Jan. 27, 1998
Arizona State (13-7/3-4 IN PAC-10) Travels to Bay Area
Thurs., Jan. 29 California (7-8/3-4) 7:30 p.m. PT/8:30 MT Oakland, Calif. No TV/KTAR 620 AM Sat., Jan. 31 #4 Stanford Cardinal (18-0/7-0) 3 p.m. PT/4 p.m. MT Palo Alto, Calif. Fox Sports Net/KMVP 860 AM
SUN DEVILS TRAVEL TO CAL AND UNDEFEATED STANFORD: The Arizona State men’s basketball team, picked to finish last in the Pac-10 preseason media poll but 13-7 overall, travels to the Bay Area for games with the Cal Golden Bears (Jan. 29) and the Stanford Cardinal (Jan. 31). ASU (13-7; 3-4 in the Pac-10) is led by Wooden Award candidate Jeremy Veal, who averaged 18.7 ppg. last year en route to earning All-Pac-10 and is averaging 20.0 ppg. this year, tops in the league. ASU, who has just seven healthy scholarship players, has already surpassed its 1996-97 win total with 13 after going 10-20 last year (and 11-16 in 1995-96). There will be no TV coverage of the ASU-Cal game while Fox Sports Net will broadcast the Stanford game at 3 p.m. PT (4 p.m. MT). ASU will hope to build on one of its best defensive outputs in the past three years, as it topped Oregon 67-51 on Jan. 24. The 51 points was the fewest by an ASU opponent since the Sun Devils topped Oregon State 82-44 on Feb. 25, 1995, a span of 83 games. ASU held the Ducks to 1-of-17 (.059) from the three-point stripe and outrebounded UO 48-32.
DEPTH NOTES: ASU's starting five is averaging more than 171 minutes (out of 200) in the seven Pac-10 games…Head Coach Don Newman has used the same starting lineup in all 20 games…ASU has only one reserve (Urit Kelly) who is averaging more than 14 minutes per game…in conference games the Sun Devil starting five is scoring 67.8 points (out of 77.1) per game…Ahlon Lewis is averaging 39.3 minutes in Pac-10 play and has played 40 minutes in four of the seven league tilts.
1,700/350 GROUP: ASU senior guard Jeremy Veal already has accumulated 1,717 points and 379 assists in his 110-game career. A look at the only other seven players in Pac-10 history who have notched 1,700 points AND 350 assists:
Player School Years Points Assists Jeremy Veal Arizona State 1994-present 1,717 379 Brevin Knight Stanford 1993-97 1,714 780 Damon Stoudamire Arizona 1991-95 1,849 663 Khalid Reeves Arizona 1990-94 1,925 396 Eldridge Recasner Washington 1987-90 1,700 376 Gary Payton Oregon State 1987-90 2,172 938 Sean Elliott Arizona 1986-89 2,555 451 Ron Lee Oregon 1972-76 2,085 572
Note: WSU, UCLA, USC have not had a player notch 1,700 points AND 350 assists in a career.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR: Jeremy Veal is the only current Sun Devil who has played at ASU for more than one year…Veal has posted 10 20-point games on the year…Urit Kelly, the only ASU reserve averaging more than 14 minutes, is averaging 18.8 minutes, 6.3 points and 5.5 boards in his past six games off the bench…Eddie House has posted 171 assists in his 50-game career and has just 68 turnovers, a ratio of 2.51-to-1. House has played 20 games without a turnover…Jeremy Veal’s 26 points at Washington State on Jan. 11 was the most since he posted 29 vs. second-ranked Kansas on Nov. 26 at Madison Square Garden…ASU has had six players post at least one 20-point game, as all five starters have notched 20 points along with swingman Jason Patton…Lewis has played all but five minutes in the seven Pac-10 games. His 21 points at Washington State is a career best…ASU played the final 19:23 of the game at Washington State on Jan. 11 without commiting a turnover…the 185 assists by Lewis already is tied for third on the ASU single-season list, and if he averages 7.9 assists per game in the remaining 11 games he would break the Pac-10 single-season assist record (272 by Jason Kidd in 1994)…Mike Batiste’s 40 blocks is tenth on the ASU single-season list…ASU’s win at WSU broke a 13-game Pac-10 road losing streak, dating back to Feb. 15, 1996, when ASU topped USC 69-66…Jeremy Veal has played in 110 straight games…Mike Batiste is 40-of-67 (.597) from the field in the past six games…a quick look at the Jan. 26th Associated Press poll reveals that ASU has played No. 5 Kansas, No. 6 Arizona, No. 9 UConn, No. 8 UCLA and No. 18 Cincinnati (and will play No. 4 Stanford this week)…ASU has outrebounded five opponents (Wagner, La Salle, Eastern Michigan, UCLA and Oregon) on the year.
