Thurs., March 5 ARIZONA STATE (18-11/8-8 IN PAC-10) Vs. #19 UCLA Bruins (21-7/11-5) 7:30 p.m. PT/8:30 MT Los Angeles, Calif. No TV/KMVP 860 AM Sat., March 7 USC Trojans (7-19/3-13) 5 p.m. PT/6 p.m. MT Los Angeles, Calif. KTVK-3/KMVP 860 AM
ASU OFF TO L.A. TO END REGULAR SEASON: The Arizona State men's basketball team, picked to finish last in the Pac-10 preseason media poll but 18-11 overall and winners of five of its past eight, travels to Los Angeles to take on the No. 19 UCLA Bruins (March 5) and the USC Trojans (March 7). ASU (18-11; 8-8 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 20.7 ppg. this year, tops in the loop. Veal is averaging 22.4 points, 3.6 assists and 40 minutes in the past nine games. ASU, with just seven healthy scholarship players, has already clinched an 18-win season after going 10-20 last year (and 11-16 in 1995-96). KTVK-3 will broadcast the USC game at 6 p.m. MT, but there is no Phoenix TV coverage of the UCLA game. KMVP 860 AM also will broadcast both games. The Sun Devils will hope to continue some great outside shooting, as ASU is 21-of-41 (.512) from the three-point stripe in the past two games. The Sun Devils also will hope to stop a Thursday jinx, as ASU is 1-6 on Thursdays but 8-1 on Saturdays this year.
Two wins this weekend would put ASU in the Pac-10 record books as the first Pac-10 team to lose 20 games in one year and then win 20 regular-season games the next year. Cal was 9-20 in 1987-88 and then ended 20-13 in 1988-89 (including 1-1 in the NIT). ASU was 10-20 last year, 18-11 this year.
ASU has lost the past 11 games at UCLA, with its last win at Pauley Pavilion in 1986-87 in the regular season. ASU fell to UCLA in the Pac-10 Tournament later that year in Pauley and UCLA has won all 10 games since. Overall, UCLA has topped ASU 18 straight times, with ASU's last win in Tempe in 1988-89. ASU's last win over UCLA came on Feb. 16, 1989 (a 93-86 win in Tempe), while its last win in Pauley was on Feb. 16, 1987 (67-64). ASU has won both games of the Los Angeles road trip just twice in its 20-year history of Pac-10 play, in 1986-87 and in 1979-80.
TOUGH SCHEDULE: ASU has played five conference regular season champions: Cincinnati (Conference USA), Kansas (Big 12), Connecticut (BIG EAST), Northern Arizona (Big Sky) and Arizona (16-0 in Pac-10) all won conference championships...Cincinnati has won 15 straight home games since ASU topped the Bearcats on Nov. 21...ASU and UA are the only teams to beat Stanford...ASU's three non-conference losses are to Kansas (30-3), UCONN (26-4) and Oklahoma State (21-5).
TEAM NOTES: ASU's current 85.0 ppg is the fifth-best mark in ASU history...ASU is 126-of-162 (.778) from the FT line in the past eight games...ASU'S 75.1% at the FT line is currently tied the third-best mark on the ASU chart (ASU shot 75.6 percent in 1977-78 to set the school record)...ASU has used the same lineup in 28 games, with its only change during senior night (Urit Kelly for Eddie House)...ASU's 48.8% shooting is the best Sun Devil mark since the 1988-89 squad shot 50.9%.
1,900/400 GROUP: ASU senior Jeremy Veal already has accumulated 1,919 points and 411 assists in his 119-game career. A look at the only other three players in Pac-10 history who have notched 1,900 points AND 400 assists:
Player School Years Points Assists Jeremy Veal ASU 1994-present 1,919 411 Gary Payton OSU 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 1,800 points AND 350 assists in a career.
