The Arizona State Sun Devils (19-9; 7-9) -- who returned three players from last year's squad -- finish the Pac-12 schedule by hosting the Bay Area Schools. Steve Quis and Corey Williams have the ESPNU 7 p.m. tip on Thursday (March 1) when ASU hosts Cal, while Tim Healey and Kyle Dodd have the voice-only versIon on the Sun Devil Radio Network. 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 seniors Tra Holder, Shannon Evans II and Kodi Justice, who have made .783 of their free throws (1,038-of-1,321) and scored 4,454 points. ASU is averaging 83.8 ppg., its best mark since the 1997-98 team averaged 84.5, and has scored at least 80 in 17 games.
QUICK STUFF
vASU has played 14 single-digit Pac-12 games, tied with Oregon in 2006-07 for most in past 22 seasons.
vASU has come from behind at the half to win seven times and is averaging 44.1 second-half points.
v ASU is averaging 10,551 fans per game this year, ahead of the 9,514 school record set in 1995-96.
TOP 5 @SUNDEVILHOOPS AVERAGE ATTENDANCE
2017-18: 10,441 (two games to play)
1995-96: 9,514
2008-09: 9,354
1994-95: 9,333
2003-04: 9,003
WINS: As of Feb. 27 NCAA RPI, No. 42 ASU has wins over No. 2 Xavier (25-4) in Las Vegas, at No. 5 KU (24-6), vs. 31 USC (21-9), at No. 54t Utah (18-10), vs. No. 54t UCLA (18-10), vs. No. 63 Kansas State in Las Vegas (20-10), vs. No. 79 Colorado (16-13) vs. No. 88 St. John's (14-15) in Los Angeles, and vs. No. 98 SDSU (18-10). ASU is 4-4 in Quad 1, 3-4 in Quad 2, 7-1 in Quad 3 and 5-0 in Quad 4.
KODI APPROACHING 1,000: Kodi Justice has 996 career points after scoring only 83 (4.6 pg) in his freshman season, when his season was cut short due to a foot injury after 16 games. Only one Sun Devil will have scored fewer points in his freshman year and still reach 1,000. He will become the 37th member of ASU's 1,000 point-club. Kurt Nimphis (1,006) is 36th, while Gary Jackson is 35th (1,017)
SUN DEVIL 1,000-POINT SCORERS/FEWEST POINTS AS FRESHMAN
Kurt Nimphius (1976-80)/1,006 (27/1.5)
Fat Lever (1978-82)/1,137 (104/3.6)
Arthur Thomas (1984-88)/1,268 (111/4.3)
Chad Prewitt (1998-2002)/1,177 (123/4.1)
HALFTIME SPEECHES: ASU is averaging 44.1 points in the second half, a mark that is closing in on one of the best by a Pac-12 team in the past 22 seasons (1996-97) according to STATS and Pac-12 Network research.
BEST SECOND-HALF POINTS AVERAGE BY PAC-12 TEAM (1996-97 TO PRESENT)
48.5/Arizona, 1997-98
46.6/UCLA, 2016-17
45.2/Arizona, 2003-04
44.4/Arizona, 1996-97
44.1/Arizona State, 2017-18
CLOSE: ASU has had seven one-possession Pac-12 games and 15 Pac-12 games decided by 10 points or less. In its perfect (12-0) non-conference action, ASU played one single digit game (92-90 over Kansas State in Las Vegas). ASU's only two league margins in double digits are wins over Colorado (80-66) and at Washington State (88-78).
SHANNON MOVING ON UP: Shannon Evans II has notched 964 points in his two-year, 61-game Sun Devil career, which already is sixth on the Sun Devil two-year career list. He also will make a dent in the two-year record books for field goals made, free throws, free throw percentage and assists.
SUN DEVIL TWO-YEAR CAREER MOST POINTS
James Harden, 2007-09/1,309
Jahii Carson, 2012-14/1,261
Bobby Lazor, 1997-99/1,077
Paul Stovall, 1970-72/989
Freddie Lewis, 1964-66/983
Shannon Evans II, 2016-18/964
SHANNON: In the past 11 games -- which included a 22-point second-half effort in the Oregon State Jan. 13 win -- Shannon Evans is shooting 54-of-61 (.886) from the free throw line. He has 12 20-point games on the year, including 20+ in four of the past five tilts (25 at Oregon, 23 vs. UCLA, 21 vs. USC, 23 at WSU).
