The Arizona State Sun Devil men's basketball team (14-15; 4-12) closes the Pac-12 season as it hosts Stanford (March 3/9 p.m. MT) on Fox Sports 1 and then #25 California (March 5/6 p.m. MT) on ESPN2. Aaron Goldsmith and Sean Elliott have the Stanford game, while Dave Pasch and Adrian Branch are on the call Saturday. Tim Healey and Kyle Dodd have the call on the Sun Devil Sports Radio Network (98.7 FM), presented by MidFirst. ASU beat then No. 23 USC 74-67 Feb. 12 and also topped then No. 18 Texas A&M 67-54 back on Dec. 5 for its wins over ranked teams this year, as it will try and win games against three ranked teams for the first time since 2008-09 on Saturday. ASU has swept the Bay Area teams in Tempe the past two seasons, something it had not done since the 1994-95 Sweet Sixteen season under Bill Frieder. Obi Oleka is averaging 10.2 points and 10.0 rebounds in the past five games.
TWEETABLES ABOUT @SUNDEVILHOOPS
√ Obi Oleka: 42-48 (.875) FTs in Pac-12 games, best in the league
√ ASU is averaging 8.0 threes made per game, first in the Pac-12
√ Willie Atwood: 16 double-digit scoring games/15 games without scoring last year
√ ASU has played eight games that were decided by five points or less (and a 12-pt OT L)
√ Obi Oleka: 11.6 ppg in past 19 games and 51-59 (.864) FTs/6.4 ppg first 10 games
√ Willie Atwood: 78-100 (.780) from FTs on the year; 9th in Pac-12
√ Averaging 40.3 ppg in second half (33.1 in the first half)
√ Obi Oleka 68-86 (.791) in FTs overall, 7th in the Pac-12
√ Sun Devils averaging 8.9 three-pointers in 16 Pac-12 games, tops in the league
√ ASU has seven wins over top-100 teams
OBI ONE TO KEEP AN EYE ON: It was the Jan. 14 WSU game where junior Obinna Oleka (Oh-BEEnah Oh-LEH-ka) began to emerge as he has been in double figures in 11 of the past 13 games and is averaging 12.2 points and is 36-of-41 (.878) from the free throw line in that time. Obi also has three of his four double-doubles in that span. Oleka 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.
TOP SCORING GAMES FOR OBINNA OLEKA
19 vs. Kennesaw State (11/18/15)
17 vs. Oregon (1/31/16)
17 vs. Oregon State (1/28/16)
17 vs. Arizona (1/3/16)
WILLIE THEN AND NOW: Last season Willie Atwood averaged 11.6 minutes, scored 92 total points (3.0 per game), and was 31-of-50 (.620) from the three-point stripe. With a slimmed-down frame, he is a new player this year. He has 16 double-digit scoring games (he had two last year and also had 15 games where he did not score). He made just 11 three-pointers last season but has 30 this season.
AT HOME: ASU is 57-13 (.814) 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 2007-11). The best winning percentage in a four-year span came from 1979-83, when ASU went 49-12 (.803). ASU is the only team to beat each of the past three Pac-12 champions in those seasons, as it topped Arizona the past two seasons, and beat UCLA in 2012-13, all at home.