May 30, 2008
Andy Katz puts ASU at #12 in his post-NBA defections summer ESPN.com poll (June 17, 2008)
Jeff Goodman puts ASU at #16 in his post-NBA defections summer FoxSports.com poll (June 17, 2008)
SUN DEVIL DATA
The Arizona State's men's hoops team, 21-13 and 9-9 in the Pac-10 under second-year coach Herb Sendek, posted a 20-win season for just the fourth time in 27 years after being picked to finish ninth in the Pac-10 preseason media poll. ASU is expected to return its top seven scorers and 94.6 percent of its scoring in 2008-2009, led by All-Pac-10 selections James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph. ASU notched nine Pac-10 wins for just the third time in the past 13 seasons (11-7 in 2002-03 and 10-8 in 1999-2000) and went 5-4 in the second half of the Pac-10 with road wins at NCAA-bound Arizona, Washington and Oregon State and home wins vs. the NCAA-bound duo of Stanford and USC. Only UCLA and ASU beat both Stanford and USC, as ASU notched wins over RPI top-60 teams Xavier (9), Stanford (14), USC (28), Arizona (twice, 37) and Oregon (58). Freshmen made a league-leading and school record 96 starts, played more than 47 percent of the minutes and scored more than 52 percent of the points. Freshmen James Harden earned first-team All-Pac-10 and All-District IX USBWA honors while junior Jeff Pendergraph earned third-team Pac-10 accolades. Coach Herb Sendek earned the west coast media Coach of the Year accolades with his District IX USBWA honors and earned Pac-10 Coach of the Year honors from collegeinsider.com.
TURNAROUND
ASU's 13-game turnaround in wins (ASU was 8-22 overall in 2006-07) was tied for the best turnaround in the nation last year. UNC Wilmington improved by 13 wins (7-22 to 20-13) while Maryland-Baltimore County (12-19 to 24-9) and Wagner (11-19 to 23-8) improved its wins by a dozen.
POPULAR ON THE TUBE LOCALLY
According to Nielsen Media Research, ASU's men's basketball television ratings in 2007-08 on FSN Arizona enjoyed an increase of 196% over its average rating for the previous season. The 15 Sun Devil games on FSN AZ averaged a 1.5 rating/3 share in the Phoenix market. That figure means that an average of 27,039 households in the Valley were tuning into a game. In 2006-07, the Sun Devils averaged a 0.5 rating. A rating is the percentage of all television households in a market, while the share is the percentage of those television households that actually have their sets on during the particular time. One ratings point equal 18.026 households in the Phoenix market.
BIG WIN
ASU was the only Pac-10 team to have a win over a RPI top-10 team outside the loop with its 77-55 victory over #9 Xavier, which reached the Elite Eight and went 30-7. The 22-point win is the largest over a ranked team in school history. ASU was tied for third in the Pac-10 with five top 50 RPI wins and had one more than Washington State, USC and Oregon (four). UCLA (11) and Stanford (seven) led the way. ASU also had two wins against top-three seeds of the NCAA Tournament, one of just nine teams to notch that feat.
MULTIPLE WINS AGAINST NCAA TOURNAMENT SEEDED #1-3
4-Pitt (Louisville, Duke and Georgetown twice)
3-Purdue (Louisville and Wisconsin twice); Texas (Tennessee, Kansas and UCLA);UCLA (Stanford three times)
2-Arizona State (Stanford and Xavier); Duke (North Carolina and Wisconsin); St. Joseph's (Xavier twice); Tennessee (Memphis and Xavier); USC (Stanford and UCLA)
STUFF TO KNOW
ASU was led in scoring by the most famous Sun Devil southpaw since Phil Mickelson, James Harden, who had an ASU freshman record 16 20-point games (seventh-best in school history and tied for third-best in the Pac-10). The 18-year old Harden (born August of 1989) was the youngest player in the Pac-10 in 2007-08 as his 17.8 points per game is second-best in ASU freshman history and he led the Pac-10 with 73 steals, fifth-best by a freshman in Pac-10 history...ASU was 5-4 at home in Pac-10 games after going 9-27 in Tempe the previous four seasons...ASU has gone 23-16 after starting Herb Sendek's first year 6-19...ASU won its share of close games (7-4 in games decided by 10 points or less) and made its free throws (.739 percentage is fifth-best in school history and second best in past 21 seasons)...ASU's winning record (5-4) in the back half of Pac-10 play was just the third for the Sun Devils in the past 13 seasons...in the second half of the Pac-10 season, four Sun Devil freshmen played 52 percent of the minutes, scored 54 percent of the points and made 53 three-pointers.
