The Arizona State Sun Devils (20-12 in 2017-18 and 4-0 in 2018-19) -- who advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014 last year -- face Utah State in the title game of the MGM Resorts Main Event on Wednesday, Nov. 21, at 8 p.m. PT on ESPNU and 92.3 FM at T-Mobile Arena. ASU topped No. 15 Mississippi State 72-67 Monday in a tough battle as Kimani Lawrence led the way with career-high 22 points. The Sun Devils have won 17 straight regular season out of conference games and 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.
WHAT IS AT STAKE: After winning no exempt tournament titles since the 1994 Maui Invitational, ASU will be playing for its second title in less than 365 days on Wednesday. It won the 2017 Continental Tire Invitational at Orleans Arena Nov. 23-24 with wins over Kansas State and #15 Xavier.Film Don't Lie: Why Zylan Cheatham (@1KingZ4) was ASU's unsung hero in their upset win against Mississippi St. pic.twitter.com/WpR1Jyiqh4
— Chancellor Johnson (@ChancellorTV) November 21, 2018
GAME #4: ASU 72, #15 MISSISSIPPI STATE 67/NOV. 19, 2018 (LAS VEGAS): ASU got after it early as it led by 15 at the half behind 27-12 advantage on the boards and held MSU to just 10-of-33 from the floor, but MSU -- who won 25 games in 2017-18 -- fought back to tie it with 1:01 left. Kimani Lawrence (career-high 22 points and 9-of-14 shooting) buried a three with 29 seconds left and shot clock winding down, ASU got a stop and Remy Martin hit two free throws to seal it. ASU got 16 points from Martin (6-7 FTs, seven assists and no turnovers in 35 minutes), 12 points and nine boards from Zylan Cheatham and 17 points and nine boards from Luguentz Dort.
KIMANI IS BACK: Kimani Lawrence's freshman season stats gets an asterisk. Last year he 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. Fast forward to Nov. 19, and he had 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting and five boards in 34 minutes in the 72-67 win over No. 15 Mississippi State, including burying the game-winning three with 10 seconds left.
SAME CITY/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 now defeated five ranked teams in Bobby Hurley's tenure. 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 WINS VS. RANKED TEAMS UNDER BOBBY HURLEY
ASU 72, #15 Mississippi State 67 (Nov. 19, 2018/Las Vegas)
ASU 95, at #2 Kansas 85 (Dec. 10, 2017)
ASU 102, #15 Xavier 86 (Nov. 24, 2017/Las Vegas)
ASU 74, #23 USC 67 (Feb. 12, 2016)
ASU 67, #18 Texas A&M 54 (Dec. 5, 2015)
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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
5,807 attendance in BH first year/10,603 in third year (school record)
11-game win streak in 1980-81 was awesome/12-0 start8-22 in road OOC games prior to CBH/4-1 under Bobby Hurley
12 wins trail at half previous 5 seasons/15 under BH in 3 seasons
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)
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).
#DUNK-KWON: De'Quon Lake is 105-of-147 (.714) from the field with 48 dunks in his 36-game career. He has 69 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.
SUN DEVIL LEADERS (INCLUDES SHARED)
SCORING: White (3), Dort (1), Martin (1/2 in career), Lawrence (1)
REBOUNDING: Dort (2), White (12), Lake (1/8), Mitchell (6), Cheatham (3)
ASSISTS: Mitchell (5), Martin (3/9), White (2), Cheatham (1)