SINGLE-DIGITS: ASU and Stanford did something this year that hasn't been done in a while and only one other team did it in the past 22 Pac-12 seasons. According to STATS, since 1996-97 only USC in 2002-03 had played nine of its first ten Pac-12 (then Pac-10) games with a single digit final as both Stanford and ASU did this year. Oregon has the most single-digit games in that era with 14 in 2006-07. ASU 13-of-15 single digit conference games is topped only by North Texas (all 15 CUSA games).
DID YOU KNOW?: The Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year officially returns for the first time in 30+ seasons in 2017-18. To be eligible, players must not exceed more than 1/3 (six) starts in league games. The previous Pac-10 Sixth Man of the Year was awarded from 1984-87. Remy Martin – with zero starts -- is averaging 9.6 points, has 73 assists and is 62-of-81 (.765) from the free throw line in 23.8 minutes per game (and again, with zero starts). He has 18 double-figure scoring games (ASU is 12-6) including 13 of the past 18 tilts. He had a season-best 21 at No. 2 Kansas on Dec. 10. Against Utah on Jan. 25, he had a personal second-half 10-0 run in 2:18 that gave ASU a three-point lead after being down seven. At WSU on Feb. 4, he had all 10 points in the final 6:20 and added two steals as ASU outscored WSU 19-9 in final seven minutes.
SHANNON: In the past 11 games -- which included a 22-point second-half effort in the Oregon State Jan. 13 win -- Shannon Evans is shooting 54-of-61 (.886) from the free throw line. He has 12 20-point games on the year, including 20+ in four of the past five tilts (25 at Oregon, 23 vs. UCLA, 21 vs. USC, 23 at WSU).
BENCH PLAY: ASU notched 41 bench points at California on Jan. 20, the second-most in the Bobby Hurley era at ASU. ASU's four-man 41-point bench at California was 16-of-28 (.571) from the field and had four three-pointers, 21 rebounds and four blocks in 73 minutes.
MOST BENCH POINTS UNDER BOBBY HURLEY
42 vs. Kennesaw State (11/18/15)
41 at California (1/20/18)
41 vs. Longwood (12/19/17)
38 at Stanford (12/30/16)
KODI: In the final five games of 2016-17 Kodi Justice averaged 15.6 points including 22 in the Feb. 26 win over USC and was 17-of-35 (.486) from the three-point stripe. In his past 33 games, he is averaging 13.1 points, in the first 78 games of his career he averaged 7.2.
MICKEY: Mickey Mitchell, after starting in the first six Pac-12 games, came off the bench at Cal on Jan. 20 and led ASU in rebounding for the fifth time in his first 11 games. He missed the first eight games as a mid-year transfer, but is averaging 5.6 boards in just over 23 minutes per game. He has led or tied for ASU lead in rebounding in six games.
FG DEFENSE: Stanford shot (.508) from the field against ASU on Jan. 17, the first ASU opponent to shoot 50 percent in 12 games and just the third opponent on the year, as only Kansas State (.576) Xavier (.556) and Oregon State on the road (.528) have made half their shots. Fifteen teams shot 50 percent against ASU last year. The last time ASU held at least 11 straight opponents under 50 percent field goal shooting was the final 13 games of the 2012-13 season. ASU is holding opponents to .437 from the field this year after allowing .479 last year.
MORE TRA: How good of a week did Tra Holder have in earning his first Pac-12 Player of the Week on Nov. 20? He averaged 23.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists in three ASU wins and 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 is 515-of-674 (.764) from the charity stripe, as both free throw marks are second in ASU history (Ike Diogu, 671-of-854).
SUN DEVIL CAREER POINTS
1. Eddie House, 1996-2000/2,044
2. Jeremy Veal, 1994-1998/1,984
3. Ike Diogu, 2002-2005/1,946
4. Ron Riley, 1992-1996/1,834
5. Tra Holder, 2014-2018/1,740
TRA'S YEAR-BY-YEAR IMPROVEMENTS
SEASON: FG% / FT% / PPG / RPG / 3P MADE
2014-15: .317 / .708 / 7.0 / 2.2 / 12
2015-16: .387 / .727 / 14.2 / 3.5 / 49
2016-17: .433 / .772 / 16.2 / 3.7 / 46
2017-18: .417 / .845 / 18.8 / 4.4 / 60
FREE THROWS: In some big wins, free throw shooting has been very good. ASU was 20-of-25 (.800) vs. SDSU, 23-of-25 (.920) vs. #15 Xavier, 23-of-27 (.852) vs. Saint John's, 15-of-20 (.750) at #2 Kansas, 20-of-23 (.870) at Utah, 16-of-22 (.727) vs. Colorado and 25-of-28 (.893) vs. UCLA.