GAMES OF 10 PTS. OR LESS
1. UCLA, 13-3 (.813)
2. Stanford, 12-5 (.706)
3. Arizona State, 7-4 (.636)
4. USC, 8-6 (.671)
5. WSU, 9-7 (.563)
6. Washington, 8-8 (.500)
7. California, 11-11 (.500)
8. Oregon, 8-12 (.400)
9. Arizona, 6-11 (.353)
10. Oregon State, 2-7 (.222)
PAC-10 FRESHMEN STARTS
1. Arizona State, 96
2. USC, 71
3. Arizona, 39
5. UCLA, 38
4. Oregon State, 35
6. Washington, 29
7. Oregon, 8
8. California/WSU/Stanford, 0
TURNAROUND
ASU became just the fifth team in 30 years of the Pac-10 to go from a last-place finish (2-16 in 2006-2007) to a .500 record in conference play the next year. Washington State did it in 2007-2008 as Tony Bennett earned National Coach of the Year in 2006-2007.
LAST PLACE PAC-10 TEAMS TO REACH .500 IN LEAGUE GAMES THE FOLLOWING SEASON
Washington State from 3-15 in 1980-81 to 10-8 in 1981-82
California from 5-13 in 1987-88 to 10-8 (NIT) in 1988-89
Stanford from 2-16 in 1992-93 to 10-8 (NIT) in 1993-94
Washington State from 4-14 in 2005-06 to 13-5 (NCAAs) in 2006-07
Arizona State from 2-16 in 2006-07 to 9-9 (NIT) in 2007-08
THIEF
James Harden set the Pac-10 tournament record with seven steals against USC (March 13). It is the most steals by a Sun Devil since Eddie House had seven vs. Kansas State on Nov. 24, 1998, in the Maui Invitational. It marked just the ninth time a Sun Devil had at least seven steals. Harden's 73 steals is tied for fourth-best in school history and was just three shy of the ASU record of 76 set by Fat Lever in 1981-82. He averaged 3.6 steals in the final five games. He ended fifth in the league in scoring at 17.8 points per game.
ANOTHER FRESHMEN
Freshman Rihards Kuksiks averaged 26.6 minutes and 8.7 points in the final 12 games and made 25 three pointers. He had 15 points in the win over seventh-ranked Stanford on Feb. 14, 15 at Washington on Feb. 23 and 10 in March 1 win vs. USC. He had 104 points in the final 12 games after scoring 42 in the first 22 games.
DON'T COUNT THEM OUT
The Sun Devils came back from double-digit deficits in two big wins in 2007-08, as it put the brakes on a five-game losing skid in dramatic fashion on Feb. 10 in Tucson, falling behind 22-6 but coming back to take a 13-point second-half lead and winning 59-54 to sweep Arizona for the first time since 1994-95 (and notch first win in Tucson since March 11, 1995). On Feb. 14 against seventh-ranked Stanford, ASU was down by 14 in the second half and by seven with 1:49 left before a rally put the game into overtime as ASU won 72-68. On Feb. 16 against Cal, ASU made seven three-pointers in the final 1:11 to chop an 11-point deficit to three before falling 76-73.
YOU READ THIS BEFORE
The Sun Devils had five wins over teams in the top 50 of the RPI. ASU (5-7) beat #9 Xavier, #14 Stanford, had two wins over #37 Arizona and beat No. #28 USC on March 1. Other Pac-10 records (prior to NCAA and NIT) vs. the top-50 include UCLA (11-2), Stanford (7-4), Arizona (5-8), WSU (4-7), USC (4-8), Oregon (4-9), Cal (2-10) and UW (2-10).
ETC.
ASU's scholarship roster has an interesting mix as it includes one senior, one junior, five freshmen, sophomore transfer and three sophomores who played 87.3 minutes per game last year...ASU ranked second in the Pac-10 in steals (6.94) and was third in field goal percentage defense (.410)...Sun Devils gave up 61.9 ppg., which was fourth in the league...Derek Glasser finished third in the Pac-10 in assist/turnover ratio at 2.27...ASU was third in the Pac-10 in free throw percentage at .739...Jeff Pendergraph finished third in the Pac-10 in field goal percentage (.593). The ASU record is .630 held by Trent Edwards in 1988-89. He finished ninth in league at 6.4 boards per game...ASU averaged 7.18 three-pointers per game, second in the league.
