Feb. 26, 2004
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SUN DEVILS FINISH HOME SEASON: The Arizona State men's basketball team (10-15 and 4-12 in the Pac-10), finishes its home season vs. the Washington Huskies on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m. MST, which will be broadcast by Fox Sports Arizona. The Sun Devils, with seven first-year players in the rotation, are led by preseason All-American Ike Diogu, who is averaging 22.8 points, 36.9 minutes and 8.8 rebounds per game. The sophomore has scored in double digits in all 57 career games, the best active streak in the nation, and is averaging 11.2 free throw attempts per game and needs just eight made free throws to tie the Pac-10 record of 237 freebies made set by Mel Counts in 1963-64. He has 28 career 20-point games, 14 career double-doubles (seven this year) and 10 other games with nine rebounds. This season, he has five 30-point games, 16 20-point games and 43 blocks. He is averaging 37.6 minutes in the past 15 games and has led ASU in scoring in 11 of the past 12 contests
VS. WASHINGTON: ASU leads the series 33-21 and has won 15 of the past 16 in Tempe (including the past six), but the Huskies won a 90-81 contest on Jan. 31 after jumping out to a 12-0 lead and never trailing. Washington had 49 first-half points and 31 bench points, both ASU opponent season-highs, in the win. Last year, ASU won 89-57 in Tempe and 79-77 in overtime in Seattle. Jamal Hill is averaging 16.3 points in three games against Washington while Ike Diogu is averaging 16.0 points and is 17-of-25 (.680) from the field. Rob Evans is 7-4 against Washington. ASU had outrebounded UW by 15.3 boards per game in the previous six contests prior to the Jan. 31 game, but the Huskies outrebounded ASU 40-29 in that game. Overall, ASU is 20-6 (.769) vs. the Huskies in Tempe, tied for the best mark against any Pac-10 foe, as it also is 20-6 against California.
DEVIL DATA: ASU entered play this week sixth in the nation in free throw attempts and is currently at 27.7 per game...ASU's top three scorers (Ike Diogu, Stevie Moore and Jamal Hill) are shooting 369-of-437 (.844) from the free throw line...the Sun Devils have used 12 starting lineups this year, their most since the 1995-96 team also had 12...ASU is shooting 74.4 percent from the free throw line, currently the fifth-best mark in school history...ASU is 134-of-167 (.802) from the free throw line in the past seven games, including a 19-of-20 (.950) effort against UCLA on Feb. 12 that set the school single-game mark for 20 attempts...redshirt freshman Kevin Kruger has provided a spark in the past seven games, averaging 28.3 minutes, 12.0 points and shooting 19-of-41 (.463) from the three-point stripe in that time. He has started the past three games...redshirt freshman Serge Angounou played his best game since his knee injury last year against Oregon on Feb. 21 with 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting and five boards in 32 minutes. He played 27 minutes and had eight points vs. Washington State on Thursday.
VS. WSU: ASU led 41-37 at the half but shot just 7-of-21 (.333) in the second half and was outrebounded 33-22 in an 83-70 loss to Washington State on Thursday. Ike Diogu led ASU with 28 points, but ASU's 22 rebounds were its fewest since March 4, 1995, when it had just 22 at Washington State. The Sun Devils were outrebounded for the 13th time on the year and for the 11th time in 16 Pac-10 contests and forced just eight Cougar turnovers. A MIXED BUNCH: Eleven players getting a starting nod, 12 starting lineups, seven newcomers playing significant minutes, a player who has not played in 15 months notches 50 minutes in his first two games in early January and a starting freshman guard who was averaging 21.6 minutes per game breaking his nose and missing nine games has contributed to ASU's struggles. ASU lost 477 games of experience from last year when its six seniors graduated, as those players accounted for 117 minutes per game and Ike Diogu is the only returning starter from the NCAA win over Memphis. Tron Smith had started six of the first seven games but broke his nose in practice over the holiday break and had surgery on Jan. 6 and missed nine games recovering from surgery and then pneumonia. Serge Angounou, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, returned for his first game action on Jan. 8 vs. Stanford after rehabbing since his injury on Nov. 13, 2002, in an exhibition game.
Rob Evans: Rob Evans (176-168/.512) is in his sixth season at ASU (12th overall) after being hired on April 7, 1998. The 1997 SEC Coach of the Year spent six seasons at Ole Miss, compiling an 86-81 (.515) record. He led the Rebels to a 42-16 record in his final two seasons, winning two SEC West titles, and led Ole Miss to back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 1937-38. The 57-year old Evans is a 1968 graduate of New Mexico State and is 90-87 (.508) at ASU and 133-99 (.573) in the past seven seasons.