PUMPED UP CROWDS: ASU has done well under Coach Hurley in places that were large and loud outside of the Pac-12. In addition to this year's win over No. 2 Kansas on Dec. 10 in front of 16,300, ASU in the Coach Hurley era has won at Creighton (16,282), UNLV (13,014) and San Diego State (12,414) and hung tough with Kentucky (23,665) in his first season as it was a 32-31 Kentucky lead at the half and a four-point game with 13 minutes to play. Prior to Bobby Hurley, ASU was 8-22 in its previous 30 non-conference road games. It is 4-1 under Coach Hurley with wins at San Diego State, UNLV, Creighton and Kansas.
ASU OOC ROAD GAMES UNDER COACH HURLEY/CROWDS
#16 ASU 95, #2 Kansas 85 (Dec. 10, 2017)/16,300
ASU 74, San Diego State 63 (Dec. 10, 2016)/12,414
ASU 66, UNLV 56 (Dec. 16, 2015)/13,014
#5 Kentucky 72, ASU 58 (Dec. 5, 2015)/23,665
ASU 79, Creighton 77 (Dec. 2, 2015)/16,282
20: ASU has six players who have notched a 20-point game this year led by Tra Holder (15), Shannon Evans II (12), Kodi Justice (three) and Romello White (three), while Remy Martin and De'Quon Lake have done it once.
DOWN AT HALF: ASU has come back from down at the half against USC, Oregon State, at Utah, at Kansas, vs. Xavier and Kansas State in Las Vegas and in Tempe vs. San Diego State. ASU is 15-34 (.326) when it trails at half under Coach Hurley, after going 12-64 (.158) the previous five seasons. In those seven wins in the second half Shannon Evans is averaging 19.1 minutes, 14.1 points and shooting 30-of-52 (.557) from the floor, 18-of-27 (.667) from three and 21-of-26 (.840) from the free throw line with 19 assists and just eight turnovers.
SPURTABILITY: ASU has come back from deficits of at least nine points in seven wins.
DEFICIT (TIME/HALF)/FINAL SCORE
Nov. 14: -9 vs. San Diego State (19:22/2nd)/90-68; +31 final 19 minutes
Nov. 23: -9 vs. Kansas State (18:16/2nd)/92-90; +11 final 18 minutes
Nov. 24: -15 vs. #15 Xavier (3:16/first)/102-86; 73 points final 23 minutes
Dec. 10: -13 at #2 Kansas (16:39/first)/95-85; +23 after 15-2 deficit
Dec. 17: -13 vs. Vanderbilt (15:03/first)/76-64; +25 after 13-0 deficit
Jan. 13: -13 vs. Oregon State (11:32/second)/77-75; 33-18 final 11:30
Feb. 8: -9 vs. USC (11:04/second)/80-78; 31-19 final 10:51
DOUBLE NICKEL+: Six of the top 11 scoring halves in the past 15 seasons have taken place this year. Prior to dropping 60 vs. Longwood in the second half on Dec. 19, ASU dropped 58 at No. 2 Kansas and 58 on No. 15 Xavier in Las Vegas. On Dec. 22 it had 57 in the second half vs. Pacific. It also had 56 against San Diego State in the second half and vs. UC Irvine in the first half.
MOST POINTS IN HALF/2003-04 TO PRESENT
72 vs. Citadel (Nov. 23, 2016)*
60 vs. Longwood (Dec. 19, 2017)*
58 at #2 Kansas (Dec. 10, 2017)*
58 vs. #15 Xavier (Nov. 24, 2017)*
58 vs. San Francisco (Nov. 20, 2009)
58 vs. Oregon (Feb. 11, 2006)*
57 vs. Pacific (Dec. 22, 2017)*
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
12-GAME STREAK: Much has been made about the best start in school history that not much was said about the win streak as it stood alone. The Dec. 22 win over Pacific gave ASU the second-best winning streak in ASU history. Only four ASU teams have posted 11-game winning streaks.
