The Arizona State Sun Devil men's basketball team (8-3) returns to Ned Wulk Court to play one of the most consistent programs in the nation when it hosts Stephen F. Austin on Tuesday, Dec. 22 at 1 p.m. MT on the Pac-12 Network, with Daron Sutton and Ben Braun on the call. ASU has won four of of its past five after beating Houston Baptist Saturday, and prior to that had completed a four-game stretch that included three road games playing in front of 52,961, beating UNLV and Creighton and losing at #5 Kentucky. Last year in its nine Pac-12 road games, it played in front of 69,519. The other home game in that stretch? A 67-54 win over No. 18 Texas A&M, which was coming off wins over Gonzaga and Texas. Tim Healey and Kyle Dodd have the Sun Devil radio call on the Sun Devil Sports Radio Network (620 AM), presented by MidFirst.
FEW QUICK HITTERS: Six players have led the team in scoring in the first 11 games (Eric Jacobsen and Andre Spight have not among top eight minute-players)...only two teams have outrebounded ASU, Sacramento State (first game) and Texas A&M (13-point Sun Devil win)...Tra Holder is averaging 16.0 points in his past four games...Willie Atwood is averaging 12 points in the past five games...Kodi Justice is 25-of-29 (.862) from the free throw line in his career.
AT HOME: ASU is now 52-9 (.852) at home in the past four seasons, the most home wins in a four-year period since the Lionel Hollins-led Sun Devils opened the building in 1974-75. Prior to this era, the most home wins in any four-year era was 51 (1991-95 and from 2007-11). The best winning percentage in a four-year span came from 1979-83, when the Sun Devils went 49-12 (.803).
WILLIE THEN AND NOW: Last season Willie Atwood averaged 11.6 minutes, scored 92 total points (3.0 per game) and was 11-of-31 (.355) from the three-point stripe. With a slimmed-down frame, he is a new player this year. He is averaging 27.2 minutes, had 14 points at UNLV, led ASU with a career-high 15 points vs. Texas A&M, made all three of his three-pointers at Creighton (14 points) and is averaging 9.6 points and has three double-doubles. He has 31 offensive rebounds this year in 299 minutes after grabbing 20 in 359 minutes last year.
WOW ON THE OOC: ASU played five games away from Tempe in non-conference action, and went 3-2 with wins at UNLV, at Creighton and vs. NC State in Brooklyn, and lost an overtime game to Marquette in Brooklyn and at #5 Kentucky in Lexington. ASU went 3-10 on the road last year and 3-13 away from home, and was 15-42 on the road (.263) and 21-56 (.272) away from home in the previous five seasons.
EFFORT STAT: ASU is outrebounding its opponents by 7.2 per game and has 52 more offensive rebounds (161-109). Five players have grabbed double-digit rebounds this year, and ASU's rebounding leader in all but two games has notched double-digits. ASU has outscored its opponents 181-106 in second-chance points on the year.
BATTLED IN LEXINGTON: ASU went to Lexington on Dec. 12 and was down just 32-31 at the half, 44-40 at the 13:34 mark and 49-43 at 12:12 but #5 Kentucky banked in a three-pointer to start a 19-5 over and won 72-58. Tra Holder led ASU with 15 points while Kodi Justice added 12 off the bench. ASU shot an uncharacteristic 3-of-9 from the free throw line in the second half (8-of-15 for the game).
QUICK HITTERS: ASU has already played four games decided by three points or less (3-1)...Sun Devils have eight players averaging between 6.0/13.5 points and 19.8/31.2 minutes, and have had six players lead it in scoring and five players lead in rebounding...want a halftime adjustment stat? The Sun Devils are averaging 41.2 points in the second half this year (33.5 in the first half)....ASU had five players in double figures in the Texas A&M and the Houston Baptist wins. That happened once last year.
