The Arizona State Sun Devils (20-11) -- who returned three players from last year's squad -- head to Dayton for the NCAA Tournament where it will take on Syracuse in the First Four. Ian Eagle, Jim Spanarkel and Allie LaForce have the game on TruTV, while Tim Healey and Kyle Dodd have the radio call on the Sun Devil Radio Network (98.7 FM). 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 .782 of their free throws (1,057-of-1,352) and scored 4,577 points. ASU is averaging 83.5 ppg. -- its best mark since the 1997-98 team (84.5) -- and has scored at least 80 in 20 games. The final undefeated team in college hoops (12-0), ASU beat No. 1 seeds Xavier and Kansas along with Kansas State in its non-conference action and went 5-2 against NCAA Tournament teams, also topping UCLA and San Diego State. ASU is 1-1 vs. Syracuse, losing 78-67 on March 22, 2009, in the NCAA Tournament while beating the Orangmen 93-77 on Dec. 27, 1968, in Portland.
FIVE QUICK THINGS
v Bobby Hurley is the NCAA Tournament record holder with 145 assists (20 games).
v Shannon Evans II was part of Bobby Hurley's 2015 NCAA Tournament team at Buffalo
vASU had 15 single-digit Pac-12 regular season games, most in past 22 seasons (1996-97 to present).
vASU has come from behind at the half to win seven times and is averaging 44.5 second-half points.
v ASU averaged 10,603 fans per game this year, topping the 9,514 school record set in 1995-96.
HALFTIME: ASU is averaging 44.5 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
44.5/Arizona State, 2017-18
44.4/Arizona, 1996-97
IN THE NCAAS: ASU will make its 15th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first since 2014, when it fell to Texas on a buzzer beater in Milwaukee. ASU is 13-15 in the Big Dance and has reached the final eight on three occasions (1961, 1963 and 1975) under Ned Wulk. In 2009, sixth-seeded ASU beat Temple 66-57 in Miami before falling to Syracuse 78-67.
TRA NOTES: Tra Holder's 40 points on Nov. 24 vs. Nov. 15 Xavier is the most points scored by a Sun Devil against a ranked team.
MOST POINTS IN SUN DEVIL HISTORY
61-Eddie House at California (2 OT), Jan. 8, 2000
46-Eddie House vs. San Diego State, Dec. 18, 1999
45-Paul Williams at USC, Mar. 10, 1983
42-Eddie House vs. Penn State, Dec. 29, 1999
40-Tra Holder vs. #15 Xavier, Nov. 24, 2017
40-Jahii Carson at UNLV, Nov. 19, 2013
40-James Harden vs. UTEP, Nov. 30, 2008
40-Eddie House vs. UCLA, Feb. 17, 2000
OFF THE BENCH: The Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year officially returned for the first time in 30+ seasons in 2017-18 and freshman Remy Martin shared the award with CU's Devon Collier. Players must not have exceeded more than 1/3 starts in league games. The previous Pac-10 Sixth Man of the Year was awarded from 1984-87. Martin – with zero starts -- is averaging 9.9 points, has 90 assists and is 71-of-94 (.755) from the free throw line in 24.0 minutes per game. He has 20 double-figure scoring games including 15 of the past 20 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. He also had 20 in the Pac-12 Tournament loss to Colorado.
KEN POM: Taking a look at March 11 Ken Pom rankings, No. 45 ASU had seven top-65 wins: at No. 9 Kansas, vs. No. 14 Xavier in Las Vegas, No. 40 USC, vs. No. 44 Kansas State in Las Vegas, No. 48 UCLA, No. 50 San Diego State and at No. 65 Utah.
GOOD COMPANY: ASU was one of five teams without a double-digit loss entering conference tournament action, joining MWC champion Nevada, Purdue, Villanova and ACC champion Virginia.
