The Arizona State Sun Devil men's hoops team (7-0) that returned three senior starters from last year's squad and welcomed six newcomers tries to continue rolling after winning the Continental Tire Invitational championship in Las Vegas Nov. 23-24. After beating USF 75-57 on Dec. 2, ASU is 7-0 for the first time since 1980-81, when Fat Lever, Byron Scott and Alton Lister led ASU to a 24-4 mark and 16-2 mark in the Pac-10. ASU is ranked No. 16 in the Associated Press poll, as last week's No. 20 ranking was its first since it was ranked all of 2008-09. Under third-year head coach Bobby Hurley (two-time NCAA champion, 1992 Final Four MOP and NCAA career assist leader) the Sun Devils are led by senior guards Tra Holder, Shannon Evans II and Kodi Justice. Tim Healey and Kyle Dodd have the call on the Sun Devil Radio Network.
NEXT: Ted Robinson and Steve Lavin have have the Pac-12 Network call when ASU faces St. John's at STAPLES Center on Friday, Dec. 8 (5 p.m. PT/98.7 FM) followed by a visit to Phog Allen Fieldhouse on Sunday, Dec. 10 (1 p.m. CT on ESPN/620 AM) to meet No. 2 Kansas with Roxy Bernstein and Bill Walton on the call.
PRETTY COOL NOTES: As of Dec. 4, Tra Holder (22.1/6.0/5.1) is the only college player in the world averaging 22/6/5 (thanks to Pac-12 Office for this note). ASU is back in the Associated Press rankings for the first time since the 2008-09 season, when it was ranked from the beginning to the end. ASU entered the poll at No. 20 last week and is No. 16 this week.
#20 ASU 75, USF 57 (DEC. 2, 2017): ASU jumped out to leads of 25-6 (8:38) and 33-12 (4:31) and never let it get closer than 12 as five players scored in double figures in the home win. Romello White had 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Tra Holder added 15 and Shannon Evans II 14. Kodi Justice and Remy Martin added 12, with Martin scoring eight in the first half. USF shot just 18-of-63 (.286), ASU's second-best defensive field goal percentage since it held LMU to .281 on Nov. 20, 2014, and second-best effort in the past eight seasons. USF led 3-0 but ASU took a 4-3 lead at the 18:40 mark and never gave that back.10 undefeated teams remain
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) December 6, 2017
Duke
Florida State
Miami
TCU
Kansas
Villanova
Georgetown
Valparaiso
Arizona State
Mississippi State
ASU VS. ST. JOHN'S: ASU will miss the Los Angeles Pac-12 trip this year, so Coach Hurley and staff scheduld a game in Los Angeles at the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic as ASU will meet St. John's for just the second time, as the only other meeting was on Nov. 27, 2010, in the Great Alaska Shootout when Steve Lavin and Saint John's came back from a 30-20 halftime deficit to win 67-58. ASU already has played four games against BIG EAST schools in Bobby Hurley's Sun Devil career, as in addition to beating No. 15 Xavier this year he also won at Creighton on Dec. 2, 2015. Marquette (78-73 in Brooklyn on Nov. 24, 2015) and No. 9 Creighton (in Tempe on Dec. 20, 2016) are the losses.
GIVE CREDIT TO FOLKS AT STATS INC. FOR THIS ONE: Since Stats Inc. started tracking this stuff in 1996-97, they unearthed that ASU was the first Pac-12 team to score 90 points in six straight games in more than two decades. Wait, what? Yup Not Lonzo's UCLA crew last year, not Luke and Luke and Freddie in Duck Land, not Arenas and Gardner and Walton, not Collison, Westbrook and Love. Tra, Kodi and Shannon. More research resulted in only one similar streak since 1970, as UCLA did it in six straight from Dec. 3-29 in 1971.