TAKE A GUESS WHO: One player in the Pac-10 ranks in the league's top ten in five categories: ASU's Bobby Lazor. Lazor ranks 10th in scoring (17.3), fourth (tied with Mike Batiste) in rebounding (7.9), second in field goal % (.574), fifth in blocks per game (1.41) and seventh in free throw % (.801)...has posted 13 20-point games...is 40-of-45 (.889) from the FT line in the past seven games...averaging 8.9 rebounds in Pac-10 games...in the past 10 games, Lazor is averaging 18.1 points and 9.4 boards...has posted 11 "double-doubles"...87-of-106 (.821) from the FT line in his past 21 games...has 12 double-figure rebounding games...a strong candidate for Academic All-American as a business major with a 3.61 GPA...already has earned GTE Academic All-District VIII honors...named Tribune Classic MVP after averaging 24.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in the two games...had a career-high 16 boards vs. USC on Jan. 3...had 12 boards and 16 points at Cal on Jan. 29...had 22 points and 14 boards at No. 4 Stanford on Jan. 31...posted 32 points (12-of-20 shooting) in Feb. 7 win over Washington...had 20 points and 10 boards vs. UA on Feb. 14.
BACKS AGAINST THE WALL: Five times ASU has lost the front end of a Pac-10 series but came back to win the second game, including three on the road...ASU fell at Washington but came back to beat Washington State, fell at Cal but came back to win at Stanford and lost at Oregon but came back to beat Oregon State. At home, ASU lost to OSU but came back to beat Oregon and then fell to Stanford but came back to beat California.
NEWMAN ON COACHING CHART: Don Newman's 18 wins already puts him in the second slot for wins among ASU first-year coaches. Bob Weinhauer posted 19 wins in his first season. A look at first-year coaches at ASU:
ASU Coach Year Record Pct. Don Newman 1997-98 18-11 .621 Bill Frieder 1989-90 15-16 .484 Steve Patterson 1985-86 14-14 .500 Bob Weinhauer 1982-83 19-14 .576 Ned Wulk 1957-58 13-13 .500 Bill Kajikawa 1948-49 12-16 .429 Rudy Lavik 1939-40 8-11 .421 Earl Pomeroy 1933-34 11-10 .524 Theodore Shipkey 1930-31 12-6 .667 Aaron McCreary 1927-28 10-5 .667
ALL-AMERICA CANDIDATE JEREMY VEAL: Veal is averaging 22.4 points, 3.6 assists and 40.0 minutes in the past nine games (Veal played all 45 minutes against Stanford)...has led ASU in scoring in 10 of the past 11 games...Veal also has posted 11 20-point games in his past 13 outings...has posted 18 20-point games on the year...has played all but five minutes in the past 10 games and is averaging 39.1 minutes in the 16 Pac-10 games...averaging 22.1 points and 3.5 assists in the past 10 games...has yet to miss a game in his 119-game career...has posted 44 20-point games in his career...matched a season-high with eight assists at Cal on Jan. 29...has played at least 39 minutes in 16 games...posted 32 points against Cal State Northridge, 26 at WSU, 25 at Cincinnati, 26 at Arizona, 27 at Stanford and 24 vs. Arizona...first on the ASU career scoring list (1,919 points)...has been (or shared) ASU's leading rebounder in six 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 % and FT percentage...finished third in 3-point percentage (.443/58-of-131) and 10th in FT percentage (.774/106-of-137).
VEAL VS. TOP-FIVE OPPONENTS IN 1997-98: Jeremy Veal, with his 24-point effort vs. No. 3 Arizona, has posted four strong outings against top five teams this year, averaging 25.5 points in the four outings...Veal is 38-of-78 (.487) from the floor in the four games against No. 2 Kansas (Nov. 26), at No. 5 Arizona (Jan. 15), at No. 4 Stanford (Jan. 31) and vs. No. 3 Arizona (Feb. 14)...is 11-of-24 (.458) from the three-point stripe in those outings...also is averaging five assists, including eight at Arizona.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR: MIKE BATISTE is 9-of-16 (.563) from the three-point stripe in Pac-10 play...EDDIE HOUSE has played 23 turnover free games in his 59-game career. House had eight assists and no turnovers in the two game at Oregon and Oregon State...BOBBY LAZOR has posted 13 20-point games...in the past 10 games, Lazor is averaging 18.1 points and 9.4 boards...JEREMY VEAL has posted at least 20 points 11 of the past 13 contests. Veal is shooting 48.8 percent (20-of-41) from the three-point stripe in the past eight games...AHLON LEWIS, who has 267 assists in 29 games, has already set the ASU single-season assist record...Lewis needs just six assists in the remaining two games to break the Pac-10 single-season assist record (272 by Jason Kidd in 1994), although any postseason games count in the Pac-10 and NCAA record books...Veal's 27 points at Stanford on Jan. 31 was the most since he posted 29 vs. second-ranked Kansas on Nov. 26 at Madison Square Garden...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 171 games...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 341 straight games since then...ASU has had six players post at least one 20-point game, as all five starters have notched 20 points along with Jason Patton...ASU played the final 19:23 of the game at Washington State on Jan. 11 without commiting a turnover...ASU has outrebounded six opponents (Wagner, La Salle, Eastern Michigan, UCLA, Oregon and Cal) on the year...the Sun Devils posted one of their 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.