QUICK COACH NOTE: Buffalo was 285-369 (.436) in its first 22 seasons after going Division I (1991-2013). Under Coach Hurley the Bulls were 42-20 (.678) in his two seasons.
CLOSE STATS: In the final 10 minutes of the three close wins (NC State, UCSB and at Creigton), Andre Spight is 4-of-7 from the field (including 3-of-6 from the three), Eric Jacobsen is perfect in eight FTA and the Sun Devils have grabbed 14 offensive boards (opponents have four). In the second half of those games, Savon Goodman is 12-of-15 from the field, ASU is 28-of-37 (.757) from the free throw line (opponents 20-of-31/.645) and has grabbed 25 offensive boards (opponents have just nine).
NOV. 23-DEC. 16: From the end of November until mid-December, ASU had a seven-game stretch of game (which included just two home games) that was solid. The Sun Devils won 79-77 at Creighton on Dec. 2 (who was 89-0 when scoring 75 points in its home arena), topped #18 Texas A&M 67-54 (who beat Gonzaga) on Dec. 5 and lost at No. 5 Kentucky (Dec. 12). Prior to Creighton, the Sun Devils beat 2015 NCAA Tournament team NC State and dropped an overtime game to surging Marquette in Brooklyn. It also beat 19-game winner from year ago UCSB. ASU is 2-1 against 2015 NCAA Tournament teams with wins over Belmont and NC State (loss at Kentucky), and got a quality road win over Creighton Dec. 2 in front of 16,282 people screaming in blue shirts. ASU then had No. 18 Texas A&M down 25 in the second half before notching the 13-point win on Dec. 5, and finished it up with the comeback win at UNLV on Dec. 16.
NOT LETTING GO OF THE ROPE: After going 2-6 in games decided by three points or less last year (losing first four), the Sun Devils have won three straight in this category. Creighton led for 28:27 on Dec. 2, while UCSB led for 29:50 on Nov. 29. ASU made its final 14 free throws to get the 70-68 UCSB win on Eric Jacobsen's putback with no time left, while the Sun Devils shot 18-of-28 (.643) from the field in the second half against the Blue Jays. ASU trailed 77-76 with 18 seconds left at CU and trailed 68-65 with under a minute left vs. UCSB.
THREE NON-CONFERENCE ROADIES? When you toss out neutral site tournaments and talk only true road games, the 2015-16 season is just the second time since 1989-90 (also in 2010-11) that ASU played three non-conference road games, and they did it in a two-week span. ASU won at Creighton 79-77 on Dec. 2, lost at #5 Kentucky 72-58 on Dec. 12 and won at UNLV 66-56 on Dec. 16.
YOU CAN CALL IT A COMEBACK: The Dec. 16 win at UNLV was the fifth-biggest halftime comeback (down 12, 37-25) in 27 years of Sun Devil hoops (1989-90 to present). It marked the largest ASU halftime comeback since Dec. 14, 2008, when ASU came back from 16 down to beat IUPUI at America West Arena. It also is the largest ASU halftime comeback in a road game since Feb. 12, 1994, when ASU came back from 17 down at the half tot win at Stanford. ASU trailed 45-31 at the 17:12 mark but it was all Sun Devils after that, as ASU outscored UNLV 35-11 from that point to pull away 66-56. ASU held UNLV to 5-of-26 (.192) from the floor in the second half and grabbed 16 offensive rebounds which led to 16-1 advantage in second-chance points. ASU outrebounded UNLV 43-30, which included starting guards Gerry Blakes (11 and all on the defensive end) and Tra Holder (career-high nine) grabbing 20. Holder had 19, Willie Atwood 14 and Blakes 11 to lead the scoring.
ASU 67, #18 TEXAS A&M 54 (DEC. 5, 2015): ASU jumped out to a 33-19 halftime lead and then led by as much as 25 before notching a 67-54 win over #18 Texas A&M. Willie Atwood had 15 points, Tra Holder added 13, Gerry Blakes had 13/6 and Savon Goodman posted 10 points and 12 rebounds. ASU shot .364 from the floor, but held Texas A&M to 19-of-61 (.311), including just 6-of-27 (.222) in the first half. Kodi Justice added 10 points off the bench.
