just three opponents (Wagner, La Salle and Eastern Michigan) on the year...the last ASU opponent to score 100 points in the UAC was Arizona on Feb. 27, 1988, when it topped ASU 101-73...ASU's last win over a ranked team was 103-98 in double overtime at Arizona on March 11, 1995...ASU has not beaten a team ranked higher than it since was on Jan. 15, 1995, when No. 15 ASU topped No. 9 Arizona 53-52 in the Pac-10 opener...ASU has lost 11 straight games to teams ranked in the AP poll...the last time ASU did not make a three-pointer in a game was Jan. 10, 1987 vs. USC in Tempe in a 66-62 Trojan win, the 12th game of the 1986-87 season. ASU has made a three-pointer in 328 straight games since then.is 3-2 in games decided by six points or less.
BEEN THERE, DONE THAT: Since the NCAA Tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1984-85, only five Pac-10 teams have reached the Sweet Sixteen. Arizona (1988, 1989, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1997), UCLA (1990, 1992, 1995, 1997), California (1993, 1997), Stanford (1997) and Arizona State (1995).
PAC-10 MEDIA POLL:
ASU was picked to finish tenth by the Pac-10 Media in a preseason poll, announced
on Nov. 6. The results, with first-place votes in parentheses:
1. Arizona (22) 2. UCLA (5) 3. Stanford 4. Washington 5. California 6. USC 7. Oregon State 8. Oregon 9. Washington State 10. Arizona State
BAD LUCK: Since 1990, 23 of 24 Pac-10 teams who have won 11 conference games have been selected to the NCAA Tourney. The exception? ASU in 1992-93, when it was 11-7 and tied for third. Also, 27 of 28 teams since 1990 who have posted 18 overall wins and 10 Pac-10 wins have qualified for the NCAA. Again, the odd team out was ASU in 1992-93.
GETTING TO KNOW DON NEWMAN: Named ASU's 11th head coach on Sept. 22, 1997...turned 40 on Nov. 22...born in New Orleans...played at LSU and Idaho...has coached at Cal-State Sacramento, Washington State, Moscow High School and Lewiston High School, both of them in Idaho...played for numerous professional teams, including: Seattle Seahawks, Boston Celtics, Montana Golden Nuggets, New York Jets, Saskatchewan Roughriders, Edmonton Eskimos and Hamilton Tiger Cats...coached at Montana by George Karl...went 20-114 at Cal State Sacramento while taking team from Division II to Division I...CSS traveled to almost half the country (22 states) in his five-year career.
VEAL IN GOOD COMPANY: Jeremy Veal finished in the league's top five in both scoring (4th/18.7 ppg) and assists (T5th/4.7), becoming only the fourth Pac-10 player to accomplish the feat since 1983. The others are all NBA stars: Damon Stoudamire (1993-94 and 1994-95), Terrell Brandon (1990-91) and Gary Payton (1988-89 and 1989-90).
HOUSE ON ALL-FROSH SQUAD: Eddie House made the Pac-10 All-Freshman Team, becoming the seventh Sun Devil to accomplish the feat. Others are: Steve Beck (1983-84), Chris Sandle (1984-85), Jamal Faulkner (1990-91 and also Pac-10 Freshman of the Year), Dwayne Fontana (1990-91), Mario Bennett (1991-92) and Ron Riley (1992-93).
ALL-LEAGUE HONORS: Jeremy Veal earned All-Pac-10 honors, the 13th Sun Devil to earn the honor. The last Sun Devil to accomplish the feat was Mario Bennett in 1995. Veal will have a chance to earn the honor twice in his career, something accomplished by just three other Sun Devils: Mario Bennett (1993-94 and 1994-95), Lafayette "Fat" Lever (1980-81 and 1981-82) and Stevin Smith (1992-93 and 1993-94).
QUICK NOTES: ASU led the league in turnover margin (+5.2) for the fourth time in the past five years last year...Eddie House earned honorable mention Freshman All-America honors from Basketball Weekly. House also set the ASU freshman record for steals with 59 and became the first ASU freshman to notch 50 steals (59) and 100 assists (108)...Mike Batiste earned Pac-10 All-Newcomer honors. Batiste joined the team in mid-year and played in 22 games and averaged 12.0 points and 6.7 rebounds. He shot 72.2 percent from the free throw line...Eddie House tied a Great Alaska Shootout Tournament record with seven three-pointers vs. Maine on Nov. 30.