THEY KEEP GOING, AND GOING, AND GOING...: The minutes played for the ASU starting five is staggering...in the overtime win at No. 4 Stanford on Jan. 31, all five ASU starters either matched or set career-highs in minutes...Bobby Lazor played 43 minutes, Mike Batiste notched 42, Eddie House took a breather and logged 39, while Jeremy Veal and Ahlon Lewis both played the full 45...ASU's starters played all but 11 minutes and all but three minutes in the second half and overtime...the Stanford bench (seven players) notched 81 minutes, 28 points and 15 rebounds...ASU's "depth" of Urit Kelly played 11 minutes and had six points and four boards...Kelly has been bothered by shin splints all season long and is forced to play reduced minutes...ASU's starting five is averaging just under 177 minutes (out of 200) in the 16 Pac-10 games...ASU has only one reserve (Urit Kelly) who is averaging more than 14 minutes per game...Ahlon Lewis, with the 45 minute outing at Stanford, is averaging 39.9 minutes in Pac-10 play and has played 40 minutes in 12 of the 16 league tilts...ASU did not show any signs of fatigue against Stanford, as evidenced by its 29-of-33 (.879) performance at the free throw line...the 29 FTs made was the most since March 12, 1994, when ASU was 32-of-45 (.711) in a win over No. 7 Arizona, a span of 113 games.
ARIZONA STATE sun devils (18-11/8-8 in 1997-98)
Pos # Name Yr Ht. PPG RPG Notes
G 11 Ahlon Lewis Sr. 6-0 7.2 9.2* Has 267 assists on year (Pac-10 record is 272 by Jason Kidd/1993-94)
G 21 Jeremy Veal Sr. 6-3 20.7 4.3 1,919 career points/45.3% FGs, 41.5% 3-pters, 79.1% FTs
G 5 Eddie House So. 6-1 11.3 3.0 Averaging 2.03 steals per game (59 on year)/24 points vs. Eastern Michigan
F 4 Bobby Lazor Jr. 6-9 17.3 7.9 11 double-doubles/top-10 performer in 5 Pac-10 categories
F 24 Mike Batiste Jr. 6-8 15.6 7.9 7 double-doubles on year/9-16 3-pters in Pac-10
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 1.2 0.3 Walkon who has earned scholarship/17 games in 2-year career
G-F 22 Jason Patton So. 6-4 5.9 2.5 21 pts. vs. Del. St./11.8 minutes per game/10 pts. vs. Stanford
F-C 25 Okeme Oziwo So. 6-8 -- -- Will miss season (car accident injuries in late August)
F 32 Derek Smith Fr. 6-5 0.7 0.8 Walkon from Grand Junction, Colo./10 games played
F 40 Urit Kelly Sr. 6-6 4.9 3.3 9 pts. and 5 boards at WSU/8 rebs. vs. UCLA/11 pts. and 8 rebs. at UA
* -- denotes assists per game.
TALK ABOUT IMPROVEMENTS: Much talk recently has centered around 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 Sun Devils:
97-98 96-97
Games at 50% Shooting 15 of 29 5 of 30
ASU has shot 50 pct. in 15 of 29 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 six times...ASU's 33-of-56 (.589) shooting against California on Feb. 28 was the best by a Sun Devil squad in the past 60 Pac-10 games (ASU was 60.7 percent, 37-of-61, vs. California on Feb. 9, 1995).