ASU 79, @CREIGHTON 77 (DEC. 2, 2015): ASU became the first team to beat CU in its building when it scores 75 (89-1) with the 79-77 win, as Savon Goodman led the way 23 points and seven boards. ASU, the second Pac-12 team to visit Creighton in the regular-season since 1978, fell behind by nine and was down eight at that half (41-33). ASU opened the half with a 14-4 run in the first 3:16 and shot 18-of-28 (.643) from the field in the scond half.
FTS: The Sun Devils went 23-of-26 (.885) from the FT line in its 70-68 UCSB win on Nov. 29 (made final 14). The .885 mark is the second-best in school history for at least 25 attempts, behind only the 24-of-26 mark set on Dec. 19, 1981, vs. Cal State-Los Angeles. ASU is 168-of-232 (.720) from the free throw line in the past 10 games (includes 8-of-15 at Kentucky). Coach Hurley made .776 of his free throws while in college (441-of-568).
THE BENCH: A big reason ASU won at Creighton despite being down eight at the half? Three guys off the bench in 21 minutes combined to go 6-of-10 from the field, 4-of-6 from three and score 16 points with zero turnovers. Obinna Oleka had eight points in 11 minutes, including a three-pointer at 3:25 that broke a tie at 72. Andre Spight for the second game in a row had solid second half, as he hit a three-pointer at 8:10 to give ASU a 67-66 lead and a layup at 7:13 to give ASU a 68-67 lead. Kodi Justice hit a three-pointer at 11:23 to give ASU a 61-57 lead.
ANDRE WAS A SECOND HALF GIANT: Andre Spight is slowly but surely figuring out what it takes to go from junior college to this level, and his second-half efforts vs. UCSB and Creighton have helped lead ASU to a pair of last second wins. Against UCSB on Nov. 29, he had eight second-half points in 11 minutes, including a three-pointer that tied the game at 68 with 34 seconds left. He had all eight points in the final 6:47 and added an assist in that span. At Creighton he had five points in five second-half minutes with two buckets that cut the lead to 67-66 at 8:10 and gave ASU 68-67 lead at 7:13.
EJ MAKES SHOTS: He doesn't take a lot of them, but when he does, he makes them. Eric Jacobsen shot .626 from the field (102-of-163) last season, the fourth-best season mark in Sun Devil history. Jacobsen averaged 28.6 minutes, 8.3 points and 5.9 rebounds last year in 34 games after averaging 8.8 minutes, 2.1 points and 1.8 rebounds in his first two seasons. He is a career .581 shooter (182-of-313) in 109 career games.
OBI ONE TO KEEP AN EYE ON: Obinna Oleka (Oh-BEE-nah Oh-LEH-ka) had no points and one rebound in the first two games, but since he only played five games for State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota two seasons ago and didn't play last year, a slow start was expected. Consider this: Before he took the court in the opener Nov. 13, his previous official game was Dec. 7, 2013...a 705-day break between games. Obi had 19 points vs. Kennesaw State on Nov. 18 to get warmed up, and then had 10 points and 14 rebounds (six on the offensive glass) in 29 minutes vs. Marquette on Nov. 24. He also had eight second-half points in 11 minutes in the win at Creighton on Dec. 2, had seven boards in the win over #18 Texas A&M on Dec. 5 and 14 points in the Dec. 19 win over Houston Baptist.
TRA IMPROVEMENTS: In his first 15 games last year, Tra Holder averaged 4.2 points and made just over 63 percent of his free throws. Starting with the Colorado win on Jan. 17, his play not only earned him Pac-12 All-Freshman honors it has carried over to this year, as he is averaging 13.5 ppg and has been ASU's leading scorer in five games (after leading the Sun Devils in scoring just once last year). Tra had a then career-high 17 vs. Sacramento State in the opener, and then led ASU in scoring in both games in the Legends Classic in Brooklyn with 22 in the win over NC State and 15 in the championship loss to Marquette en route to All-Tournament honors. He has made nine three-pointers after making 12 last season.