TRA NOTES: Tra's 40 points on Nov. 24 vs. Nov. 15 Xavier was just the fourth 40-point effort in the NCAA this season and it was the first 40-point performance by a Pac-12 player against a non-conference opponent since Sun Devil Jahii Carson dropped 40 on UNLV on Nov. 19, 2013. It is the most points scored by a Sun Devil against a ranked team.Today's daily podcast features Anthony Lynn, @BobbyHurley11, and @M_B_24. Subscribe: https://t.co/rO6G6P5juT
— Jim Rome (@jimrome) December 6, 2017
ASU AND KANSAS: ASU is 4-5 vs. Kansas, who has been to the NCAA Tournament the past 27 seasons and won its 13th straight Big 12 regular season title last season. It won the national titles in 1952, 1988, and in 2008 under current head coach Bill Self. The last meeting was a 108-76 Kansas win in the second round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament in Oklahoma City.
ASU VS. KANSAS (4-5)
#6 Kansas 108, ASU 76 (March 22, 2003/NCAA @Oklahoma City)
#2 Kansas 90, ASU 88 (Nov. 26, 1997/Preseason NIT @NYC)
ASU 70, Kansas 68 (Nov. 23, 1990)
@ #2 Kansas 90, ASU 67 (Dec. 22, 1989)
@Kansas 63, ASU 62 (Nov. 30, 1981)
#5 Kansas 88, #3 ASU 71 (March 14, 1981/NCAA @Wichita)
ASU 73, Kansas 65, OT (Dec. 29, 1979)
ASU 71, Kansas 62 (Dec. 14, 1962)
ASU 72, Kansas 58 (Dec. 11, 1961)
LAST TIME: ASU's 2017 Continental Tire Invitational championship was its first exempt tournament title since Bill Frieder's gang won the 1994 Maui Invitational title, which started the run to the Sweet Sixteen and a 24-9 record. ASU jumped into the polls at No. 12 after beating Texas A&M, No. 13 Michigan and No. 7 Maryland at No. 12 that year, never fell lower than No. 18 and finished No. 16 as it beat Ball State and Manhattan in Memphis in the 1995 NCAA Tournament before falling to second-ranked Kentucky in Birmingham.
GONNA' PLAY SOME FOLKS: Bobby Hurley is going to make an attempt to play some folks. In his first year after looking at a schedule he inherited that included tilts against NC State in Brooklyn, at Creighton, at UNLV and against eventual No. 18 Texas A&M, he put the wheels in motion to make it even better by agreeing to play at Kentucky and filled a holiday break hole that could have been a yawner with Stephen F. Austin. In 2016-17, the squad played No. 1 Kentucky in the Bahamas, Purdue in New York City, at San Diego State, in Orlando for three games, and finished a series with No. 9 Creighton. Kansas will return the trip to Wells Fargo next year after ASU travels to Lawrence Sunday, and ASU already played No. 15 Xavier and will host 2017 NCAA Tournament product Vanderbilt Dec. 20. Sunday's game will be the fourth top-10 non-conference opponent the Sun Devils will face under Coach Hurley, after facing one in the previous 17 seasons.
SUN DEVIL REGULAR SEASON OOC GAMES VS. TOP-10 TEAMS (SINCE JOINING PAC-10)
ASU @#2 Kansas (Dec. 10, 2017)
#9 Creighton 96, ASU 85 (Dec. 20, 2016)
#1 Kentucky 115, ASU 69 (Nov. 28, 2016 at Bahamas)
@#5 Kentucky 72, ASU 58 (Dec. 12, 2015)
#7 Duke 64, ASU 53 (Nov. 25, 2009 at MSG)
#2 Kansas 90, ASU 88, OT (Nov. 26, 1997 at MSG)
ASU 97, #7 Maryland 90 (November 23, 1994 at Maui)
@#8 Oklahoma St. 87, ASU 69 (December 2, 1993)
@#9 Kentucky 94, ASU 68 (December 14, 1991)
@#2 Kansas 90, ASU 67 (December 22, 1989)
#10 North Carolina 85, ASU 66 (December 23, 1984 at Tokyo)
#6 Missouri 48, ASU 47 (December 27, 1982 at Honolulu)
MORE THAN A DOUBLE NICKEL: There have been 910 halves of Sun Devil basketball played in the past 15 seasons, and three of the top eight scoring ones have taken place already this year. ASU dropped 58 on Xavier and 56 against San Diego State in the second half and had 56 vs. UC Irvine in the first half.