ASU TOP WINNING STREAKS
18: 1961-62
12: 2017-18
11: 1980-81 and 1962-63
#DUNK-KWON: Junior college transfer De'Quon Lake is 80-of-113 (.708) from the field with 39 dunks. He has 54 offensive rebounds and posted five dunks against both Idaho State and San Diego State. He also had seven blocks vs. Pacific. ASU is 8-1 when he scores in double digits and 8-1 when he gets at least seven boards (at Oregon in loss he had 12).
LENGTH: ASU has solid wing spans this year. De'Quon Lake has a 7-2 wingspan, while Vitaliy Shibel and Romello White are at 7-0. Kimani Lawrence stretched to 6-11 on his 6-7 frame.
JUSTICE SERVED: Kodi Justice has made 207 three pointers in 111 career games. He suffered a fractured navicular bone in his left foot on Jan. 25, 2015 and missed the remainder of freshman 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.
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: .452 / 67 / 12.8
SUN DEVIL CAREER STARTS
120, Jeff Pendergraph, 2005-09
119, Ty Abbott, 2007-11
116, Tra Holder, 2014-18
SUN DEVIL CAREER ASSISTS
551, Derek Glasser, 200-10
454, Bobby Thompson, 1983-87
444, Fat Lever, 1978-82
434, Tra Holder, 2014-18
SUN DEVIL SINGLE-SEASON THREE-POINTERS
4. 93, Rihards Kuksiks (2008-09)
5. 84, Jon Gilling (2012-13)
6. 83, Alex Austin (1990-91)
7. 82, Jermaine Marshall (2013-14)
8. 81, Shannon Evans II (2016-18)
8. 81, Rihards Kuksiks (2009-10)
8. 81, Kevin Kruger (2005-06)
HALF: ASU is 15-32 (.319) when trailing at the half under Bobby Hurley, after going 12-64 (.157) the previous five seasons.
15 HALFTIME DEFICIT WINS UNDER COACH HURLEY
(-4) USC 37, ASU 33/Feb. 8, 2018/ASU 80, USC 77
(-1) Oregon State 34, ASU 33/Jan. 13, 2018/ASU 77, OSU 75
(-1) @Utah 36, ASU 35/Jan. 7, 2018/ASU 80, @Utah 77
(-3) @#2 Kansas 40, ASU 37/Dec. 10, 2017/ASU 95, @KU 85
(-2) #15 Xavier 46, ASU 44/Nov. 24, 2017/ASU 102, #15 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
QUICK STUFF
vASU has played 14 single-digit Pac-12 games, tied with Oregon in 2006-07 for most in past 22 seasons.
vASU has come from behind at the half to win seven times and is averaging 44.1 second-half points.
v ASU is averaging 10,551 fans per game this year, ahead of the 9,514 school record set in 1995-96.
TOP 5 @SUNDEVILHOOPS AVERAGE ATTENDANCE
2017-18: 10,441 (two games to play)
1995-96: 9,514
2008-09: 9,354
1994-95: 9,333
2003-04: 9,003
WINS: As of Feb. 27 NCAA RPI, No. 42 ASU has wins over No. 2 Xavier (25-4) in Las Vegas, at No. 5 KU (24-6), vs. 31 USC (21-9), at No. 54t Utah (18-10), vs. No. 54t UCLA (18-10), vs. No. 63 Kansas State in Las Vegas (20-10), vs. No. 79 Colorado (16-13) vs. No. 88 St. John's (14-15) in Los Angeles, and vs. No. 98 SDSU (18-10). ASU is 4-4 in Quad 1, 3-4 in Quad 2, 7-1 in Quad 3 and 5-0 in Quad 4.
KODI APPROACHING 1,000: Kodi Justice has 996 career points after scoring only 83 (4.6 pg) in his freshman season, when his season was cut short due to a foot injury after 16 games. Only one Sun Devil will have scored fewer points in his freshman year and still reach 1,000. He will become the 37th member of ASU's 1,000 point-club. Kurt Nimphis (1,006) is 36th, while Gary Jackson is 35th (1,017)
SUN DEVIL 1,000-POINT SCORERS/FEWEST POINTS AS FRESHMAN
Kurt Nimphius (1976-80)/1,006 (27/1.5)
Fat Lever (1978-82)/1,137 (104/3.6)
Arthur Thomas (1984-88)/1,268 (111/4.3)
Chad Prewitt (1998-2002)/1,177 (123/4.1)
HALFTIME SPEECHES: ASU is averaging 44.1 points in the second half, a mark that is closing in on one of the best by a Pac-12 team in the past 22 seasons (1996-97) according to STATS and Pac-12 Network research.