MEDIA COVERAGE: KMVP 860 AM is the radio home of Sun Devil basketball. Tom Dillon, Arizona's Sportscaster of the Year 15 years running and the voice of Sun Devil athletics as well as the Arizona Cardinals handles the play-by-play duties. All games are on KMVP 860 AM, except those that conflict with other KMVP programming. Sun Devil games are then moved to KTAR 620 AM. Tim Healey and Gil Tyree handle the play-by-play and color commentary for KTVK-3. KTVK-3 will broadcast 14 Sun Devil games this year.
Steve Physioc and George Raveling will call the action for the Washington game on Fox Sports Net, while Tim Healey and John Cannon will call the game for KTVK-3 on Sunday.
DOUBLE-O: Okeme Oziwo, a 6-8 sophomore who played the 1995-96 season as a true freshman and redshirted last year with stress fractures, will miss the entire 1997-98 season after suffering numerous injuries in a car accident in late August. Oziwo suffered a broken tibia and fibula and several other injuries. He earned honorable mention All-Pac-10 Freshman honors in 1995-96 and had gained 30 pounds since his freshman year in preparation for this year.
PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
ASU CAREER POINTS Rk. Points Name Years 1. 1,834 Ron Riley 1992-96 2. 1,673 Stevin Smith 1990-94 3. 1,617 Jeremy Veal 1994-present FIELD GOALS MADE Rk. FGs Name Years 1. 651 Ron Riley 1992-96 6. 590 Paul Williams 1979-83 7. 577 Jeremy Veal 1994-present ASSISTS Rk. FGs Name Years 1. 454 Bobby Thompson 1984-87 2. 444 Lafayette Lever 1979-82 3. 437 Marcell Capers 1992-95 4. 416 Stevin Smith 1990-94 5. 377 Johnny Nash 1976-81 6. 359 Jeremy Veal 1994-present STEALS Rk. FGs Name Years 1. 246 Stevin Smith 1990-94 2. 236 Lafayette Lever 1979-82 3. 202 Ron Riley 1992-96 4. 150 Byron Scott 1979-83 5. 141 Marcell Capers 1992-95 6. 136 Steve Beck 1984-87 7. 131 Jeremy Veal 1994-present
WALKON INFORMATION: ASU has four walkons on its roster in 1997-98, three of them newcomers...Ron DuBois, a 5-10 guard, was on the squad last year and earned a scholarship for 1997-98...Derek Smith, a 6-5 forward from Grand Junction, Colo., and D'Angelo Jones, a 5-10 freshman from Scottsdale, Ariz., joined the team in the fall...Terrell McKnight, a 5-9 junior from Long Beach City College, earned his roster spot on Dec. 19. McKnight played with Mike Batiste at Long Beach.
Top 1997-98 numbers: Here's a look at ASU's top players, with Pac-10 rankings noted: Scoring Pac-10 Jeremy Veal 2nd 19.9 Bobby Lazor 5th 18.9 Mike Batiste 11th 16.1 Eddie House 20th 12.5 Rebounding Bobby Lazor 6th 7.6 Mike Batiste 9th 7.2 FG Pct. Bobby Lazor 4th 60.2 Mike Batiste 5th 56.6 Assists Ahlon Lewis 1st 9.3 Jeremy Veal 4.0 Steals Eddie House 5th 2.4 Blocks Mike Batiste 1st 2.3 Bobby Lazor 2nd 1.9 3-PT Percentage Eddie House 5th 46.0 FT Percentage Bobby Lazor 78.61997-98 Team statistics Free Throw Pct. 1st 75.4 Assists Average 1st 21.9 Blocks 1st 5.0 Assist/TO Ratio 1st 1.38 Field Goal Pct. 1st 50.0 Scoring Offense 2nd 89.5 Steals Per Game 3rd 9.8 Turnover Margin 3rd +3.1 Scoring Margin 5th +8.0 3-PT FG Pct. 5th 35.9 3-PT FG Pct. Def. 6th 33.3 FG Pct. Defense 7th 44.3 Rebound Margin 10th -2.8 Scoring Defense 10th 81.5
QUICK NOTES
1997-98 PAC-10 STANDINGS
(as of Jan. 6)
Conf. Overall
Team W L W L
STAN 2 0 13 0
UA 2 0 11 3
UW 1 0 8 2
UCLA 1 1 10 2
ASU 1 1 11 4
UO 1 1 6 5
CAL 1 1 5 5
WSU 0 1 7 5
OSU 0 2 9 4
USC 0 2 4 8
PAC-10 PICKS: A look at ASU's finishes compared to the Pac-10 preseason media picks in the 1990s:
Media Pac-10
Picks Finish
1997-98 10th ???