HARDEN ON DEFENSE/OFFENSE
James Harden became just the fifth freshman to lead the Pac-10 in steals. The others are Jason Kidd of Cal (3.8 spg/1993), Baron Davis of UCLA (2.4 spg/1998) and USC's Errick Craven (2.1 spg/2002) and Gabe Pruitt (1.9 spg/2005). He also had 19 blocks, seventh on the ASU freshmen list. His 73 steals is fifth-best in Pac-10 history for a freshman. When you compare the points with the all-time freshman steals leaders, Harden is the first freshmen in league history with 70 steals and a 17.0 points per game average.
PAC-10 FRESHMEN STEALS LEADERS (PPG. AND RPG. ALSO)
Player, School, Year, Steals, PPG, RPG
1. Jason Kidd, Cal, 1992-93, 110, 13.0, 4.9
2. Baron Davis, UCLA, 1997-98, 77, 11.7, 4.0
2. Brevin Knight, Stanford, 1993-94, 77, 11.1, 3.9
4. Mike Bibby, Arizona, 1996-97, 76, 13.5, 3.2
5. James Harden, ASU, 2007-2008, 73, 17.8, 5.3
MPGS
James Harden and Ty Abbott both topped the pace set by Byron Scott in 1979-80 for Sun Devil freshmen minutes played in the 18 Pac-10 games. Harden averaged 35.9 minutes per game while Abbott finished at 34.8. Derek Glasser averaged 32.2 minutes last year in Pac-10 play.
ASU FRESHMEN MINUTES PER GAME (PAC-10 GAMES)
1. 35.9, James Harden 2007-08
2. 34.8, Ty Abbott, 2007-08
3. 34.2, Byron Scott 1979-80
4. 33.3, Ike Diogu 2002-03
5. 32.2, Derek Glasser, 2006-07
CLOSE GAME UPDATE In 2006-07, ASU was 4-17 in games decided by 10 points or less, but last year the Sun Devils were 7-4 with wins over LSU (87-84 in Maui), Montana State (66-62), Oregon (62-54), Arizona twice (64-59 in OT and 59-54 in Tucson), at California (99-90 in double OT) and vs. seventh-ranked Stanford (72-68 in OT). ASU was 4-0 this year in overtime with the wins over LSU, Arizona, at Cal and vs. #7 Stanford. The four overtime wins is the most by an ASU team since 1985-86 as the Sun Devils were 4-2, while the school mark is 5-0 by the 1980-81 team. Also, ASU was 3-12 in two-possession games in 2006-07 (six points or less or OT) but was 6-4 in 2007-08.
PAC-10 TEAMS WITH AT LEAST FOUR OVERTIME WINS IN ONE SEASON (1978-79 TO PRESENT)
Arizona State (4-0 in 2007-08)
California (4-0 in 2006-07)
USC (4-1 in 2003-04)
Arizona State (4-2 in 1985-86)
Arizona State (5-0 in 1980-81)
MORE PENDERGRAPH
Jeff Pendergraph became the 30th member of the ASU 1,000-point club against USC on March 1. He has 1,065 points in 90 career games (11.8 points per game). He also has 652 career rebounds (7.2 per game), just four away from joining the ASU top-10 list. Tony Cerkvenik has the ASU record of 1,022 boards from 1960-63. Pendergraph needs 367 to tie, an average of 10.8 boards per game if he plays 34 games (which it did in 2007-08).
REAL DEAL:
The Pac-10's youngest player, James Harden (turned 18 on Aug. 26), led ASU in scoring (17.8 ppg./fifth in Pac-10), steals (2.15 per game/led the Pac-10) and minutes per game (34.1/ninth in Pac-10). He is shot .527 from the field, .754 from the free throw line and .407 from the three-point stripe (eighth in the Pac-10). Harden is the first McDonald's All-American to sign with ASU out of high school since 1984 (it was Chris Sandle before you ask). He had 16 20-point games (topping Ike Diogu's ASU freshmen record of 12) including five straight from Dec. 29-Jan. 17 which is a first for an ASU freshman. He averaged 18.2 points (tied for fifth) and 5.1 boards in Pac-10 games and was the only player in the league to lead his team in scoring in each of the first eight Pac-10 games.
