Nov. 13, 2002
By Brian Gomez, thesundevils.com
On a day when head coach Rob Evans found out what's in store down the road with the signing of four high school seniors, Sun Devil fans got a glimpse of what to expect in the immediate future.
Led by newcomers Ike Diogu and Serge Angounou, the ASU men's basketball team rolled to a 107-89 victory over the EA Sports All-Stars before a crowd of 3,031 on Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Arena. The freshmen forwards combined for 32 points and 13 rebounds to pace the Sun Devils in the first exhibition game of the season.
"I don't like playing teams you can beat pretty easily," said Evans, who improved to 7-2 all-time in preseason games at ASU. "You get a false sense of security."
The Sun Devils trailed by two points at the break and fell behind by as many as five early in the second half before going on a 14-0 run over a five-minute span to pull away from the EA Sports All-Stars, a team comprised of former college players.
Senior forward Donnell Knight slammed home senior forward Tommy Smith's dunk during the scoring spree. Smith then stole guard Maurice McLemore's errant pass at half-court and threw one down to give ASU a 60-57 lead with 15:59 remaining.
The Sun Devils extended their lead to seven points less than two minutes later on Diogu's put-back. Diogu finished with a game-high 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field in his first outing at the collegiate level.
"I really didn't think I was going to get that involved," said Diogu, who displayed his ability to stretch his game by nailing a pair of 3-pointers. "Coach always says to get the ball down low. From there, that opens up looks for everybody."
Diogu and Angounou carried the load early for ASU, which saw a 10-point first-half lead go by the wayside. Diogu scored nine of his team's first 17 points before taking to the bench seven minutes into the game.
Angounou picked up the slack by tossing in a shot on junior guard Kenny Crandall's miss and hitting a turnaround jumper in the paint. Angounou recorded 11 points and eight boards in his Sun Devil debut. Smith tossed in 16 points and had a game-high nine rebounds, while freshman guard Jamal Hill had 12 and senior forward Shawn Redhage added 10.
"Some of the new guys were a little bit nervous out there early on," Evans said. "Jamal is a pretty good shooter and a pretty good defensive player, but he kind of got lost a few times. There is a little more speed and quickness on this level, and you have to learn that in playing these ballgames."
After getting outrebounded last year by the EA Sports All-Stars, ASU shored up its problems on the boards Wednesday. The Sun Devils won the battle on the glass, 48-35. They hauled down 19 offensive rebounds, many of which resulted in second-chance points.
The EA Sports All-Stars were led by former Kansas forward Nick Bradford, who had a team-high 20 points. Former Alabama-Huntsville forward Joe Smith made three of six shots from beyond the arc for 18 points.
ASU will return to action at 7 p.m. Monday when hosting Team ezybonds, an Australian traveling team, in the final exhibition game of the season. The Sun Devils are scheduled to begin the regular season Nov. 22 against Morehead State.
Senior guard Curtis Millage sat out the game due to an eligibility issue.
"Our administration is working an issue dealing with the eligibility of Curtis. Curtis Millage has done everything he needed to do. The administration felt it was in our best interest to have him not play tonight until the matter was resolved," said Athletic Director Gene Smith. "We have been trying to resolve the issue since the weekend."
Reach the reporter at brian.gomez@asu.edu.