Another opponent is set for the @SunDevilHoops non-conference schedule, as the Sun Devils will face 2015 NCAA Tournament participant NC State in the Legends Classic on Monday, Nov. 23, in the Barclays Center. ASU/NC State will follow Marquette and LSU (which has a 7 p.m. ET tip), with the Sun Devil game being broadcast on ESPN3 at approximately 9:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. AT. This marks the fourth year that the Legends Classic Championship Rounds will be played at Barclays Center.
ABOUT THAT SCHEDULE:?Reminder that the Sun Devils will travel to Creighton (Dec. 2), Kentucky (Dec. 12) and UNLV (Dec. 16) in a two-week span, and host Texas A&M (Dec. 5), who is in the ESPN Way-To-Early Preseason Top-25. Regardless of whom it plays in the Legends Classic second round game, ASU will have at least nine non-conference games against teams in the top 150 of last year's RPI with Kentucky (1), NC State (40), LSU (54) or Marquette (142), Texas A&M (68), UCSB (88), Belmont (105), UNLV (104), Creighton (146) and Sacramento State (148).
ABOUT THOSE ROAD GAMES:?Kentucky (23,572 average attendance) trailed only Syracuse (23,854) in average home attendance last year, while Creighton (17,048) was sixth behind only Louisville, North Carolina and Wisconsin. In addition, Kentucky was ranked No. 1 in the RPI last year.
WHEN WILL WE KNOW TIMES FOR OTHER GAMES??Pac-12 dates as well as television and game times for all games won’t be known until mid-September, after the NBA TV schedule is finalized.
SUN DEVIL 2015-16 NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Fri., Nov. 13 vs. Sacramento State (Homecoming Weekend in Tempe as @FootballASU takes on Washington on Nov. 14)
Mon., Nov. 16 vs. Belmont (Legends Classic in Tempe)
Wed., Nov. 18 vs. Kennesaw State (Legends Classic in Tempe)
Mon., Nov. 23 vs. North Carolina State in LEGENDS CLASSIC @BARCLAYS CENTER/9:30 p.m. ET/ESPN3
Tues., Nov. 24 vs. LSU/Marquette in LEGENDS CLASSIC @BARCLAYS CENTER
Sun., Nov. 29 vs. UCSB
Wed., Dec. 2 at Creighton
Sat., Dec. 5 vs. TEXAS A&M
Sat., Dec. 12 at Kentucky
Wed., Dec. 16 at UNLV
Sat., Dec. 19 vs. HOUSTON BAPTIST
Mon., Dec. 28 vs. CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD
Note: ASU still hopes to add one more game in the Dec. 21-22 range.
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https://t.co/9WoVcb8g0R It's official. Championship and Subregional Round match-ups set for Legends Classic. http://t.co/qBayturR0P
? Legends Classic (@LegendsBBall) August 6, 2015THAT OPENER AIN'T GONNA BE EASY:?Arizona State will open the Bobby Hurley era on Friday, Nov. 13, against Sacramento State, who was 21-12 a year ago and made its first Division I postseason appearance and set a school record with the 21 wins. It is homecoming weekend at Arizona State, as the football team takes on Washington the next day.
BELMONT IS GOOD:?Belmont, who visits Tempe on Monday, Nov. 16, is coached by Rick Byrd. The Bruins posted a 22-11 record last year, winning the OVC championship and earning their seventh NCAA Tournament bid in the last decade. Only Gonzaga has earned seven automatic bids in the last decade and only Gonzaga and Kansas have won more league titles than the 14 by Belmont since 2006. Coach Byrd welcomes back four starters in 2015-16, led by first-team All-OVC senior guard Craig Bradshaw (18.3 ppg, 94 assists) and second-team All-OVC junior swingman Evan Bradds (14.2 ppg, team-high 7.2 rpg).
ICYMI: ASU basketball coach Bobby Hurley has worked with PG Tra Holder on his body language. What's that mean?
http://t.co/g8UzjNp1tj
? Doug Haller (@DougHaller) August 4, 2015A FORMER NATIONAL COACH OF THE YEAR HERE ON NOV. 18:?Atlantic Sun member Kennesaw State will visit Tempe two days later, coached by former national coach of the year and two-time Big East Coach of the Year Al Skinner. Three starters return for Skinner in his first year.
SUN DEVIL PAC-12 "PAIRINGS" SET
DEC. 30-JAN. 3:?For the second straight season, ASU will open its Pac-12 season vs. Arizona, but this one will be in Tempe, where ASU has topped the Wildcats in three of the past four meetings. ASU is 9-8 vs. Arizona in the past eight seasons,and the game will mark just the fourth time ASU has opened the Pac-12 season against Arizona in Tempe, and will be just the third time ASU has opened the league schedule at home in the past eight seasons.
PAC-12 OPENERS VS. ARIZONA IN TEMPE
#4 Arizona 93, ASU 74 (Jan. 3, 2004)
#15 ASU 53, #9 Arizona 52 (Jan. 5, 1995)
Arizona 61, ASU 60 (Jan. 5, 1985)
JAN. 6-10:?ASU returns to Los Angeles, as it missed the USC/UCLA road swing in 2014-15. ASU last won at USC 62-53 on Jan. 5, 2012, and last won at UCLA on 61-58 in overtime over the ninth-ranked Bruins on Jan. 17, 2009 in a CBS broadcast with Derek Glasser and James Harden leading the way.
JAN. 13-17:?ASU plays host to WSU and Washington for the first time since 2012-13. ASU holds a 39-36 series lead over WSU and has won three of the past four and seven of the past 10 overall and five straight in Tempe. ASU beat WSU 66-47 in the last Tempe meeting on Jan. 5, 2014.
JAN. 20-24:?The Sun Devils will travel to the Bay Area, as it has won the past two at Haas Pavilion and five straight overall vs. the Golden Bears. ASU's 35-point 79-44 win Jan. 22 at Cal is its biggest Pac-12 win since it beat Washington State by 41 (96-55) on Jan. 11, 2003, and the second-largest Pac-12 road win in school history, as it dealt the Golden Bears their second-largest home loss.
JAN. 27-JAN. 31:?The Oregon schools are set to visit Tempe. ASU is 7-1 vs. the Beavers in the past eight years and 25-12 against Oregon State in Tempe since it joined the Pac-10 in 1978-79, its most wins in Tempe against any team since joining the loop.
FEB. 3-7:?Pullman and Seattle were bad and good for ASU last year. ASU lost a tough one in Pullman but bounced back with a Sunday win in Seattle with Gerry Blakes leading the way.
FEB. 10-14:?USC and UCLA come to Tempe in mid-February. ASU sent the eventual Pac-12 champion Bruins home with a 78-60 loss on Jan. 26, 2013. Last year ASU topped the Sweet Sixteen-bound Bruins on James Harden night (Feb. 18).
FEB. 17-21:?Somewhere in these five days, the Sun Devils head to Tucson.
FEB. 24-FEB. 28:?ASU makes the trip to Colorado and Utah for its final road trip of the year for the second straight season.
MAR. 2-5:?ASU hosts the Bay Area schools in the final weekend of the year for the second straight season. It swept the Bay Area home stand for the first time since 1994-95 in 2013-14 and did the same last season. With the Pac-12 Tournament starting Wednesday (March 9), the league does not schedule Sunday games the final weekend. ASU has swept Cal the past two seasons (after not sweeping them since 1999-2000). ASU has topped Stanford in each of the past two seasons at home.