WINS: ASU posted nine top-100 RPI wins: No. 3 Xavier (28-5) in Las Vegas, at No. 5 KU (27-7), vs. No. 34 USC (23-11), vs. No. 36 UCLA (21-11), vs. No. 53 Kansas State in Las Vegas (22-11), at No. 59 Utah (19-11), vs. No. 62 San Diego State (22-10), vs. No. 82 Colorado (16-13), and vs. No. 96 St. John's (16-17) in Los Angeles.
KODI: Kodi Justice has 1,028 career points after scoring 83 (4.6 pg) in his freshman season, when his season was cut short due to a foot injury after 16 games. Kurt Nimphius (1976-80 with 27 points) is the only 1000-point Sun Devil who scored fewer points in his freshman year. He is the 37th member of ASU's 1,000 point-club. In his past 36 games, he is averaging 12.9 points, in the first 78 games of his career he averaged 7.2.
SUN DEVIL 1,000-POINT CHART
32. Bobby Lazor (1997-99)/1,077
33. Royce Youree (1955-58)/1,036
34. Derek Glasser (2006-10)/1,028
34. Kodi Justice (2014-18)/1,028
SHANNON: Shannon Evans II has notched 1,009 points in his two-year Sun Devil career, fourth on the Sun Devil two-year career list. He has 1,763 in his college career.
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
Shannon Evans II, 2016-18/1,009
CLOSE: ASU played 15 Pac-12 regular season games decided by single digits, the most by any Pac-12 team in past 22 seasons. 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 three league margins in double digits were wins over California (84-53), Colorado (80-66) and at Washington State (88-78).
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)
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 and 25-of-28 (.893) vs. UCLA.
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 5.4 boards in just over 22 minutes per game. He has led or tied for ASU lead in rebounding in six games.
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.
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 533-of-695 (.767) from the charity stripe, as both free throw marks are second in ASU history (Ike Diogu, 671-of-854). The 533 free throws made is ninth in Pac-12 history.
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, 2014-2018/1,786
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: .412 / .841 / 18.4 / 4.1 / 66
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 No. 2 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
DOWN AT HALF: ASU came 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 In those seven wins in the second half Shannon Evans averaged 19.1 minutes, 14.1 points and shot 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
JUSTICE SERVED: Kodi Justice has made 214 three pointers in 114 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.
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: .457 / 74 / 12.6
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 90-of-126 (.714) from the field with 43 dunks. He has 58 offensive rebounds and posted five dunks against both Idaho State and San Diego State. He also had seven blocks vs. Pacific. ASU is 9-2 when he scores in double digits and 8-2 when he gets at least seven boards.
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.
KU WIN: The Dec. 10 win over No. 2 Kansas marked the highest OOC ranked opponent the Sun Devils have defeated. Only the win over top-ranked and undefeated Oregon State on March 7, 1981, was higher. Kansas also marked ASU's first road win over a ranked team since James Harden led ASU to a win at Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 17, 2009.
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 at Oregon (2/22/18)
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 watch live: Duke vs UNLV (March 30, 1991)
Past Sun Devil to go watch compete: Pat Tillman
SUN DEVIL CAREER STARTS
120, Jeff Pendergraph, 2005-09
119, Tra Holder, 2014-18
119, Ty Abbott, 2007-11
SUN DEVIL CAREER ASSISTS
551, Derek Glasser, 2007-10
454, Bobby Thompson, 1983-87
444, Fat Lever, 1978-82
444, Tra Holder, 2014-18
SIX: ASU has six newcomers filling roles in 2017-18, led by three who were in the program last year. Romello White is a 6-8 forward from Marietta, 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 became eligible on Dec. 10, 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 ranked No. 54, while Remy Martin (Sierra Canyon/Chatsworth, Calif.) is a 6-0 lead guard and was No. 82 in the rankings.