Team FT shooting 75.1% 66.5%
ASU is at 75.1 percent from the FT line, the the third-best mark in school history...the 1954-55 squad shot 75.4 percent...ASU leads the league in FT%...all five starters shoot above 63% from the line, while four starters are above 77%.
Games of at least 80 points 19 8
ASU has scored at least 80 points in 19 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...ASU's 85.0 points per game is second in the league.
Wins 18 10
ASU was just 10-20 last year and lost its final 11. ASU finished last in the Pac-10, going 2-16...ASU was 14-4 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 267 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...has played all but six minutes in Pac-10 games...a look at the improvement of Lewis:
97-98 96-97 Games Started All 29 10 of 29 Minutes Per Game 36.8 16.4 Free Throw Percentage 85.2 57.1 Rebounds Per Game 3.8 1.7 Assists Per Game 9.21 2.7 Assist-to-Turnover Ratio 1.85-to-1 1.2-to-1 Steals Per Game 1.76 0.7 Points Per Game 7.2 2.7 Double-Digit Assist Games 13 0 Double-Digit Point Games 7 0HOUSEKEEPING: Eddie House has a team-leading 59 steals (2.03 per game) and 89 assists (3.07) this year and has just 39 turnovers...had 22 points vs. No. 2 Kansas on Nov. 26...has 197 assists and 78 turnovers through 59 games in his career, a 2.53-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 an ASU freshman...has played 23 turnover-free games in his 59-game career, averaging 30.3 minutes...had 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting in Eastern Michigan win on Dec. 28...hit the game-winning three-pointer at Washington State on Jan. 11...played 39 minutes at Stanford and vs. USC on Jan. 3 (career high)...had no turnovers in the two games on Oregon road trip...15-of-27 (.556) from the floor, including 5-of-8 (.625) from the three-point stripe, in the past two games.
BATISTE NOTES: Last season, junior college transfer Mike Batiste joined ASU 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...94-of-165 (.570) from the floor in the past 15 games...matched a career high with 38 minutes at Cal and then posted 42 at Stanford...has led (or shared) ASU in rebounding in seven of the past 11 games, averaging 9.7 boards in that span...posted 16 rebounds at Cal on Jan. 29, the most in his career in a Pac-10 game...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 seven this year...turned 20 years old on Nov. 21...has 51 blocks on the year after posting 17 last season...has eight games of double-digit rebounds...has seven "double-doubles" and four other games of double-digit points and nine rebounds...made the Tribune Classic All-Tournament team, averaging 16 points and 10 boards...is 9-of-16 (.563) from the 3-point stripe in Pac-10 play...a look at the improvement, compared to the 22 games last year after joining the team in December:
97-98 96-97
Games Played 29 22
Games Started All 29 21
Minutes Per Game 32.1 28.2
Blocks Per Game 1.76 0.8
Points Per Game 15.6 12.0
Double-Digit Rebounding Games 8 4
Double-Doubles 7 2
Pac-10 Scoring Avg. 15.1 10.9
Pac-10 Rebounding Avg. 8.3 6.3
Pac-10 FG% 56.9 37.7
MORE QUICK NOTES: ASU's win at No. 4 Stanford on Jan. 31 marked the first time since 1980-81 that the Sun Devils have topped a top five opponent on the road. Fifth-ranked ASU topped then unbeaten and top-ranked Oregon State 87-67 on March 7, 1981, which was the final day of the regular season...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...ASU is 5-4 in games decided by six points or less...this year marks the first time that ASU has topped both Stanford and Washington on the road since 1980-81.
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.
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).
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: Jeremy Veal earned All-Pac-10, the 13th Sun Devil to earn the honor. The last Sun Devil to earn the feat was Mario Bennett (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: KMVP 860 AM is the radio home of Sun Devil athletics. 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 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 games this year.
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.
