The Arizona State Sun Devil men's hoops team that returns three senior starters from last year's squad and welcomes six newcomers faces the UC Irvine Anteaters on Sunday, Nov. 19, at noon on Pac-12 Network with Daron Sutton and Don MacLean on the call. ASU, under third-year head coach Bobby Hurley, is led by seniors Tra Holder, Shannon Evans II and Kodi Justice. Tim Healey and Kyle Dodd have the call on the Sun Devil Radio Network/620 AM. ASU will try and go 4-0 for the first time since the 2013-14 NCAA Tournament squad started 6-0.
DUNK-QUON: Junior college transfer De'Quon Lake's 22-of-25 (.880) field goal mark start to the season includes 12 dunks and his efforts have resulted in 14 second-chance points. He has 12 offensive rebounds, and after starting 1-of-4 from the free throw line he has made 11-of-16 (.688) since.
DUNKED-ON BY DE'QUON STATS
IDAHO STATE: 5 dunks/4 second-chance points
SAN DIEGO STATE: 2 dunks/4 second-chance points
NORTHERN ARIZONA: 5 dunks/6 second-chance points
100TH GAME NOTES: Tra Holder moved past the 1,000-point mark at UCLA on Jan. 19, 2017, as he is the 36th member of the Sun Devil 1,000-point club...388-of-523 (.742) from the charity stripe in his 100 games/91 starts, and both marks are second in ASU history behind only Ike Diogu (671-of-854).
SUN DEVIL CAREER POINTS
1. Eddie House, 1996-2000/2,044
17. Al Nealey, 1957-60/1,304
18. Art Becker, 1961-64/1,284
19. Tony Zeno, 1975-79/1,282
20. Tra Holder, 2014-present/1,269
GETTING 90: ASU has scored 90 points in three straight games, the first time that has happened at ASU Jan. 30-Feb. 6, 1993. ASU has not scored 90 in four straight games since Lionel Hollins and crew did it in from Feb. 28-March 15, 1975.
ASU 97, NORTHERN ARIZONA 62 (NOV. 17, 2017): ASU jumped out to a 15-3 lead five minutes in and led 54-27 at the half en route to the 35-point win as five players reached double digits. Romello White had 25 points (10-of-12 shooting), while Shannon Evans II had 20 and eight assists. Tra Holder filled the stat sheet with 12 points, nine rebounds, six assists and zero turnovers. ASU had 24 assists, tied for the second-most in the past four seasons.
ASU 90, SAN DIEGO STATE 74 (NOV. 14, 2017): For the ninth time in Bobby Hurley's Sun Devil tenure ASU trailed at the half but came back and won and did it in convincing fashion with a 90-68 win over San Diego State. ASU was down 40-34 at the half and 43-34 at 19:22 mark before it outscored the Aztecs 56-25 the rest of the way, including a 22-2 run from the 14:40 to 6:42 mark. It marked the first time SDSU had given up 90 since a 100-90 loss to BYU on Feb. 22, 2006. Tra Holder led the way with 24 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Romello White added 16 points and 15 rebounds in his debut, while De'Quon Lake added 15 points (perfect in seven shots) and seven rebounds off the bench. ASU shot .667 (20-of-30) from the field in the second half and held SDSU to 9-of-30 (.300). Shannon Evans II added 14 points, six boards and six assists while Remy Martin had 12 points off the bench.
ASU 94, IDAHO STATE 74 (NOV. 10, 2017): Junior De'Quon Lake posted 24 points -- the best Sun Devil debut since Steve Moore had 26 vs. Arkansas-Little Rock on Nov. 22, 2003 -- and added eight rebounds and three blocks in the season opening win. Shannon Evans II added 25 points (with five three-pointers), while Tra Holder had 18 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Lake finished 10-of-14 from the line after going 1-of-4 in the first half. ASU led 51-33 at the half, sparked by Remy Martin who finished with 16 points and five assists on 6-of-8 shooting in 34 minutes off the bench. ASU had 22 assists and shot 34-of-65 (.523) from the field.
LENGTH: ASU has some solid wing spans and length this year. De'Quon Lake has a 7-2 wingspan, while Vitaliy Shibel and Romello White are at 7-0. Freshman Kimani Lawrence stretched to 6-11 on his 6-7 frame.