BEST SECOND-HALF POINTS AVERAGE BY PAC-12 TEAM (1996-97 TO PRESENT)
48.5/Arizona, 1997-98
46.6/UCLA, 2016-17
45.2/Arizona, 2003-04
44.4/Arizona, 1996-97
44.1/Arizona State, 2017-18
CLOSE: ASU has had seven one-possession Pac-12 games and 15 Pac-12 games decided by 10 points or less. In its perfect (12-0) non-conference action, ASU played one single digit game (92-90 over Kansas State in Las Vegas). ASU's only two league margins in double digits are wins over Colorado (80-66) and at Washington State (88-78).
SHANNON MOVING ON UP: Shannon Evans II has notched 964 points in his two-year, 61-game Sun Devil career, which already is sixth on the Sun Devil two-year career list. He also will make a dent in the two-year record books for field goals made, free throws, free throw percentage and assists.
SUN DEVIL TWO-YEAR CAREER MOST POINTS
James Harden, 2007-09/1,309
Jahii Carson, 2012-14/1,261
Bobby Lazor, 1997-99/1,077
Paul Stovall, 1970-72/989
Freddie Lewis, 1964-66/983
Shannon Evans II, 2016-18/964
SHANNON: In the past 11 games -- which included a 22-point second-half effort in the Oregon State Jan. 13 win -- Shannon Evans is shooting 54-of-61 (.886) from the free throw line. He has 12 20-point games on the year, including 20+ in four of the past five tilts (25 at Oregon, 23 vs. UCLA, 21 vs. USC, 23 at WSU).
SINGLE-DIGITS: ASU and Stanford did something this year that hasn't been done in a while and only one other team did it in the past 22 Pac-12 seasons. According to STATS, since 1996-97 only USC in 2002-03 had played nine of its first ten Pac-12 (then Pac-10) games with a single digit final as both Stanford and ASU did this year. Oregon has the most single-digit games in that era with 14 in 2006-07. ASU 13-of-15 single digit conference games is topped only by North Texas (all 15 CUSA games).
DID YOU KNOW?: The Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year officially returns for the first time in 30+ seasons in 2017-18. To be eligible, players must not exceed more than 1/3 (six) starts in league games. The previous Pac-10 Sixth Man of the Year was awarded from 1984-87. Remy Martin – with zero starts -- is averaging 9.6 points, has 73 assists and is 62-of-81 (.765) from the free throw line in 23.8 minutes per game (and again, with zero starts). He has 18 double-figure scoring games (ASU is 12-6) including 13 of the past 18 tilts. He had a season-best 21 at No. 2 Kansas on Dec. 10. Against Utah on Jan. 25, he had a personal second-half 10-0 run in 2:18 that gave ASU a three-point lead after being down seven. At WSU on Feb. 4, he had all 10 points in the final 6:20 and added two steals as ASU outscored WSU 19-9 in final seven minutes.
SHANNON: In the past 11 games -- which included a 22-point second-half effort in the Oregon State Jan. 13 win -- Shannon Evans is shooting 54-of-61 (.886) from the free throw line. He has 12 20-point games on the year, including 20+ in four of the past five tilts (25 at Oregon, 23 vs. UCLA, 21 vs. USC, 23 at WSU).
BENCH PLAY: ASU notched 41 bench points at California on Jan. 20, the second-most in the Bobby Hurley era at ASU. ASU's four-man 41-point bench at California was 16-of-28 (.571) from the field and had four three-pointers, 21 rebounds and four blocks in 73 minutes.
MOST BENCH POINTS UNDER BOBBY HURLEY
42 vs. Kennesaw State (11/18/15)
41 at California (1/20/18)
41 vs. Longwood (12/19/17)
38 at Stanford (12/30/16)
KODI: In the final five games of 2016-17 Kodi Justice averaged 15.6 points including 22 in the Feb. 26 win over USC and was 17-of-35 (.486) from the three-point stripe. In his past 33 games, he is averaging 13.1 points, in the first 78 games of his career he averaged 7.2.
