The Arizona State Sun Devils (20-12 in 2017-18 and 3-0 in 2018-19) -- who advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014 last year -- play No. 17 Mississippi State and Utah State/St. Mary's at T-Mobile Arena Nov. 19 and 21 as part MGM Resorts Main Event. The Sun Devils have won 16 straight regular season out of conference games but have had an unexpected week off after having its Nov. 16 game at San Francisco called off due to the air quality in the Bay Area. Previous 20 seasons to Bobby Hurley ASU had two wins vs. ranked non-conference teams, it posted three in CBH's first three years, all by double digits. ASU will tip at approximately 8 p.m. PT (ESPNU and 620 AM) against Mississippi State after the 5:30 p.m. game between St. Mary's and Utah State.
SAME CITY AND TIME AS LAST YEAR, SAME RESULT WOULD BE NICE: Thanksgiving week in Las Vegas was really good to ASU last year. ASU won the Continental Tire Invitational at Orleans Arena on Nov. 23-24 with wins over 2018 Elite Eight member Kansas State (92-90) and then dropped 102 on No. 15 Xavier for a 16-point win. Those wins vaulted ASU into the rankings for the first time since James Harden was in uniform (2008-09), gave it a 6-0 start for just the second time in 32 seasons and was its first exempt tournament title since Bill Frieder's gang won the 1994 Maui Invitational.
RANKED: ASU has defeated four ranked teams in Bobby Hurley's tenure, as besides a 95-85 win at #2 Kansas last season, it beat #15 Xavier 102-86 on Nov. 24, 2017 in Las Vegas, #23 USC 74-67 on Feb. 12, 2016 and #18 Texas A&M 67-54 on Dec. 5, 2015. The Nov. 24 Xavier win last year was the highest ranked OOC team ASU had topped since it beat No. 7 Maryland in the 1994 Maui Invitational...until it won at #2 Kansas on Dec. 10..@SunDevilHoops going global ?????? https://t.co/gBa3bq9XY1
— Arizona State University (@ASU) November 15, 2018
REFRESH: ASU's top three scorers are gone and took with them many games, points and fun times, but the Sun Devil have six lettermen, a pair of high-level transfers and a top-20 recruiting class. Last year then third-year head coach Bobby Hurley (two-time NCAA champion, 1992 Final Four MOP and NCAA career assist leader) and the Sun Devils were the final undefeated team (12-0), beat No. 1 seeds Xavier and Kansas and went 5-2 against NCAA Tournament teams (Kansas State, UCLA and San Diego State). ASU averaged 10,603 fans, topping the 9,514 school record set in 1995-96.
TALENT UPGRADE: From 2002-16, ASU signed six top-85 players according to 247Sports/Scout.com. It is very possible ASU could have a five-man lineup on the floor this year alone with top-85 recruits in Remy Martin (77) at the point, Lugentz Dort (33) and Kimani Lawrence (58) on the wings and Taeshon Cherry (29) and Romello White (81) underneath.
TOP-85 247SPORTS/SCOUT.COM ASU SIGNEES (2002-2018)
23. James Harden, 2007
29. Taeshon Cherry, 2018
33. Luguentz Dort, 2018
34. Jahii Carson, 2011
41, Sam Cunliffe, 2016
55. Ike Diogu, 2002
58. Kimani Lawrence, 2017
77. Remy Martin, 2017
79. Keala King, 2010
81. Romello White, 2016
WINGSPAN: ASU has five players with wingspan of at least 6-11: Uros Pavsic (7-2.5), De'Quon Lake (7-2), Zylan Cheatham (7-0.5), Romello White (7-0.25), Vitaliy Shibel (6-11.75) and Kimani Lawrence (6-11.5).
JUMP: Best standing verticals on the team: De'Quon Lake and Luguentz Dort both did 34 inches, while Zylan Cheatham is at 33.5 inches.
RUN AND JUMP: Best approach vertical on the team is Zylan Cheatham at 41.5 inches, with Remy Martin not far behind at 40 inches.
KIMANI IS BACK: Kimani Lawrence's freshman season stats gets an asterisk. Last year started in all three exhibition games and had 15 points and nine boards vs. Northern State and 18 points and five boards vs. Arizona Christian. The night before the season opener he suffered a stress fracture in left foot that kept him out until Pac-12 play. In the opener vs. Cal State Fullerton he matched his three-point total from last season (three) and posted career-bests in points (16 previous was nine) and minutes (36 prevous was 25). He posted 16 points and six rebounds vs. McNeese State on Nov. 9 and 13 points vs. LBSU on Nov. 12.
GAME #3: ASU 90, LONG BEACH STATE 58/NOV. 12, 2018: ASU took control early and in a game that had one tie and one lead change as six Sun Devils scored in double digits. ASU led 38-16 at the half and collected 63 rebounds, most in since it had 63 vs. Utah on Nov. 27, 2002. It held LBSU to just .274 from the field, ASU's best defensive effort since Feb. 11, 2010, when it help Oregon State to 14-of-47 (.246). Remy Martin had 15 points while Luguentz Dort had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
REMY!!!: The Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year officially returned in 30+ seasons in 2017-18 and freshman Remy Martin shared the award with CU's Devon Collier. The previous Pac-10 Sixth Man of the Year was awarded from 1984-87. Martin – with zero starts -- averaged 9.6 points, had 94 assists and was 71-of-94 (.755) from the free throw line in 23.8 minutes per game. He had 20 double-figure scoring games (15 of final 21). 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 as ASU outscored WSU 19-9 in final seven minutes. He had 20 in the Pac-12 Tournament loss to Colorado.