DEFENSE WINS SOME GAMES: In the past 10 seasons, ASU has won 166 games counting this year's 7-3 mark. Only seven times has it won a game shooting at .364 or lower, yet it has happened twice this year. ASU (20-55/.364) held Texas A&M to just 19-of-61 (.311) in the Dec. 5 win over the #18 Aggies. On Nov. 29, ASU shot just .339 (20-of-59) in the 70-68 win over UCSB, but made 23-of-26 (.885) from the free throw line. Only twice in the past 10 seasons has ASU shot lower than .339 and won the game.
FALL SIGNING PERIOD: ESPN tabbed Arizona State's November signing period two-man class as 19th in the nation. Sam Cunliffe, a 6-6 wing from Seattle who averaged nearly 20 points per game in his junior season, is rated as the top 2016 player in Washington, while shot blocker Jethro Tshisumpa at 6-10 and 260 is ranked as the 12th-best center prospect
SAVON: Junior Savon Goodman was bothered by a foot injury in the preseason and missed the team's scrimmage at Long Beach State (Oct. 31) and Nov. 7 exhibition game vs. Western New Mexico. He posted 13 points and 12 rebounds in just 22 minutes vs. Belmont. Against NC State in his first start, he had a monster game with 21 points and 16 rebounds. In the past 21 games he is averaging 12.7 points and nine rebounds and is 111-of-181 (.613) from the field. He has played 34 games at ASU and led team in rebounding in 17 of them.
SCHEDULE: Joe Lunardi released his preseason Bracketology on Nov. 11, and it included 11 teams on ASU's schedule. Belmont (83-74 win on Nov. 16), North Carolina State (79-76 win on Nov. 23), Marquette (78-73 overtime loss on Nov. 24), Texas A&M (67-54 win on Dec. 5), Kentucky (72-58 loss on the road Dec. 12) and Stephen F. Austin are the teams in the non-conference slate, while Arizona, California, UCLA, Oregon and Utah were picked from the Pac-12. ASU will play Arizona, California and UCLA twice in Pac-12 play, but won't host Utah or travel to Oregon. So the Sun Devils are scheduled to play 31 games this year, 14 of them against Bracketology projected NCAA teams.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Sun Devils might have the best scout-team backcourt in the nation, Shannon Evans (transferred from Buffalo) and Torian Graham (transferred from Houston) give the regular rotation fits in practice. Evans spent two seasons under Coach Hurley at Buffalo and as a sophomore averaged 15.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 4.6 assists helping lead the Bulls to the NCAA Tournament as he earned second-team All-MAC honors. As a true freshman he averaged 8.5 points and 3.3 assists per game and was named to the All-MAC Freshman Team. He played in all 29 games off the bench posting one of the highest minute totals amongst all bench players nationally (26.4 minutes per game). Graham played two seasons at Chipola Junior College and left Buffalo to go with Coach Hurley and was rated as the No. 91 overall prospect by ESPN and No. 67 by Rivals in the Class of 2012.
GERRY: Inglewood native Gerry Blakes averaged 11.1 points and 4.2 rebounds last year after playing two seasons at San Bernardino Valley College (2012-14)...SBVC coach was ASU alumni Quincy Brewer, who played on the Sun Devil 1994-95 Sweet Sixteen team...had 24 at WSU on Feb. 13 (including ASU's final 16 in 4:24)...in Feb. 15 win at UW, he had 17 points in 5:23 of the second half (11:05 to 5:42) and ASU needed every bucket to stop an eight-game skid against UW and give ASU its first win in Seattle since another southpaw (with a small beard) was doing his thing in 2008.