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 11 of 20 5 of 30
ASU has shot 50 pct. in 11 of 20 games…ASU had shot 50 percent just eight times in the past two years…ASU’s 61.3 pct. (38-of-62) vs. NAU (Dec. 3) is the best since ASU shot 62 pct. at Cal on Jan. 14, 1995…ASU has shot above 55 percent four times.
Team FT shooting 74.9% 66.5%
ASU is at 74.9 percent from the FT line, its best mark since the 1954-55 squad shot 75.4 percent, the second-best mark in ASU history…ASU leads the league in FT percentage.
games of at least 80 points 14 8
ASU has scored at least 80 points in 14 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 13 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 11-2 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), while the win at WSU ended a 13-game Pac-10 road loss streak dating back to that same USC game.
TURNAROUND: Point guard Ahlon Lewis, who arguably could be the nation’s most improved player, has posted 185 assists after posting just 77 last year…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 for Cal on Jan. 20, 1994…posted his best overall game of the year on Jan. 11 at WSU, notching 21 points and seven assists…had five steals vs. Oregon on Jan. 24…a look at the improvement of Lewis:
97-98 96-97
Games Started All 20 10 of 29
Minutes Per Game 35.1 16.4
Free Throw Percentage 82.7 57.1
Rebounds Per Game 3.8 1.7
Assists Per Game 9.25 2.7
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio 1.80-to-1 1.2-to-1
Steals Per Game 1.75 0.7
Points Per Game 6.9 2.7
Double-Digit Assist Games 9 0
Double-Digit Point Games 4 0
ON A ROLL: Junior Bobby Lazor has posted six “double-doubles” in the past 11 games…45-of-56 (.804) from the FT line in his past 12 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…posted 11 points and 10 boards vs. Oregon on Jan. 24.
GOOD HOUSEKEEPING NOTES: Eddie House has a team-leading 48 steals (2.40 per game) and 63 (3.15) assists through 20 games this year and has just 29 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 171 assists and 68 turnovers through 50 games in his career, a 2.51-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 (ASU frosh record) and hit 57 three-pointers and dished out 108 assists, the second-best amount for a freshman in ASU history…has played 20 turnover-free games in his 50-game career, averaging 30.4 minutes per game…had 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting in Eastern Michigan win on Dec. 28……hit the game-winning three-pointer vs. Washington State on Jan. 11…played 39 minutes vs. USC on Jan. 3, a career high.
CAL-STANFORD SERIES INFORMATION: ASU leads the Cal series 25-18…the home team has won each game in six of the past seven years, with the exception being 1994-95 when ASU swept the series, beating Cal at the Oakland Coliseum…ASU is 1-8 at Cal in the past nine years…ASU is 1-1 vs. Cal at the Coliseum, topping the Golden Bears 73-68 in 1994-95 and losing 91-67 in 1992-93 ASU leads the Stanford series 23-19…Stanford has won the past four and the past three at Maples Pavilion…the average victory margin for Stanford in the past four games is 16.5.
TRAVEL ITINERARY: ASU will leave on America West #2574 at 4:56 p.m. to Oakland for a 5:56 p.m. arrival on Wednesday, Jan. 28 and will stay at the Berkeley Marina Radisson (510-548-7920/200 Marina Boulevard) until Friday (Jan. 30). ASU will then bus to the Holiday Inn in Palo Alto on Friday (415-328-2800/625 El Camino Real) and check out on Saturday morning. ASU leaves immediately after the Stanford game on America West #2456 at 6:40 p.m., returning to Phoenix at 9:27 p.m.