HALF: ASU has 15 wins 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
SHANNON: The USBWA selected Shannon Evans II as its Dec. 10 Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week. As the Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week, Evans was chosen by a representative of the USBWA board of directors. He had 18 points, six rebounds and six assists in 82-70 win over St. John's in Los Angeles on Dec. 8. Less than 48 hours later, the Suffolk, Va. native hit five 3-pointers en route to 22 points along with five assists and no turnovers as ASU won at No. 2 Kansas. He averaged 20.0 points on 52 percent field goal shooting (13-25), including 53 percent behind the arc (8-15), and 5.5 assists with an 11-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
FIVE QUICK THINGS
v Bobby Hurley is the NCAA Tournament record holder with 145 assists (20 games).
v Shannon Evans II was part of Bobby Hurley's 2015 NCAA Tournament team at Buffalo
vASU had 15 single-digit Pac-12 regular season games, most in past 22 seasons (1996-97 to present).
vASU has come from behind at the half to win seven times and is averaging 44.5 second-half points.
v ASU averaged 10,603 fans per game this year, topping the 9,514 school record set in 1995-96.
HALFTIME: ASU is averaging 44.5 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
44.5/Arizona State, 2017-18
44.4/Arizona, 1996-97
IN THE NCAAS: ASU will make its 15th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first since 2014, when it fell to Texas on a buzzer beater in Milwaukee. ASU is 13-15 in the Big Dance and has reached the final eight on three occasions (1961, 1963 and 1975) under Ned Wulk. In 2009, sixth-seeded ASU beat Temple 66-57 in Miami before falling to Syracuse 78-67.
TRA NOTES: Tra Holder's 40 points on Nov. 24 vs. Nov. 15 Xavier is the most points scored by a Sun Devil against a ranked team.
MOST POINTS IN SUN DEVIL HISTORY
61-Eddie House at California (2 OT), Jan. 8, 2000
46-Eddie House vs. San Diego State, Dec. 18, 1999
45-Paul Williams at USC, Mar. 10, 1983
42-Eddie House vs. Penn State, Dec. 29, 1999
40-Tra Holder vs. #15 Xavier, Nov. 24, 2017
40-Jahii Carson at UNLV, Nov. 19, 2013
40-James Harden vs. UTEP, Nov. 30, 2008
40-Eddie House vs. UCLA, Feb. 17, 2000
OFF THE BENCH: The Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year officially returned for the first time in 30+ seasons in 2017-18 and freshman Remy Martin shared the award with CU's Devon Collier. Players must not have exceeded more than 1/3 starts in league games. The previous Pac-10 Sixth Man of the Year was awarded from 1984-87. Martin – with zero starts -- is averaging 9.9 points, has 90 assists and is 71-of-94 (.755) from the free throw line in 24.0 minutes per game. He has 20 double-figure scoring games including 15 of the past 20 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. He also had 20 in the Pac-12 Tournament loss to Colorado.
KEN POM: Taking a look at March 11 Ken Pom rankings, No. 45 ASU had seven top-65 wins: at No. 9 Kansas, vs. No. 14 Xavier in Las Vegas, No. 40 USC, vs. No. 44 Kansas State in Las Vegas, No. 48 UCLA, No. 50 San Diego State and at No. 65 Utah.
GOOD COMPANY: ASU was one of five teams without a double-digit loss entering conference tournament action, joining MWC champion Nevada, Purdue, Villanova and ACC champion Virginia.
WINS: ASU posted nine top-100 RPI wins: No. 3 Xavier (28-5) in Las Vegas, at No. 5 KU (27-7), vs. No. 34 USC (23-11), vs. No. 36 UCLA (21-11), vs. No. 53 Kansas State in Las Vegas (22-11), at No. 59 Utah (19-11), vs. No. 62 San Diego State (22-10), vs. No. 82 Colorado (16-13), and vs. No. 96 St. John's (16-17) in Los Angeles.