MICKEY: Mickey Mitchell, after starting in the first six Pac-12 games, came off the bench at Cal on Jan. 20 and led ASU in rebounding for the fifth time in his first 11 games. He missed the first eight games as a mid-year transfer, but is averaging 5.6 boards in just over 23 minutes per game. He has led or tied for ASU lead in rebounding in six games.
FG DEFENSE: Stanford shot (.508) from the field against ASU on Jan. 17, the first ASU opponent to shoot 50 percent in 12 games and just the third opponent on the year, as only Kansas State (.576) Xavier (.556) and Oregon State on the road (.528) have made half their shots. Fifteen teams shot 50 percent against ASU last year. The last time ASU held at least 11 straight opponents under 50 percent field goal shooting was the final 13 games of the 2012-13 season. ASU is holding opponents to .437 from the field this year after allowing .479 last year.
MORE TRA: How good of a week did Tra Holder have in earning his first Pac-12 Player of the Week on Nov. 20? He averaged 23.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists in three ASU wins and 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 is 515-of-674 (.764) from the charity stripe, as both free throw marks are second in ASU history (Ike Diogu, 671-of-854).
SUN DEVIL CAREER POINTS
1. Eddie House, 1996-2000/2,044
2. Jeremy Veal, 1994-1998/1,984
3. Ike Diogu, 2002-2005/1,946
4. Ron Riley, 1992-1996/1,834
5. Tra Holder, 2014-2018/1,740
TRA'S YEAR-BY-YEAR IMPROVEMENTS
SEASON: FG% / FT% / PPG / RPG / 3P MADE
2014-15: .317 / .708 / 7.0 / 2.2 / 12
2015-16: .387 / .727 / 14.2 / 3.5 / 49
2016-17: .433 / .772 / 16.2 / 3.7 / 46
2017-18: .417 / .845 / 18.8 / 4.4 / 60
FREE THROWS: In some big wins, free throw shooting has been very good. ASU was 20-of-25 (.800) vs. SDSU, 23-of-25 (.920) vs. #15 Xavier, 23-of-27 (.852) vs. Saint John's, 15-of-20 (.750) at #2 Kansas, 20-of-23 (.870) at Utah, 16-of-22 (.727) vs. Colorado and 25-of-28 (.893) vs. UCLA.
PUMPED UP CROWDS: ASU has done well under Coach Hurley in places that were large and loud outside of the Pac-12. In addition to this year's win over No. 2 Kansas on Dec. 10 in front of 16,300, ASU in the Coach Hurley era has won at Creighton (16,282), UNLV (13,014) and San Diego State (12,414) and hung tough with Kentucky (23,665) in his first season as it was a 32-31 Kentucky lead at the half and a four-point game with 13 minutes to play. Prior to Bobby Hurley, ASU was 8-22 in its previous 30 non-conference road games. It is 4-1 under Coach Hurley with wins at San Diego State, UNLV, Creighton and Kansas.
ASU OOC ROAD GAMES UNDER COACH HURLEY/CROWDS
#16 ASU 95, #2 Kansas 85 (Dec. 10, 2017)/16,300
ASU 74, San Diego State 63 (Dec. 10, 2016)/12,414
ASU 66, UNLV 56 (Dec. 16, 2015)/13,014
#5 Kentucky 72, ASU 58 (Dec. 5, 2015)/23,665
ASU 79, Creighton 77 (Dec. 2, 2015)/16,282
20: ASU has six players who have notched a 20-point game this year led by Tra Holder (15), Shannon Evans II (12), Kodi Justice (three) and Romello White (three), while Remy Martin and De'Quon Lake have done it once.
DOWN AT HALF: ASU has come back from down at the half against USC, Oregon State, at Utah, at Kansas, vs. Xavier and Kansas State in Las Vegas and in Tempe vs. San Diego State. ASU is 15-34 (.326) when it trails at half under Coach Hurley, after going 12-64 (.158) the previous five seasons. In those seven wins in the second half Shannon Evans is averaging 19.1 minutes, 14.1 points and shooting 30-of-52 (.557) from the floor, 18-of-27 (.667) from three and 21-of-26 (.840) from the free throw line with 19 assists and just eight turnovers.
SPURTABILITY: ASU has come back from deficits of at least nine points in seven wins.