ASU SEASON 20-POINT GAMES
Ike Diogu, Jr., 2004-05, 21
Jeremy Veal, Sr., 1997-98, 20
Byron Scott, Jr., 1982-83, 20
Seabern Hill, Jr., 1968-69, 18
Ike Diogu, So., 2003-04, 17
Eddie House, Sr., 1999-2000, 17
James Harden, Fr., 2007-08, 16
ASU FRESHMEN POINTS PER GAME
1. Ike Diogu, 2002-03, 19.0
2. James Harden, 2007-08, 17.8
3. Jamal Faulkner, 1990-91, 15.4
4. Byron Scott, 1979-80, 13.6
5. Ron Riley, 1992-93, 13.0
6. Eddie House, 1996-97, 12.6
7. Mario Bennett, 1991-92, 12.5
8. Christian Polk, 2006-07, 12.0
9. Jeff Pendergraph, 2005-06, 10.9
10. Steve Beck, 1983-84, 10.9
ASU PAC-10 2007-08 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Ty Abbott (Dec. 17)
James Harden (Jan. 7)
Jeff Pendergraph (Feb. 11)
SHIPP NOTES
Jerren Shipp matched a career-best with nine boards at California and played a career-best 42 minutes against Arizona on Jan. 9. He had a Pac-10 season-high 11 points at Arizona on Feb. 10.
HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
Arizona State improved by seven wins in league play this year (2-16 to 9-9), one of just 11 teams to do that in league history, and just the fourth team in the past 15 seasons (1994-95 to present).
STEADY
Jeff Pendergraph had 56 blocks (he had 45 in his first two seasons) and shot .593 from the field (third in the Pac-10) and .799 from the free throw line (tenth in Pac-10). He had five double-doubles in 2007-08 (18 in career). He is shooting .757 from the free throw line in his career (253-of-334). His 101 career blocks is sixth in ASU history.
SOME RANDOM HARDEN NOTES
In 37 minutes against a good defensive team in USC on March 1, Harden missed two shots out of 18. He was 7-of-8 from the field and 9-of-10 from the line...in ASU's four overtime games (all wins and three of them in Pac-10 games) he averaged 24.8 ppg and 5.5 rebounds and had 10 steals...in ASU's five Pac-10 home wins he averaged 23.4 points, six boards, three assists and two steals as he led ASU to 5-4 Pac-10 home mark. In the prevous four years, ASU was 9-27 in Pac-10 home games...was second on the team in assists (110), including 63 (3.5 per game) in Pac-10 games...in ASU's nine Pac-10 wins he shot 54.5 percent from the floor and was 13-27 from three-point stripe. He averaged 20.0 points and 5.6 boards in those games...shot 45.2 percent from three-point land in road games.
AT HOME
ASU won 15 home games for first time in the 32-year history of Wells Fargo Arena, as it is was15-5 in 2007-08 with wins over NCAA Tournament teams Arizona, Xavier, Stanford, USC, Oregon and Coppin State. ASU previously won 14 home games in 1974-75 (14-0), 1979-80 (14-3), 1980-81 (14-1), 1990-91 (14-4), 1994-95 (14-3), 1997-98 (14-4), and 1999-2000 (14-3).
AP ALL-AMERICAN NOTE
The Pac-10 had nine players earn Associated Press All-American honors this season, the most since 2000- 2001. Kevin Love (UCLA) earned first-team, while Darren Collison (UCLA) and Brook Lopez (Stanford) earned third-team honors. Honorable mention was earned by Ryan Anderson (California), Jarryd Bayless (Arizona), Jon Brockman (Washington), Chase Budinger (Arizona), James Harden (Arizona State) and O.J. Mayo (USC). In 2001 Casey Jacobsen (first-team, Stanford) and Michael Wright (third-team, Arizona) were joined on the list by seven other Pac-10 honorable mentions candidates.
INSTANT IMPACT
This year's Pac-10 freshmen had four of the top 11 freshmen scoring seasons in league history. James Harden's 17.8 points per game is the eighth-best mark by a freshmen in Pac-10 history.