TOP SCORERS: ASU has two of the top five scorers in the Pac-12 returning, as Tra Holder (16.2 ppg) and Shannon Evans II (15.0) averaged more than 31 points. Only Reid Travis (Stanford), Allonzo Trier (Arizona) and Stephan Thompson (Oregon State) averaged more than Tra and Shannon last year in overall games.
PAC-12 TOP RETURNING SCORERS IN 2017-18
17.4-Reid Travis, Stanford
17.2-Allonzo Trier, Arizona
16.3-Stephen Thompson, Oregon State
16.2-Tra Holder, Arizona State
15.0-Shannon Evans II, Arizona State
STRENGTH NOTES: ASU's 78.6 points per game last year was its best since the 1997-98 squad averaged 84.5...ASU ranked third in the Pac-12 in free throw shooting (.749) and averaged just 10.4 turnovers (first in the league and T-11th in the nation) and 9.9 three-pointers made (second in Pac-12)...Tra Holder led the league in free throws made and attempted (152-of-197/.772)...ASU likes to shoot the three as its 328 made last year was third-most in league history behind only UCLA (354 in 2016-17) and Oregon (350 in 2006-07).
PREDICTIONS: ASU was picked sixth in the Pac-12 preseason media poll announced on Oct. 12, its top preseason ranking since being picked fourth in the Pac-10 prior to the 2010-11 season. ASU has been picked 11th (2016-17 and 2012-13), eighth (2015-16), ninth (2014-15 and 2011-12), seventh (2013-14) in seven previous Pac-12 polls. UA was picked to finish first, followed by USC, UCLA, UO, Stanford, ASU, Utah, OSU, CU, UW, Cal and WSU.
MEET THE SIX: ASU will have six newcomers fill roles in 2017-18, led by three who were in the program last year. Romello White is a 6-8 forward from Suwanee, Ga. who practiced last season as an academic redshirt and was a top-100 player (No. 77 by ESPN, No. 81 by Scout) in the 2016 signing class. Texan Mickey Mitchell is a skilled 6-7 sophomore who started seven games and played in 23 for Ohio State in 2015-16, came to ASU in December of 2016 and will be eligible this December, while 6-9 redshirt freshman Vitaliy Shibel has a great southpaw shooting stroke but missed last year with an ACL injury. Junior college transfer De'Quon Lake has a 6-10 frame and a 7-2 wing span. ESPN 2017 top-100 players Kimani Lawrence (New Hampton School/Providence, RI) is a 6-7 swingman with 6-11 wingspan who is No. 54, while Remy Martin (Sierra Canyon/Chatsworth, Calif.) is a 6-0 lead guard and is No. 82 in the rankings.
NOT MANY CAN SAY THIS: ASU's backcourt has two 1,200-point career scorers. Tra Holder has 1,269 points in 100 Sun Devil games (12.7 ppg.), while Shannon Evans II has 1,307 career points, with 754 of them coming at Buffalo from 2013-15. Combined the duo has made 798 total field goals, 295 three-pointers, 685 free throws and has dropped 2,576 collegiate points in 198 career games.
MOST COMBINED CAREER POINTS BY TWO TEAMMATES ENTERING 2017-18
2,707/St. Bonaventure: Jaylen Adams (1,377) and Matt Mobley (1,330)
2,701/Rhode Island: E.C. Matthews (1,519) and Jared Terrell (1,182)
2,639/Xavier: Trevon Bluiett (1,585) and J.P. Macura (1,054)
2,463/Arizona State: Shannon Evans II (1,248) and Tra Holder (1,215)
ABOUT UC IRVINE: Russell Turner has guided the UCI program for the past seven years and has led the Anteaters to the postseason and at least 20 wins in each of the past five seasons, including the NIT in 2017. His UCI teams have won 114 games during that five-year span for an average of 22.8 wins per season. He was named 2017 Big West Conference Coach of the Year after leading UCI to the league's regular-season title for the third time in the last four years. Turner's Anteater teams have won 60 Big West regular-season games over the past five years, including a 21-15 mark last year. UC Irvine is picked to win the Big West title this year
ASU-UC IRVINE SERIES (ASU LEADS 3-0)
ASU 74, UC Irvine 61 (Dec. 28, 2013)
#13 ASU 87, UC Irvine 58 (Dec. 17, 1994)
ASU 88, UC Irvine 73 (Dec. 28, 1981 at Milwaukee)
ABOUT THE FRESHMEN: From one coast to the other one, Bobby Hurley's staff signed a pair of top-100 players last fall, as 6-7 swingman Kimani Lawrence (New Hampton School in New Hampton, N.H.) and 6-1 guard Remy Martin of Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon joined the program this summer. A four-star signee according to Scout, Martin averaged 14.5 points as a junior. Lawrence, a four-star small forward from The New Hampton School in New Hampton, N.H., is the nation's 54th overall prospect according to ESPN.