KODI: Kodi Justice has 1,028 career points after scoring 83 (4.6 pg) in his freshman season, when his season was cut short due to a foot injury after 16 games. Kurt Nimphius (1976-80 with 27 points) is the only 1000-point Sun Devil who scored fewer points in his freshman year. He is the 37th member of ASU's 1,000 point-club. In his past 36 games, he is averaging 12.9 points, in the first 78 games of his career he averaged 7.2.
SUN DEVIL 1,000-POINT CHART
32. Bobby Lazor (1997-99)/1,077
33. Royce Youree (1955-58)/1,036
34. Derek Glasser (2006-10)/1,028
34. Kodi Justice (2014-18)/1,028
SHANNON: Shannon Evans II has notched 1,009 points in his two-year Sun Devil career, fourth on the Sun Devil two-year career list. He has 1,763 in his college career.
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
Shannon Evans II, 2016-18/1,009
CLOSE: ASU played 15 Pac-12 regular season games decided by single digits, the most by any Pac-12 team in past 22 seasons. 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 three league margins in double digits were wins over California (84-53), Colorado (80-66) and at Washington State (88-78).
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)
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 and 25-of-28 (.893) vs. UCLA.
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 5.4 boards in just over 22 minutes per game. He has led or tied for ASU lead in rebounding in six games.
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.
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 533-of-695 (.767) from the charity stripe, as both free throw marks are second in ASU history (Ike Diogu, 671-of-854). The 533 free throws made is ninth in Pac-12 history.
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, 2014-2018/1,786
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: .412 / .841 / 18.4 / 4.1 / 66
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 No. 2 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
DOWN AT HALF: ASU came 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 In those seven wins in the second half Shannon Evans averaged 19.1 minutes, 14.1 points and shot 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
JUSTICE SERVED: Kodi Justice has made 214 three pointers in 114 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.
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: .457 / 74 / 12.6
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 90-of-126 (.714) from the field with 43 dunks. He has 58 offensive rebounds and posted five dunks against both Idaho State and San Diego State. He also had seven blocks vs. Pacific. ASU is 9-2 when he scores in double digits and 8-2 when he gets at least seven boards.
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.
KU WIN: The Dec. 10 win over No. 2 Kansas marked the highest OOC ranked opponent the Sun Devils have defeated. Only the win over top-ranked and undefeated Oregon State on March 7, 1981, was higher. Kansas also marked ASU's first road win over a ranked team since James Harden led ASU to a win at Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 17, 2009.
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 at Oregon (2/22/18)
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 watch live: Duke vs UNLV (March 30, 1991)
Past Sun Devil to go watch compete: Pat Tillman
SUN DEVIL CAREER STARTS
120, Jeff Pendergraph, 2005-09
119, Tra Holder, 2014-18
119, Ty Abbott, 2007-11
SUN DEVIL CAREER ASSISTS
551, Derek Glasser, 2007-10
454, Bobby Thompson, 1983-87
444, Fat Lever, 1978-82
444, Tra Holder, 2014-18
SIX: ASU has six newcomers filling roles in 2017-18, led by three who were in the program last year. Romello White is a 6-8 forward from Marietta, 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 became eligible on Dec. 10, 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 ranked No. 54, while Remy Martin (Sierra Canyon/Chatsworth, Calif.) is a 6-0 lead guard and was No. 82 in the rankings.
HALF: ASU has 15 wins 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
SHANNON: The USBWA selected Shannon Evans II as its Dec. 10 Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week. As the Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week, Evans was chosen by a representative of the USBWA board of directors. He had 18 points, six rebounds and six assists in 82-70 win over St. John's in Los Angeles on Dec. 8. Less than 48 hours later, the Suffolk, Va. native hit five 3-pointers en route to 22 points along with five assists and no turnovers as ASU won at No. 2 Kansas. He averaged 20.0 points on 52 percent field goal shooting (13-25), including 53 percent behind the arc (8-15), and 5.5 assists with an 11-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.