Pac-10 Freshmen Scoring List
Rk., Player, School, Year, PPG, Team Notes
1. Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Cal, 1995-96, 21.1, NCAA team went 17-11
2. O.J. Mayo, USC, 2007-08, 20.7, NCAA team went 21-12 and 11-7
3. Harold Miner, USC, 1989-90, 20.6, Team went 12-16
4. Jerryd Bayless, Arizona, 2007-08, 19.7, NCAA team went 18-14 and 8-10
5. Ike Diogu, ASU, 2002-03, 19.0, NCAA team went 20-12
6. Don McLean, UCLA, 1988-89, 18.6, NCAA team went 21-10
7. Cliff Robinson, USC, 1977-78, 18.4, Team went 14-13
8. James Harden, ASU, 2007-08, 17.8, NIT team went 21-13 and 9-9
9. Tom Lewis, USC, 1985-86, 17.6, Team went 11-17
10. Kevin Love, UCLA, 2007-08, 17.5, UCLA 35-4 overall and 16-2
11. Todd Lichti, Stanford, 1985-86, 17.2, Team went 14-16 overall
12. Ryan Anderson, California, 2006-07, 16.3, Team went 16-17 overall
13. Jason Kapono, UCLA, 1999-2000, 16.0, NCAA team went 21-12
14. Chase Budinger, Arizona, 2006-07, 15.6, NCAA team went 20-11
14. Sean Elliott, Arizona, 1985-86, 15.6, NCAA team went 23-9
TREE
Herb Sendek now has seven former assistants who are D-I head coaches as 12-year sidekick Mark Phelps earned the Drake top spot this spring after serving for 10 years on Coach Sendek's staff at NC State and for two years at ASU. The others are Jim Christian, formerly at Kent State and now at TCU (Miami assistant from 1994-96), Charlie Coles at Miami of Ohio (Miami assistant from 1994-96), Larry Hunter at Western Carolina (NC State assistant from 2001-05), Ron Hunter of IUPUI (Miami assistant from 1993-94), Ohio State's Thad Matta (Miami assistant in 1994-95) and Xavier's Sean Miller (assistant at both Miami from 1994-96 and at NC State from 1996-2000). Coles, Miller and Matta all led their teams to the 2007 NCAA Tournament, then last year Christian led Kent State to the NCAAs, Miller led Xavier to the Elite Eight and Matta's Buckeye squad won the NIT a year after going to the Final Four.
PLAYER OF WEEK
Jeff Pendergraph earned Pac-10 Player of the Week honors following his Feb. 10 outing at Arizona when he posted 29 points on 12-of-16 shooting and eight boards in 39 minutes in ASU's 59-54 win. Freshmen Ty Abbott and James Harden became the fourth and fifth ASU freshmen to win Pac-10 Player of the Week honors, as Abbott took home the Dec. 17 honor after his 19-point performance in the 77-55 win over Xavier on Dec. 15 which included five three pointers in the largest win over a ranked team in school history. Harden notched the honor after leading ASU to just its third 2-0 start in Pac-10 history when they swept Oregon (Jan. 3) and Oregon State (Jan. 5) in Tempe to open Pac-10 play. Other Sun Devil freshman to earn the honor are Ike Diogu (Feb. 16, 2003), Mario Bennett (Feb. 24, 1992) and Chris Sandle (Dec. 10, 1984). Seventeen ASU players have been named Pac-10 Player of the Week on 26 occasions, but this year marks the first time in the 25-year history of the award three separate Sun Devils took home the honor. He led ASU in rebounding for the third straight season, something only Ike Diogu (2002-05) and Al Nealey (1957-60) have accomplished.
RANKINGS
For the first time since the final poll of 1994-95 (March 13) ASU grabbed a spot in the Associated Press rankings, as it was No. 22 (No. 25 in the USA Today Coaches' poll on Jan. 14). ASU was ranked No. 24 in the Jan. 21 AP poll. Coach Sendek had the Sun Devils in the rankings in his second year, two years prior to his rebuilding effort at NC State that resulted in five straight NCAA Tournament appearances (2002-06).