DEFICIT (TIME/HALF)/FINAL SCORE
Nov. 14: -9 vs. San Diego State (19:22/2nd)/90-68; +31 final 19 minutes
Nov. 23: -9 vs. Kansas State (18:16/2nd)/92-90; +11 final 18 minutes
Nov. 24: -15 vs. #15 Xavier (3:16/first)/102-86; 73 points final 23 minutes
Dec. 10: -13 at #2 Kansas (16:39/first)/95-85; +23 after 15-2 deficit
Dec. 17: -13 vs. Vanderbilt (15:03/first)/76-64; +25 after 13-0 deficit
Jan. 13: -13 vs. Oregon State (11:32/second)/77-75; 33-18 final 11:30
Feb. 8: -9 vs. USC (11:04/second)/80-78; 31-19 final 10:51
DOUBLE NICKEL+: Six of the top 11 scoring halves in the past 15 seasons have taken place this year. Prior to dropping 60 vs. Longwood in the second half on Dec. 19, ASU dropped 58 at No. 2 Kansas and 58 on No. 15 Xavier in Las Vegas. On Dec. 22 it had 57 in the second half vs. Pacific. It also had 56 against San Diego State in the second half and vs. UC Irvine in the first half.
MOST POINTS IN HALF/2003-04 TO PRESENT
72 vs. Citadel (Nov. 23, 2016)*
60 vs. Longwood (Dec. 19, 2017)*
58 at #2 Kansas (Dec. 10, 2017)*
58 vs. #15 Xavier (Nov. 24, 2017)*
58 vs. San Francisco (Nov. 20, 2009)
58 vs. Oregon (Feb. 11, 2006)*
57 vs. Pacific (Dec. 22, 2017)*
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
12-GAME STREAK: Much has been made about the best start in school history that not much was said about the win streak as it stood alone. The Dec. 22 win over Pacific gave ASU the second-best winning streak in ASU history. Only four ASU teams have posted 11-game winning streaks.
ASU TOP WINNING STREAKS
18: 1961-62
12: 2017-18
11: 1980-81 and 1962-63
#DUNK-KWON: Junior college transfer De'Quon Lake is 80-of-113 (.708) from the field with 39 dunks. He has 54 offensive rebounds and posted five dunks against both Idaho State and San Diego State. He also had seven blocks vs. Pacific. ASU is 8-1 when he scores in double digits and 8-1 when he gets at least seven boards (at Oregon in loss he had 12).
LENGTH: ASU has solid wing spans this year. De'Quon Lake has a 7-2 wingspan, while Vitaliy Shibel and Romello White are at 7-0. Kimani Lawrence stretched to 6-11 on his 6-7 frame.
JUSTICE SERVED: Kodi Justice has made 207 three pointers in 111 career games. He suffered a fractured navicular bone in his left foot on Jan. 25, 2015 and missed the remainder of freshman 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.
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: .452 / 67 / 12.8
SUN DEVIL CAREER STARTS
120, Jeff Pendergraph, 2005-09
119, Ty Abbott, 2007-11
116, Tra Holder, 2014-18
SUN DEVIL CAREER ASSISTS
551, Derek Glasser, 200-10
454, Bobby Thompson, 1983-87
444, Fat Lever, 1978-82
434, Tra Holder, 2014-18
SUN DEVIL SINGLE-SEASON THREE-POINTERS
4. 93, Rihards Kuksiks (2008-09)
5. 84, Jon Gilling (2012-13)
6. 83, Alex Austin (1990-91)
7. 82, Jermaine Marshall (2013-14)
8. 81, Shannon Evans II (2016-18)
8. 81, Rihards Kuksiks (2009-10)
8. 81, Kevin Kruger (2005-06)
HALF: ASU is 15-32 (.319) when trailing at the half under Bobby Hurley, after going 12-64 (.157) the previous five seasons.
15 HALFTIME DEFICIT WINS UNDER COACH HURLEY
(-4) USC 37, ASU 33/Feb. 8, 2018/ASU 80, USC 77
(-1) Oregon State 34, ASU 33/Jan. 13, 2018/ASU 77, OSU 75
(-1) @Utah 36, ASU 35/Jan. 7, 2018/ASU 80, @Utah 77
(-3) @#2 Kansas 40, ASU 37/Dec. 10, 2017/ASU 95, @KU 85
(-2) #15 Xavier 46, ASU 44/Nov. 24, 2017/ASU 102, #15 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