BATISTE NOTES: Last season, junior college transfer Mike Batiste joined the Sun Devils as a 6-8 December transfer and played in 22 games (his first on Dec. 22, 1996) despite having left knee surgery the previous March…posted 12 rebounds against Oregon on Jan. 24, the most in his career in a Pac-10 game…shooting 56.9 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…posted three 20-point games in 1996-97 and has five in 20 games this year…turned 20 years old on Nov. 21…has 40 blocks on the year after posting just 17 last season…has three games of double-digit rebounds…has three “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 the two games…has hit 17-of-23 (.739) free throws in the past six games.
LEAGUE’S BEST SHOOTER???: Jeremy Veal is shooting 78.9 percent (288-of-365) from the FT line in his career…posted 32 points against Cal State Northridge, 26 at Washington State, 25 at Cincinnati and 26 at Arizona…has 10 20-point games on the year…needs 118 points to become ASU’s career leader…second on the ASU career scoring list (1,717 points)…only the second player in ASU history to notch at least 1,400 points and 300 assists…averaging 4.6 boards per game and had a career-high 10 boards vs. Northern Arizona…has been (or shared) ASU’s leading rebounder in five 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 110-game career…has been ASU's leading scorer in 10 games…has led ASU in scoring in five of the past seven games.
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 to 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…the last ASU opponent to score 100 points in the UAC was Arizona on Feb. 27, 1988, when it topped ASU 101-73. The current streak of an ASU opponent not scoring 100 points in the UAC stands at 166 games…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 at the UAC since Jan. 15, 1995, when No. 15 ASU topped No. 9 Arizona 53-52 in the Pac-10 opener…ASU has lost 14 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 332 straight games since then…ASU is 4-2 in games decided by six points or less.
SWEET 16: Since the NCAA Tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1985, 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 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).
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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).
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 ASU games this year.
ASU CAREER POINTS Rk. Points Name Years 1. 1,834 Ron Riley 1992-96 2. 1,717 Jeremy Veal 1994-present FIELD GOALS MADE Rk. FGs Name Years 1. 651 Ron Riley 1992-96 3. 637 Seabern Hill 1967-70 4. 616 Jeremy Veal 1994-present CAREER ASSISTS Rk. ASSTS Name Years 1. 454 Bobby Thompson 1984-87 4. 416 Stevin Smith 1990-94 5. 379 Jeremy Veal 1994-present CAREER STEALS Rk. FGs Name Years 1. 246 Stevin Smith 1990-94 5. 141 Marcell Capers 1992-95 6. 138 Jeremy Veal 1994-present SEASON ASSISTS Rk. ASSTS Name Years 1. 233 Marcell Capers 1994-95 2. 200 Marcell Capers 1992-93 3. 185 Mike Redhair 1989-90 3. 185 Ahlon Lewis 1997-98 SEASON BLOCKS Rk. BKS Name Years 1. 115 Mario Bennett 1994-95 9. 42 Jon Taylor 1984-85 10. 40 Mike Batiste 1997-98
WALKON INFORMATION: ASU has three walkons on its roster in 1997-98, two 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.
ASU is shooting 74.9 percent from the FT line this year, tops in the Pac-10.
ARIZONA STATE sun devils (13-7/3-4 in 1997-98)
Pos # Name Yr Ht. PPG RPG Notes
G 11 Ahlon Lewis Sr. 6-0 6.9 9.3* 21 pts. and 7 assists at WSU/39.3 minutes per game in Pac-10
G 21 Jeremy Veal Sr. 6-3 20.0 4.6 1,717 career points (28th on Pac-10 career leader list)
G 5 Eddie House So. 6-1 11.9 3.2* Averaging 2.4 steals per game (48 on year)/24 points vs. Eastern Michigan
F 4 Bobby Lazor Jr. 6-9 16.7 7.3 Syracuse transfer; 9 20-pt. games in '97/57.1% from field
F 24 Mike Batiste Jr. 6-8 16.1 7.2 132-232 (56.9 %) from floor/40 bks on year/70.2% career FTs
G 3 D'Angelo Jones Fr. 5-10 0.4 0.4 Walkon from Scottsdale, Ariz./speaks Japanese fluently
G 13 Ron DuBois Jr. 5-10 1.7 0.3 Walkon who has earned scholarship/13 games in 2-year career
G-F 22 Jason Patton So. 6-4 5.9 2.7 21 pts. vs. Del. St./11.7 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 0.8 0.9 Walkon from Grand Junction, Colo./8 games played
F 40 Urit Kelly Sr. 6-6 5.7 3.7 9 pts. and 5 boards at WSU/8 rebs. vs. UCLA/11 pts. and 8 rebs. at UA
* — denotes assists per game.