FRESHMEN
Freshmen accounted for 69 of 150 starts in Herb Sendek's rookie 30-game season. The numbers now read 165 out of 320 starts in his 64 games (freshmen started 96 games in 2007-08). In his two years, ASU has had freshmen make 51.6 percent of the starts. Sophomores have made 68 starts (.213), juniors 51 (.159) and seniors 36 (.113). Against Xavier on Dec. 15, ASU started four freshmen for the first time in school history. ASU's freshmen accounted for 52 percent of the points in 2007-08. In 2006-07 ASU's 69 freshmen starts set the school record by 24 starts that the Sun Devils blew have easily surpassed.
ASU FRESHMEN STARTS
Year (Starts): Freshman
2007-2008 (96): Ty Abbott (34, ASU record), James Harden (33), Jamelle McMillan (16), Rihards Kuksiks (13)
2006-2007 (69): Derek Glasser (21), Christian Polk (26), Jerren Shipp (22)
1991-1992 (45): Mario Bennett (25), Tony Ronaldson (20)
GLASSER A QUALITY POINT GUARD
Derek Glasser made 58-of-69 (.841) free throws in 2007-08 and is 93-of-114 (.816) in his 64-game career. He had a career-high nine assists against Idaho on Dec. 22, the most by a Sun Devil since Antwi Atuahene had 10 vs. Oregon on Feb. 11, 2006 (most in past 66 games). Glasser had 69 assists and 32 turnovers in Pac-10 play, a 2.16 ratio that was second in the league. He also has 231 career asists in just two seasons, more than halfway to the ASU career record of 454 set by Bobby Thompson from 1983-87.
VS. RANKED TEAMS
Coach Sendek has 32 career wins against ranked foes, including 11 top-10 wins in his past eight seasons and seven top-five wins in his past dozen seasons. He notched his first at ASU on Feb. 18, 2007, as ASU topped No. 22 USC 68-58 and won his first attempt in the 2007-08 season with a 77-55 over No. 17 Xavier on Dec. 15 (largest win over a ranked team in ASU history)...against seventh-ranked Stanford on Feb. 14, ASU beat its highest ranked opponent since its 90-87 overtime win at No. 4 Stanford on Jan. 31, 1998, and earned its first win over a top-10 team since Jan. 23, 2002 (88-72 win over No. 10 Arizona in Tempe)...it also marked ASU's first win over a top-10 team in Tempe not named Arizona since a 68-60 win over fourth-ranked Oregon State on March 6, 1982.
HITTING FREEBIES
ASU is shot .739 from the free throw line, the fifth-best mark in ASU history and second-best in past 21 seasons. In his 10 seasons at NC State, Coach Sendek's teams led the ACC four times in FT percentage (including three straight seasons, 2002-04). In 2004 NC State led the nation and set the ACC record by shooting .799 from the charity stripe. While at NC State, his squads shot 71.3 percent, as his worst team was his first year (1996-97/.649). One good note on his 2003-04 NC State team is in the past nine seasons, that squad's .799 FT percentage is tied for the best in the NCAA with St. Joseph in 2005-06.
ASU FREE THROW PERCENTAGE
RK. Season (Record), FT%
1. 1977-78 (13-14/6-8 in WAC), 75.6
2. 1954-55 (10-14/8-4 in Border), 75.4
3. 1997-98 (18-14/8-10 in Pac-10), 74.6
3. 1986-87 (11-17/6-12 in Pac-10), 74.6
5. 2007-08 (21-13/9-9 in Pac-10), 73.9
THE HEAD COACH
Herb Sendek finished his 15th season as a head coach and has averaged 18.7 wins per season. He led the Wolfpack to five straight NCAA appearances from 2002-06 and is now 283-193 (.595) in 15 seasons and was 191-132 (.591) at NC State. The 45-year-old (born Feb. 22, 1963) Pittsburgh, Pa., native is the third-youngest coach in the Pac-10. Only Duke posted more ACC wins (regular season and ACC Tournament) than NC State's 53 victories from 2002-2006. Another overlooked note is his 10-year stay at NC State. To compare it to the Pac-10, since the league expanded to 10 teams in 1978-79, only five coaches have coached at their schools for at least 10 years: Lute Olson (24 at Arizona), Ralph Miller (19 at Oregon State), Mike Montgomery (18 at Stanford), Ben Braun (12 at California) and Ernie Kent (12 at Oregon).