PLAYER QUICK NOTES
#0 Allen Morill: Averaged 25 minutes on the Washington road trip...posted nine boards in season-high 26 minutes at Washington on Jan. 31...eight points in 24 minutes at Washington State on Jan. 29...nine points in 19 minutes vs. Oregon State on Jan. 24...an eight-game starter.
#1 Jason Braxton: Has played in all 86 games in career and started in 70...averaging 29.4 minutes this year after averaging 21.5 his first two seasons...14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists vs. USC on Feb. 14...13 points, eight boards, five assists and four steals vs. Oregon on Jan. 22...12 points and six assists vs. Oregon State on Jan. 24...12 points and career-high 12 assists (tied for ninth-best in school history) at USC on Jan. 17.
#2 Keith Wooden: Had 12 points and seven boards vs. Oregon State on Jan. 24...13 points on 6-of-9 shooting in 25 minutes at USC on Jan. 17 in first start since Nov. 24...20-of-32 (.625) from the field in his past 11 games...a nine-game starter...one of four Sun Devil freshmen to start the season opener in the past 11 years, joining classmate Tron Smith (2003-04), Ike Diogu (2002-03) and Donnell Knight (1999-2000).
#5 Ike Diogu: Already the ASU career record holder with 409 free throws made...has already set school season records this year with 229 made free throws and 280 attempts...has led ASU in scoring in 11 of the past 12 games...a 2004 Associated Press Preseason All-American, the first in Sun Devil history and just the 11th in Pac-10 history...33 points at California on Feb. 7 and 31 points and 13 boards vs. California on Jan. 10.
#12 Kenny Crandall: Has made 33-of-38 (.868) of his free throws in Pac-10 career and is 53-of-69 (.768) overall...broke right fibula on April 17, 2002, in a dirt-bike accident and played through pain all of 2002-2003.
#13 Kevin Kruger: Averaging 28.3 minutes, 12.0 points and shooting 19-of-41 (.463) from the three-point stripe in the past seven games...has started the past three games...17 points in 40 minutes at Oregon on Feb. 21...20 points in first career start at Oregon State on Feb. 19...16 points vs. USC on Feb. 14...12 points at California on Feb. 7 and made four three-pointers...33-of-40 (.825) from the free throw line.
#21 Stevie Moore: Junior college transfer has made 44 threes, the most by a Sun Devil since Eddie House hit 73 in 1999-2000...is 63-of-75 (.840) from the free throw line in the past 20 games...three 20-point games.
#22 Jamal Hill: Averaging 31.2 minutes, 12.5 points and is 22-of-50 (.440) from the three-point stripe in the past 12 games...has made 37-of-42 (.880) free throws in past 23 games...had 18 points in win at Oregon on Feb. 21 and played a career-high 40 minutes...posted a career-high 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting at Washington on Jan. 31...63-of-78 (.808) from the free throw line in his career.
#23 Tron Smith: Freshman who has started 10 games and was averaging 21.6 minutes per game before breaking his nose in practice right after Christmas...missed nine games with the broken nose and pneumonia.
#24 Justin Allen: Played season-high 25 minutes vs. USC on Feb. 14...had 11 points and five boards in 24 minutes vs. UCLA on Feb. 12...averaging 15.0 minutes in his past five games, but did not play at Oregon on Feb. 21...redshirted 2000-2001 season with Hodgkin's Disease...recipient of the 2003 V Foundation Comeback Award, given annually to someone in all of college basketball who embodies the spirit and courage of Jimmy Valvano...has played in 93 games in four-year career.
#34 Wilfried Fameni: Averaging 13.1 minutes in past seven games...an 11-game starter...six boards in eight minutes at Oregon on Feb. 21...posted 11 boards in 32 minutes at Nebraska on Dec. 3...became just the third Sun Devil freshman in the past 12 seasons to register a double-double with his 16-point, 13-rebound performance vs. UC Riverside on Nov. 29...13 rebounds vs. UC Riverside is tied for the sixth-most by a freshman in ASU history..
#45 Serge Angounou: Slowly working his way back into shape after missing all of last year with a knee injury suffered on Nov. 13, 2002...eight points in 27 minutes vs. Washington State on Feb. 26...12 points at Oregon on Feb. 21 in fifth start of year and first start since Jan. 29 and played 32 minutes...posted 10 points against Oregon on Jan. 22...first game back from injury was Jan. 8 against fourth-ranked Stanford...a six-game starter.