1996-97 9th 10th
1995-96 6th 8th
1994-95 4th 3rd
1993-94 5th T-4th
1992-93 10th T-3rd
1991-92 3rd 5th
1990-91 6th 3rd
1989-90 6th T-7th
ASU PLAYERS VS. WASHINGTON AND WASHINGTON STATE MIKE BATISTE * 1996-97 * (one season) Team G-GS FG-A PCT 3P-A PCT FT-A PCT REB AVG AST PTS AVG HI Wash. (0-2) 2-2 6-24 .250 1-4 .250 4-6 .667 12 6.0 3 17 8.5 11 Wash. St. (0-2) 2-2 7-17 .412 0-4 .000 4-7 .571 9 4.5 0 18 9.0 13 EDDIE HOUSE * 1996-97 * (one season) Team G-GS FG-A PCT 3P-A PCT FT-A PCT REB AVG AST PTS AVG HI Wash. (0-2) 2-2 6-16 .375 0-4 .000 1-2 .500 6 3.0 7 13 6.5 8 Wash. St. (0-2) 2-1 6-14 .428 2-6 .333 2-2 .500 1 0.5 8 16 8.0 11 URIT KELLY * 1996-97 * (one season) Team G-GS FG-A PCT 3P-A PCT FT-A PCT REB AVG AST PTS AVG HI Wash. (0-2) 2-1 1-9 .111 0-0 .000 4-6 .667 6 3.0 6 6 3.0 6 Wash. St. (0-2) 2-1 3-7 .429 0-0 .000 4-4 1.000 8 4.0 1 10 5.0 6 AHLON LEWIS * 1996-97 * (one season) Team G-GS FG-A PCT 3P-A PCT FT-A PCT REB AVG AST PTS AVG HI Wash. (1-0) 2-0 0-1 .000 0-1 .000 2-2 1.000 3 1.5 3 2 1.0 2 Wash. St. (0-1) 2-0 1-3 .333 0-2 .000 0-0 .000 1 0.5 4 2 1.0 2 JEREMY VEAL * 1994-97 * (three seasons) Team G-GS FG-A PCT 3P-A PCT FT-A PCT REB AVG AST PTS AVG HI Wash. (3-3) 6-4 33-77 .428 11-28 .393 24-29 .827 10 1.7 16 101 16.8 31 Wash. St. (1-5) 6-4 41-79 .519 13-31 .419 7-11 .636 22 3.7 26 102 17.0 26
ASU vs. UW: 25-16
Since 1989-90: 14-3
Since 1989-90:
UW @UAC: 8-1
Since 1989-90:
UW @UW: 6-2
Series Streak: UW, 3
ASU has won 15 of past 19
Bob Bender vs. ASU: 5-3
Year W/L Site Score
1989-90 W ASU 63-48
W UW 58-56
W ASU 57-51 !
1990-91 W UW 68-60
W ASU 53-41
1991-92 W UW 68-62
W ASU 55-47
1992-93 W ASU 94-85
W UW 79-74
1993-94 W UW 59-53
W ASU 73-55
1994-95 W ASU 78-73 *
W UW 72-71
1995-96 W ASU 88-79
L UW 64-75
1996-97 L UW 61-72
L ASU 69-72
!-Pac-10 Tournament at Tempe
*-overtime
ASU vs. WSU: 20-21
Since 1989-90: 6-10
Since 1989-90:
WSU @ ASU: 5-3
Since 1989-90:
@ WSU: 2-6
Series Streak: WSU, five
WSU has won 8 of the past 9
Year W/L Site Score
1989-90 W ASU 75-64
W WSU 68-57
1990-91 L WSU 86-95
L ASU 72-74
1991-92 W WSU 95-86
W ASU 71-70
1992-93 W ASU 81-77
L WSU 67-97
1993-94 L WSU 70-73
L ASU 71-80
1994-95 W ASU 87-60
L WSU 71-84
1995-96 L ASU 58-72
L WSU 78-103
1996-97 L WSU 55-74
L ASU 70-74