SOLID WIN
ASU has hosted the likes of Final Four-bound Kansas in 1990-91, Final-Four bound Oklahoma State in 1994-95, Texas, Georgia, Kerry Kittles-led Villanova, Kenny Thomas-led New Mexico, BYU, 2006 defending Big Ten Tournament champ Iowa and Louisville since 1990, but No. 17 Xavier was the highest ranked non-conference foe to visit ASU since No. 14 ASU beat No. 7 Ohio State 71-58 on Dec. 20, 1980. Xavier also was the first non-conference ranked foe to visit Tempe since No. 18 UTEP topped ASU 60-55 on Dec. 18, 1983. ASU's 77-55 win over the Musketeers is the largest over a ranked team in ASU history, topping ASU's only win over the nation's top-ranked team, an 87-67 win at Oregon State on March 7, 1981. It was ASU's highest-ranked non-conference win since Nov. 23, 1994 (97-90 win over seventh-ranked Maryland in Maui) and Xavier's worst defeat since an 80-49 loss to La Salle in the 1999-2000 season. ASU's 59.5 shooting percentage is the best against Xavier since Elite Eight-bound St. Joseph's in 2003-2004 shot 60 percent. St. Joseph's went undefeated in the regular season.
ASU LARGEST MARGINS OVER A RANKED TEAM
(22)--ASU 77, #17 Xavier 55 (Dec. 15, 2007)
(20)--#5 ASU 87, @#1 Oregon State 67 (March 7, 1981)
(19)--ASU 89, #5 San Francisco 70 (Dec. 3, 1977)
(18)--ASU 71, #6 Colorado 53 (Dec. 21, 1962)
(17)--ASU 79, #13 Michigan 62 (Nov. 22, 1994)
(17)--ASU 95, #3 USC 78 (Dec. 1, 1971)
OLDER NOTES
Harden led or tied for the ASU lead in scoring 25 times and did the same in rebounding on 12 occasions. He also led or tied for the team assist lead in 14 games...ASU used eight starting lineups in 2007-2008...ASU set a school record by making 73.3 percent of its three-pointers (11-of-15) against Saint Francis (Pa.) on Dec. 29. It also shot 72.1 percent from the field for the game (31-of-43), second-best in school history...James Harden, Ty Abbott and Jamelle McMillan started against Illinois on Nov. 19, the first time in school history that three freshmen started the opener...after averaging 58.5 points per game last year, ASU scored 54 in the first half against Florida Gulf Coast on Nov. 28. The 54 first-half points (most since 58-30 lead against USC on Feb. 13, 2003) was more than it scored in 10 games last year...ASU outrebounded Cal Poly by 29 on Nov. 26 (52-23), its best rebounding margin since a 49-19 output vs. American-Puerto Rico on Nov. 26, 1997...ASU also held Cal Poly to 14-of-55 (.255) from the floor, its best defensive effort since Dec. 2, 2000, when it held eventual NCAA Tournament bound BYU to 15-of-59 (.254), then held Delaware State to .208 shooting (11-of-53).
ACADEMICALLY SPEAKING
The men's basketball team had another strong outing in the classroom this spring, as it posted a 3.18 grade point average and its cumulative GPA for the roster is now 2.98. In addition, four more former Sun Devils finished their degrees, as Bruno Claudino (2005-2007/B.I.S), Shawn Redhage (1999-2003/B.S. in Construction) and Kyle Dodd (1999-2003/B.I.S. in Communications) finished their degrees in December of 2007 while Antwi Atuahene (B.I.S. in 2008) finished his in 2008. Since 2004, 14 Sun Devil men's basketball players have graduated.
MANY WINS, MANY PLACES
When it comes time to play away from Tempe, Herb Sendek has a good map. In his career, Coach Sendek now has won 280 games in 24 states, plus two wins in Puerto Rico and one in Washington D.C. North Carolina (153), Ohio (51) and Arizona (21) lead the way as he has been head coach in each state, and he also has posted wins in Florida, (seven), Michigan (six), South Carolina and Virginia (five each), Georgia and Indiana (four each), Massachusetts (three), California (three), Hawaii, Texas and Maryland (two each). One-win states are Alabama, Utah, New York, New Jersey, Tennessee, Nevada, Kentucky, Illinois, Washington and Oregon.
