The Arizona State Sun Devil men's basketball team (15-15; 5-12) closes the Pac-12 season as it hosts #25 California on Saturday (March 5) at 6 p.m. MT on ESPN2 with Dave Pasch and Adrian Branch on the call. Tim Healey and Kyle Dodd are the audio guys on the Sun Devil Sports Radio Network (98.7 FM), presented by MidFirst. 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 9.8 rebounds in the past six games.
TRYING FOR A THIRD TIME: 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 three games against ranked teams for the first time since 2008-09 on Saturday.
TWEETABLES ABOUT @SUNDEVILHOOPS
√ Obi Oleka: 44-52 (.846) FTs in Pac-12 games, 2nd in the league
√ ASU is averaging 8.0 threes made per game, first in the Pac-12
√ Willie Atwood: 17 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: 11.5 ppg in past 20 games and 53-63 (.841) FTs/6.4 ppg first 10 games
√ Willie Atwood: 80-102 (.784) from FTs on the year; 8th in Pac-12
√ Averaging 40.2 ppg in second half (33.2 in the first half)
√ Obi Oleka 70-90 (.778) in FTs overall, 10th in the Pac-12
√ Sun Devils averaging 8.8 three-pointers in 17 Pac-12 games, tops in the league
√ ASU has seven wins over top-100 teams
PAC-12 WILL LIKE THESE NUMBERS: Entering games on Friday, March 4, ASU's SOS is 17 and its non-conference SOS also is 17...7-13 vs. top-100 teams as seven top-100 wins is the same as Texas Tech, Iowa, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt and Florida...seven top-100 wins are more than St. Joseph's (5), St. Bonaventure (6), Seton Hall (6), St. Mary's (6), Wichita State (4), Butler (5) and San Diego State (3)...defeated top-100 RPI teams Texas A&M (20), Oregon State (34), USC (35), Stanford (70), Stephen F. Austin (80), Belmont (81) and UCSB (93)...won true road games vs. Creighton (RPI 102) and UNLV (137)...ASU had Texas A&M down by 25 in the second half on Dec. 5. Texas A&M with a home win Saturday vs. Vanderbilt will be the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament and will clinch at least a tie for the SEC regular season championship...defeated OVC #1 seed Belmont...defeated Southland Conference champion Stephen F. Austin.
ASU 74, STANFORD 64 (MAR. 3, 2016): ASU posted a convincing 74-64 win over Stanford Thursday, as it led by as many as 21 in the second half, and was up 37-22 at the half...ASU had five players in double figures, led by Savon Goodman's 16 points off the bench...ASU had 15 offensive boards, which led to a 16-0 advantage in second-chance points.
AT HOME: ASU is 58-13 (.817) at home the past four seasons, the most 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 was 1979-83, when ASU went 49-12 (.803). ASU is the only team to beat each of the past three Pac-12 champions, as it topped Arizona the past two seasons, and beat UCLA in 2012-13, all at home.