ASU VS. CALIFORNIA
Series Record: ASU, 25-18
ASU vs. Cal in the 90s: 8-8
ASU at Cal in the 90s: 1-7
ASU hosting Cal in the 90s: 7-1
Series Streak: Cal, one
ASU has won 4 of past 6 and 5 of the past 8
Year W/L Site Score
1989-90 L ASU 66-68
L Harm. 60-69
1990-91 L Harm. 65-76
W ASU 87-78
1991-92 L Harm. 61-68
W ASU 74-71
1992-93 W ASU 90-83
L OAK 67-91
1993-94 W ASU 63-60
L Harm. 78-95
1994-95 W OAK 73-68
W ASU 100-81
1995-96 L OAK 82-97
W ASU 56-53
1996-97 W ASU 64-60
L Harm. 66-84
ASU vs. Stanford
Series Record: ASU, 23-19
ASU vs. SU in the 90s: 9-7
ASU at SU in the 90s: 3-5
ASU hosting SU in the 90s: 6-2
Series Streak: Stanford, four
ASU has won 6 of past 11
Year W/L Site Score
1989-90 W ASU 64-53
L SU 44-57
1990-91 W SU 58-47
W ASU 75-57
1991-92 L SU 73-86
W ASU 76-71
1992-93 W ASU 109-87
W SU 75-71
1993-94 W ASU 78-67
W SU 71-69
1994-95 L SU 75-91
W ASU 79-70
1995-96 L SU 70-83
L ASU 53-67
1996-97 L ASU 65-81
L SU 63-86
top 1997-98 numbers:
Here’s a look at ASU's top players, with Pac-10 rankings noted:
Scoring Pac-10
Jeremy Veal 1st 20.0
Bobby Lazor 11th 16.7
Mike Batiste 13th 16.1
Rebounding
Bobby Lazor 7th 7.3
Mike Batiste 8th 7.2
FG Pct.
Bobby Lazor 2nd 57.1
Mike Batiste 3rd 56.9
Assists
Ahlon Lewis 1st 9.25
Jeremy Veal 9th 4.00
Steals
Eddie House 2nd 2.40
Ahlon Lewis 9th 1.75
Blocks
Mike Batiste 1st 2.00
Bobby Lazor 2nd 1.65
3-PT Percentage
Eddie House 10th 40.5
FT Percentage
Ahlon Lewis 5th 82.7
1997-98 Team statistics
Free Throw Pct. 1st 74.9
Assists Average 1st 20.95
Blocks 1st 4.50
Assist/TO Ratio 2nd 1.24
Scoring Offense 2nd 86.3
Steals Per Game 2nd 9.85
Field Goal Pct. 3rd 48.9
Turnover Margin 3rd +2.50
3-PT FG Pct. 5th 34.7
3-PT FG Pct. Def. 5th 32.8
FG Pct. Defense 6th 45.1
Scoring Margin 6th +3.8
Rebound Margin 10th -4.7
Scoring Defense 10th 82.4
QUICK NOTES •The last time ASU was picked to finish tenth in the Pac-10 media poll (1992-93), ASU finished tied for third with an 18-8 overall and 11-7 Pac-10 mark.
Road Hotel ASU will stay at the Oklahoma City Marriot (3233 N.W. Expressway) in (405-842-6633) and will arrive late Wednesday evening. Assistant SID Doug Tammaro will accompany the team.