MOST POINTS IN A HALF PAST 15 SEASONS (2003-04 TO PRESENT)
72 vs. Citadel (Nov. 23, 2016)*
58 vs. #15 Xavier (Nov. 24, 2017)*
58 vs. San Francisco (Nov. 20, 2009)
58 vs. Oregon (Feb. 11, 2006)*
57 vs. Cal Poly (Nov. 13, 2016)*
56 vs. UC Irvine (Nov. 19, 2017)
56 vs. San Diego State (Nov. 14, 2017)*
56 vs. Kennesaw State (Nov. 18, 2015)
*notes second-half points
PAC-12 PLAYER OF WEEK FIRST TIME: How good of a week did Tra Holder have in earning Pac-12 Player of the Week on Nov. 20? In three wins where ASU averaged 95.3 points, he averaged 23.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists. He shot .548 (23-of-42) from the field, .571 (12-of-21) from three and .813 (13-of-16) from the free throw line. He put the exclamation point on it on Nov. 19 with 35 points on 13-of-15 shooting in the win over UC Irvine. He is the 36th member of the Sun Devil 1,000-point club and also gets to the free throw line as he is 412-of-550 (.749) from the charity stripe in his 104 games/95 starts, as 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
11. Paul Williams, 1979-83/1,455
12. Larry Armstrong, 1959-62/1,393
13. Tra Holder, 2014-present/1,370
TRA'S YEAR-BY-YEAR IMPROVEMENTS
SEASON: FG% / FT% / PPG
2014-15: .317 / .708 / 7.0
2015-16: .387 / .727 / 14.2
2016-17: .433 / .772 / 16.2
2017-18: .495 / .864 / 22.1
#DUNK-KWON: Junior college transfer De'Quon Lake is 30-of-38 (.789) from the field. He has 22 offensive rebounds to start to the season and 15 dunks and his efforts have resulted in 18 second-chance points. He posted five dunks against both Idaho State and San Diego State.
DOWN GOES RANKED TEAM: ASU has now defeated three ranked teams in Bobby Hurley's Sun Devil tenure, as besides No. 15 Xavier ASU beat No. 23 USC 74-57 on Feb. 12, 2016 and No. 18 Texas A&M 67-54 on Dec. 5, 2015. The Nov. 24 Xavier win is the highest ranked non-conference team ASU has topped since it beat No. 7 Maryland in the 1994 Maui Invitational.
@SUNDEVILHOOPS OOC WINS VS. RANKED TEAMS PAC-10/12 ERA
ASU 102, #15 Xavier 86 (Nov. 24, 2017 at Las Vegas)
ASU 67, #18 Texas A&M 54 (Dec. 5, 2015)
ASU 79, #25 Marquette 77 (Nov. 25, 2013)
ASU 77, #17 Xavier 55 (Dec. 15, 2007)
ASU 97, #7 Maryland 90 (Nov. 23, 1994 at Maui Invitational)
ASU 79, #13Michigan 62 (Nov. 22, 1994 at Maui Invitational)
#14 ASU 71, #7 Ohio State 58 (Dec. 20, 1980)
ASU 96, #12 Iowa 88 (Dec. 6, 1980)
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.
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
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.