WHAT HAS CHANGED: The 2017-18 season saw a lot of upgrades for Sun Devil basketball beyond the NCAA Tournament appearance as attendance records were busted and it won a dozen straight for just the second time in school history. Below is a list of what was truth last year at this time and what ASU can flash the fork about now.
LAST YEAR AT THIS TIME / #FORKSUP NOW
v 5,807 attendance in BH first year/10,603 in third year (school record)
v 11-game win streak in 1980-81 was awesome/12-0 start
v 8-22 in road OOC games prior to CBH/4-1 under Bobby Hurley
v 12 wins trail at half previous 5 seasons/15 under BH in 3 seasons
v Averaged 80+ points twice in Pac-12 history/82.7 last year led Pac-12
ONE BAD ONE: Villanova was the only team to have zero double-digit defeats in 2017-18, but ASU came close as it was one of just eight teams with one double-digit loss. The others were Cincinnati, Clemson, Duke, Nevada, Purdue, Virginia and Wichita State.
GAME #2: ASU 80, McNEESE STATE 52/NOV. 9, 2018: McNeese State jumped out to an 8-3 lead but Luguentz Dort (25 points), Zylan Cheatham (16 points, 12 rebounds and six assists) and Kimani Lawrence (16 points and six rebounds) led ASU as the Sun Devils outscored the Cowboys 47-29 in the second half. ASU held McNeese State to .319 from the field (15-of-47) and the 52 points allowed is the fewest in the Coach Hurley era at Arizona State.
FEWEST POINTS BY ASU OPPONENT UNDER BOBBY HURLEY
52 by McNeese State, 11/9/18
53 by California, 3/1/18
53 by Kennesaw State, 11/18/15
54 by No. 18 Texas A&M, 12/5/15
55 at Washington State, 2/6/16
DORTING: Luguentz Dort's 53 points in first two games (28 vs. CSF and 25 vs. McNeese State) were the third-most by a Pac-12 freshman in his first two career games since 1996-97. Only Washington's Markelle Fulz (65 in 2016-17) and Oregon's Tajuan Porter (55 in 2006-07) had better point production in their first two games than Dort in the past 23 seasons.
FWIW LUGUENTZ DORT PHYSICAL STUFF
HT: 6-4
WT: 215
WINGSPAN: 6-8.75
BORN: April of 1999
STANDING VERTICAL: 34" (tied for best on team with De'Quon Lake)
APPROACH VERTICAL: 39" (third on team behind Zylan at 41.5 and Remy at 40)
HALFTIME: ASU averaged 43.9 points in the second half last year (tied for fifth-best in the nation) a mark that was 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
44.3/Washington, 2004-05
43.9/Arizona State, 2017-18
43.9/USC, 1996-97
GAME #1: ASU 102, CAL STATE FULLERTON 94 (2 OT)/NOV. 6, 2018: ASU topped topped 2018 Big West Champion Cal State Fullerton – and its four returning starters – 102-94 in double overtime in a Nov. 6 opener that was as good as it looks on the box score. ASU's 102 points was the most in an opener since it scored 111 vs. Jacksonville in 1996, as it placed five in double figures. Luguentz Dort's 28 points is the most by a Sun Devil freshman in a debut, and the most by any Sun Devil in an opener since Jeremy Veal had 32 on Nov. 16, 1997. ASU had 20 offensive rebounds and placed all five starters in double digits.
MOST OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS BY ASU PAST 13 SEASONS (2006-19)
23 vs. Oregon State (Jan. 13, 2007)
22 vs. Northern Colorado (Nov. 28, 2006)
21 vs. Houston Baptist (Nov. 25, 2010 @Alaska)
20 vs. Cal State Fullerton (Nov. 6, 2018)
20 vs. USC (Mar. 11, 2015 @Pac-12 Tournament)
NO. 3: ASU reached No. 3 in the Associated Press poll last year in late December, matching its best ranking in history. It entered the polls after beating Kansas State and #15 Xavier in the Continental Tire Invitational on Thanksgiving weekend. It moved to No. 5 after winning at No. 2 Kansas 95-85 on Dec. 10 and reached No. 3 and was the last undefeated team when it took the floor on Dec. 30, in the Pac-12 opener at Arizona. The No. 3 ranking is the best in school history, matched only on March 9, 1981 when ASU was 22-3 and on Jan. 7, 1963, when ASU was 10-1.
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).
SPURTABILITY: ASU came back from deficits of at least nine points in seven wins in 2017-18.
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
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
#DUNK-KWON: De'Quon Lake is 103-of-143 (.720) from the field with 47 dunks in his 35-game career. He has 68 offensive rebounds and posted five dunks against both Idaho State and San Diego State in December of 2017. 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.