SCOUT.COM SUN DEVIL TOP-100 RECRUITS ON ROSTER
54. Kimani Lawrence, 2017
81. Romello White, 2016
98. Remy Martin, 2017
100. Tra Holder, 2014
FREE THROWS: The Sun Devils made free throws at a rate that was third-best in school history (489-of-653/.749) last year. ASU shot .756 in 1977-78 and .754 in 1954-55 for its best seasons. ASU's three seniors are all above .740 for their careers.
CAREER FT% NUMBERS
Shannon Evans II: 297-365/.814
Tra Holder: 388-523/.742
Kodi Justice: 79-108/.731
SPLASH GAMES: Shannon Evans II arrived at ASU after having spent two seasons under Coach Hurley at Buffalo. As a sophomore in 2014-15 he averaged 15.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists and led the Bulls to the NCAA Tournament as he earned second-team All-MAC honors. As a freshman, he averaged 8.5 points and 3.3 assists per game and was named to the All-MAC Freshman Team. He made his first 20 free throws to start last season.
SHANNON EVANS II 25-POINT SCORING GAMES (4 AT ASU)
33 vs. Cornell (1/3/15)
28 at #13 Oregon (2/2/17)
28 vs. UNLV (12/3/16)
25 vs. Idaho State (11/14/17)
25 vs. Washington (1/25/17)
25 at Ball State (2/4/15)
QUICK QUESTIONS WITH SHANNON EVANS
Most upset on the court: Losing the NCAA tournament
Happiest on the court: Winning the MAC championship
Past sporting event to go back and watch: 1991 Duke vs UNLV
Past Sun Devil to go watch compete: Pat Tillman
SHANNON FTS: Shannon Evans II finished tied for second in the Pac-12 in free throw percentage (100-of-120/.833), just .002 off the leader. Two Sun Devils have led the Pac-12, as Chris Beasley shot .875 (112-of-128) in 1983-84 and Alex Austin made 69-of-80 (.863) in 1988-89.
JUSTICE SERVED: Kodi Justice has made 146 three pointers in 86 career games. He suffered a fractured navicular bone in his left foot on Jan. 25, 2015 (freshman year) and missed the remainder of that season, but bounced back with a solid sophomore season. His injury happened the game following a season-high 16 points at California, so he was just starting to get in the groove, and then adapted to a new coaching staff in the summer of 2015 while getting healthy.
FOUR QUESTIONS WITH KODI JUSTICE
You can pick the brain of any coach, who is it? John Wooden
You can go watch a past sporting event live...which one? Rumble in the Jungle
Past Sun Devil (any sport) you wish you could have watched compete: Pat Tillman
Biggest challenge in my life: Being dyslexic
KODI JUSTICE TOP SCORING GAMES
22 vs. USC (2/26/17)
20 vs. Citadel (11/23/16)
20 vs. Houston Baptist (12/19/15)
19 vs. #5 UCLA (2/23/17)
9 HALFTIME DEFICIT WINS UNDER COACH HURLEY
(-6) SDSU 40, ASU 34/Nov. 14, 2017/ASU 90, SDSU 68
(-1) USC 48, ASU 47/Feb. 26, 2017/ASU 83, USC 82
(-2) @Washington 41, ASU 39/Feb. 16, 2017/ASU 83, @Washington 81
(-1) Stanford 33, ASU 32/Feb. 11, 2017/ASU 75, Stanford 69
(-7) @SDSU 32, ASU 25/Dec. 10, 2016/ASU 74, @SDSU 63
(-3) #23 USC 30, ASU 27/Feb. 12, 2016/ASU 74, USC 67
(-12) @UNLV 37, ASU 25/Dec. 16, 2015/ASU 66, @UNLV 56
(-8) @Creighton 41, ASU 33/Dec. 2, 2015/ASU 79, @Creighton 77
(-2) UCSB 29, ASU 27/Nov. 29, 2015/ASU 70, UCSB 68