WHEN YOU PUT IT THIS WAY, IT REALLY IS IMPRESSIVE
Herb Sendek took NC State to the five straight NCAA Tournaments (2002-2006) prior to ASU. To compare it to the Pac-10, only three schools can match that in the 30 seasons since ASU and Arizona joined the league in 1978-79. Arizona (currently 24), UCLA (14 straight from 1989-2002 and currently five straight, 2004-08) and Stanford (11 straight from 1995-2005) have had NCAA Tournaments streaks of more than five, but none of the other seven Pac-10 schools have gone to the NCAAs more than three straight times since the league expanded to 10 teams. In fact, Cal (2001-2003), Oregon State (1980-82 and 1988-90) and Washington (1984-86 and 2004-06) are the only schools to have made three straight in that time frame.
D IS GOOD
ASU was fourth in Pac-10 games in scoring defense at 61.9 ppg., and the other teams in the top six were NCAA Tournament squads, as ASU ranked third in FG percentage defense (.427) in league games. ASU blocked 54 shots in the 18 league games last year, compared to just 18 in 2006-07. ASU gave up just 61.9 points per game overall (fifth-best mark in ASU history), and the second-lowest since 1949-50 (59.8).
ASU AGAIN TO HOST REGIONAL ACTION
Arizona State will again host NCAA West Regional action at the home of the Arizona Cardinals, University of Phoenix Stadium, on March 26-28. ASU hosted the 2008 West Regional at US Airways Arena in Phoenix. It marks the first time the same geographic area has hosted a regional in back-to-back years since St. Louis in 1998-99 and East Rutherford in 1986-91. First round sites for this year include Greensboro, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Portland, Boise, Dayton, Miami and Minneapolis, with other regionals taking place in Boston, Indianapolis and Memphis. The 2009 Final Four will be held April 4-6 at Ford Field in Detroit.
YOUNG GUY
Even with a resume that includes coaching in 476 games, six NCAA tournaments, 12 NCAA Tournament games, at three schools and having seven former assistants currently serving as head coaches at the Division-I level, ASU head coach Herb Sendek is still the third-youngest coach in the Pac-10 even with two new hires this year. Oregon State's Craig Robinson is a little older than Coach Sendek (about 10 months) while Stanford's Johnny Dawkins is about seven months younger.
FRESHMEN THREES
Ty Abbott set the ASU freshmen record for three-pointers with 76, the fourth-best mark in Pac-10 freshmen history.
PAC-10 FRESHMEN 3-POINTERS MADE
1. Tajuan Porter (UO), 2006-07, 110
2. O.J. Mayo (USC), 2007-08, 88
3. Jason Kapono (UCLA), 1999-00, 82
4. Ty Abbott (ASU), 2007-08, 76
5. Casey Jacobsen (STAN), 1999-00, 74
6. Salim Stoudamire (UA), 2001-02, 73
7. Jason Gardner (UA), 1999-00, 70
8. Mike Bibby (UA), 1996-97, 67
9. Ron Riley (ASU), 1992-93, 66
10. Christian Polk (ASU), 2006-07, 64
FRESHMEN STARTS
ASU has had freshmen make 165 starts in the Herb Sendek 64-game era. USC (136) is a distant second. NCAA Tournament teams from the past two years Oregon (41), UCLA (39) and Washington State (4) had the fewest freshmen starts in the past two years.
ASU FRESHMEN MINUTES PER GAME
1. James Harden, 2007-08, 34.1
2. Ty Abbott, 2007-08, 32.7
3. Byron Scott, 1979-80, 32.3
4. Ike Diogu, 2002-03, 32.2
5. Jerren Shipp, 2006-07, 30.0
6. Eddie House, 1996-97, 29.5
7. Christian Polk, 2006-07, 29.4
8. Jamal Faulkner, 1990-91, 29.1
9. Johnny Nash, 1976-77, 28.6
10. Kenny Crandall, 1998-99, 28.4
11. Derek Glasser, 2006-07, 27.9
SUN DEVIL PAC-10 ALL-FRESHMEN SELECTIONS
James Harden, 2007-08
Jeff Pendergraph, 2005-06
Ike Diogu (Freshman of the Year), 2002-03
Eddie House, 1996-97
Ron Riley, 1992-93
Mario Bennett, 1991-92
Dwayne Fontana, 1990-91
Jamal Faulkner (Freshman of the Year), 1990-91
Chris Sandle, 1984-85
Steve Beck, 1983-84
Byron Scott (Freshman of the Year), 1979-80