DIGITS FROM LAST YEAR: 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 1,300-point career scorers. Tra Holder has 1,370 points in 104 Sun Devil games (13.2 ppg.), while Shannon Evans II has 1,379 career points, with 754 of them coming at Buffalo from 2013-15. Combined the duo has made 849 total field goals, 319 three-pointers, 732 free throws and has dropped 2,749 collegiate points in 206 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)
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.
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. He made his first 20 free throws to start last season. Also, he had 50 points in an exhibition win this year against Arizona Christian.
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
DON'T SLEEP ON KODI: In the final five games of 2016-17 Kodi averaged 15.6 points, which included a career-high 22 points in the Feb. 26 win over NCAA Tournament-bound USC. He was in double digits in 11 games in 2016-17 and was 17-of-35 (.486) from the three-point stripe and perfect in nine free throw attempts in those final five games.
NO DEPTH LAST YEAR: Tra Holder led the Pac-12 in minutes per game in conference games last year at 37.9, but not far behind him were Sun Devils Shannon Evans II (36.7/second) and Torian Graham (36.6/third).
JUSTICE SERVED: Kodi Justice has made 159 three pointers in 90 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'S YEAR-BY-YEAR IMPROVEMENTS (SEASON: FG% / 3PM / PPG)
2014-15: .424 / 17 / 4.6
2015-16: .394 / 60 / 7.9
2016-17: .421 / 63 / 9.2
2017-18: .563 / 19 / 15.0
ASU (6-0) 102, #15 XAVIER 86 (NOV. 24, 2017): ASU scored 73 points in the final 23 minutes --- yup, 73 in 23 -- to drop No. 15 Xavier 102-86 on Nov. 24 in Orleans Arena in Las Vegas to win the Continental Tire Invitational. Tra Holder was a man and dropped 40 as the Sun Devils shot .559 from the field (33-of-59), 13-of-27 (.481) from three and .920 (23-of-25) from the free throw line. ASU was down 44-29 with under three minutes to play in the first half but closed half on 15-2 run. ASU's four-headed guard machine had 91 points as Shannon Evans II added 22, Kodi Justice 16 and Remy Martin 13.
ASU BEST FT% (MINIMUM 25 ATTEMPTS)
24-26/.923 vs. Cal State-Los Angeles--Dec. 19, 1981
23-25/.909 vs. No. 15 Xavier--Nov. 24, 2017
23-26/.885 vs. UCSB--Nov. 29, 2015
HALF: ASU is 11-27 (.289) when trailing at the half under Bobby Hurley, after going 12-64 (.157) the previous five seasons.
11 HALFTIME DEFICIT WINS UNDER COACH HURLEY
(-2) Xavier 46, ASU 44/Nov. 24, 2017/ASU 102, Xavier 86
(-2) Kansas State 44, ASU 42/Nov. 23, 2017/ASU 92, KSU 90
(-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) @UW 41, ASU 39/Feb. 16, 2017/ASU 83, @UW 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
40-MINUTE MEN: On Feb. 16 at Washington, Tra Holder and Shannon Evans II each played 40 minutes, while Torian Graham and Kodi Justice both played 39 minutes in the 83-81 win. According to Stats Inc., it was the only time in the past 21 seasons (1996-97 to present) that four Sun Devils played at least 39 minutes in a regulation game and marked the first time any Pac-12 team had done it since Oregon State at Arizona State on March 5, 2011. It was so crazy and would probably never happen again...except it did vs. No. 5 UCLA on Feb. 23, when the ASU starters played 199 minutes a week later.
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.
SUN DEVIL WINS VS. RANKED TEAMS PAST FIVE SEASONS
ASU vs. #15 Xavier/Nov. 24, 2017
ASU 74, #23 USC 67/Feb. 12, 2016
ASU 67, #18 Texas A&M 54/Dec. 5, 2015
ASU 81, #6 Arizona 78/Feb. 7, 2015
ASU 69, #2 Arizona 66 (2 OT)/Feb. 14, 2014
ASU 79, #25 Marquette 77/Nov. 25, 2013