PAC-10 CAREER POINTS
Rk. Points Name Years
12. 2,003 Isaac Fontaine, WSU 1993-97
13. 1,973 Mel Counts, OSU 1962-64
14. 1,939 Anthony Taylor, OR 1984-88
15. 1,925 Khalid Reeves, UA 1991-94
16. 1,919 Jeremy Veal, ASU 1994-present
PAC-10 CAREER THREE-POINTERS
Rk. 3PT Name Years
7. 230 Bennie Seltzer, WSU 1989-93
8. 219 Jeremy Veal, ASU 1994-present
PAC-10 SEASON ASSISTS
Rk. ASSTS Name Years
1. 272 Jason Kidd, Cal 1993-94
2. 267 Ahlon Lewis, ASU 1997-98
FIELD GOALS MADE--Veal Career Record Holder
Rk. FGs Name Years
1. 687 Jeremy Veal 1994-present
CAREER ASSISTS
Rk. ASSTS Name Years
1. 454 Bobby Thompson 1984-87
4. 416 Stevin Smith 1990-94
5. 409 Jeremy Veal 1994-present
CAREER STEALS
Rk. FGs Name Years
1. 246 Stevin Smith 1990-94
3. 202 Ron Riley 1992-96
4. 151 Jeremy Veal 1994-present
SEASON BLOCKS
Rk. BKS Name Years
1. 115 Mario Bennett 1994-95
3. 55 Mario Bennett 1991-92
55 Alton Lister 1979-80
5. 51 Mike Batiste 1997-98
ASU TEAM--HIGHEST POINT AVERAGE
Rk. AVG SEASON
1. 90.2 1970-71
2. 90.1 1961-62
3. 86.9 1974-75
4. 85.2 1964-65
5. 85.0 1997-98
6. 84.6 1971-72
ASU TEAM--STEALS
Rk. STEALS SEASON
1. 345 1994-95
3. 299 1996-97
4. 263 1997-98
ASU TEAM--BLOCKS
Rk. BLOCKS SEASON
5. 144 1980-81
6. 113 1997-98
ASU TEAM--FREE THROW PERCENTAGE
Rk. FT% SEASON
1. 75.6 1977-78
2. 75.4 1954-55
3. 75.1 1997-98
4. 74.6 1986-87
5. 73.0 1956-57
ASU TEAM--FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE
Rk. FG% SEASON
3. 49.9 1980-81
4t. 49.4 1975-76
4t. 49.4 1972-73
6t. 48.8 1997-98
6t. 48.8 1974-75
8. 48.7 1973-74
TRAVEL PLANS FOR L.A. TRIP
ASU will stay at the Marriott Marina Beach Hotel (400 Admiralty Way) in Marina del Rey (310-301-3000) and will arrive Wednesday evening. ASU returns to Phoenix on America West #2274, which arrives in 10:51 p.m. on Saturday.
Top 1997-98 numbers: Here's a look at ASU's top players, with Pac-10 rankings noted:
Scoring Pac-10 Jeremy Veal 1st 20.7 Bobby Lazor 10th 17.3 Mike Batiste 14th 15.6 Rebounding Bobby Lazor T-4th 7.9 Mike Batiste T-4th 7.9 FG Pct. Mike Batiste 2nd 57.4 Bobby Lazor 3rd 56.4 Assists Ahlon Lewis 1st 9.21 Jeremy Veal 9th 3.86 Steals Eddie House 6th 2.03 Ahlon Lewis T-9th 1.76 Blocks Mike Batiste 1st 1.76 Bobby Lazor 5th 1.31 3-PT Percentage Eddie House 6th 41.7 Jeremy Veal 7th 41.5 FT Percentage Ahlon Lewis 85.2 Bobby Lazor 7th 80.1 Jeremy Veal 9th 79.1 1997-98 Team statistics Free Throw Pct. 1st 75.1 Assists Average 1st 20.59 Scoring Offense 2nd 85.0 Steals Per Game 2nd 9.07 Assist/TO Ratio 2nd 1.23 3-PT FG Pct. Def. 3rd 33.3 Blocked Shots 3rd 3.90 Field Goal Pct. 3rd 48.8 Scoring Margin 4th +3.0 3-PT FG Pct. 4th 37.6 Turnover Margin 5th +1.14 FG Pct. Defense 6th 44.8 Rebound Margin 10th -4.5 Scoring Defense 10th 82.0QUICK 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.