LET'S PLAY TWO (VS. SEC): The Arizona State Sun Devils (7-1) -- who advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014 last year and just the fourth time in 24 seasons-- hit the SEC road as it will play Georgia on Saturday, Dec. 15 at 6 p.m. ET and then travels to Vanderbilt on Monday, Dec. 17 at 6 p.m. CT. ASU nationally ranks fifth in rebounds per game (45.3), sixth in rebound margin (+12.5) and is second in the Pac-12 in scoring (83.6). Zylan Cheatham, the Dec. 3 Pac-12 Player of the Week, registered ASU's second triple double in the Dec. 1 win over Texas Southern, while Luguentz Dort is the fourth-highest freshman scorer in the nation (22.0). ASU is 36-11 (.766) outside of Pac-12 play under Coach Hurley.
SEC: ASU has played four SEC road games, but will now play two in three days. ASU traveled to Kentucky (December of 2015 and 1991), Texas A&M (December of 2014) and to Tennessee (December of 1979).
ROAD SHOW: ASU has done well under Coach Hurley in non-league road tilts. In addition to the Dec. 10, 2017 win over No. 2 Kansas in front of 16,300, ASU 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 four-point game at the 13-minute mark. Prior to Bobby Hurley, ASU was 8-22 in its previous 30 non-conference road games. It is 4-1 under Coach Hurley with the 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
REFRESH: ASU's top three scorers are gone and took with them many 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. ASU averaged 10,603 fans, topping the 9,514 school record set in 1995-96.
WINGSPAN: ASU has six players with wingspan of at least 6-11: redshirting freshman 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).
SWEET LU: One of the most impressive newcomers in all of college basketball is Luguentz Dort, who earned Nov. 26 Pac-12 Player of the Week and Andy Katz's National Player of the Week after averaging 25 points and eight rebounds as ASU won the MGM Resorts Main Event in Las Vegas (Nov. 19-21). Dort is the first ASU freshman to garner the league's weekly award since James Harden in January of 2008.
TOP SCORING GAMES FOR LUGUENTZ DORT
33 vs. Utah State @Las Vegas, Nov. 21, 2018
28 vs. Cal State Fullerton, Nov. 6, 2018
25 vs. McNeese State, Nov. 9, 2018
24 vs. #6 Nevada, Dec. 7, 2018
GAME #8: #6 NEVADA 72, #20 ASU 66 (LOS ANGELES): ASU led by 15 midway through the first half but Nevada shot .567 (17-of-30) and outscored ASU 48-30 in the second half to give ASU its first loss. Luguentz Dort had 24 points while Zylan Cheatham had 13 points and 10 rebounds. ASU held Nevada to just 3-of-18 (.167) from the three-point stripe and outrebounded the Wolfpack 40-31 but got into foul trouble as ASU had 25 team fouls (Nevada had 15) and had 17 turnovers. Outside of Dort and Cheatham, ASU was just 10-of-33 (.303) from the field.
20: ASU won 20 straight regular season OOC games, the sixth-best Pac-12 streak in past 23 seasons, prior to its 72-66 Dec. 7 loss to Nevada.
REGULAR SEASON PAC-12 OOC WIN STREAKS(1996-PRESENT)
39, Arizona, 12/20/11-12/19/14
26, Stanford, 11/11/99-11/24/01
24, Washington, 12/5/04-12/4/06
23, USC, 12/3/15-11/22/17
21, Washington State, 12/5/06-11/29/08
20, Arizona State, 12/17/16-12/7/18
WILD STAT: ASU started 7-0 for just the second time in the past 38 seasons...but the for second year in a row. ASU had not been 7-0 since 1980-81 (Byron Scott and Fat Lever) but last year ASU started 12-0.
BEST STARTS IN ASU HISTORY
12-0/2017-18 (Bobby Hurley)
9-0/1974-75 (Ned Wulk)
7-0/2018-19 (Bobby Hurley)
7-0/1980-81 (Ned Wulk)
VS. RANKED TEAMS: ASU has defeated five ranked teams in Bobby Hurley's tenure (including four out of conference and three of them away from home). The Nov. 24, 2017, Xavier win 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. ASU followed that up with a win over No. 15 Mississippi State this year on Nov. 19.
ASU 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)
KIMANI IS BACK: Kimani Lawrence's freshman season 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 posted 16 points (previous best was nine) and minutes (36). He had 22 points including the game-winning three pointer in the Nov. 19 win over No. 15 Mississippi State.
KIMANI LAWRENCE QUICK NOTES
v Double-figures in seven of eight games
v 14 threes this year/3-15 last year
v 35-41 (.854) from FT line in career
v 6-11 1/2 wingspan
SAME CITY/TIME/RESULT AS LAST YEAR: Thanksgiving week in Las Vegas has been really good to ASU. ASU won the 2017 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. ASU then beat No. 15 Mississippi State on Nov. 19 and Utah State on Nov. 21 to win the 2018 MGM Resorts Main Event.
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. He injured his ankle on Oct. 10 and reinjured it on Nov. 21 vs. Utah State, as he missed the Omaha and Texas Southern games.
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. At times ASU has had a five-man lineup on the floor this year alone with top-85 recruits in Remy Martin (77) Lugentz Dort (33) and Kimani Lawrence (58) in the backcourt 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
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 start last year was better
8-22 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
#DUNK-KWON: De'Quon Lake is 113-of-156 (.724) from the field with 50 dunks in his 40-game career. He has 75 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 10-2 when he scores in double digits and 8-2 when he gets at least seven boards.
TOP-10: From 1995-96 through 2014-15, ASU played two top-10 teams outside of Pac-12 play in the regular season (No. 7 Duke on 11/25/09 and No. 2 Kansas on 11/26/97 both in Madison Square Garden).This year's Dec. 7 game vs. Nevada was the fourth straight season ASU played a top-10 non-conference team. ASU played Kentucky in Coach Hurley's first two seasons, hosted No. 9 Creighton in December of 2017 and started a home-and-home with Kansas last December.
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)
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).
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/Marquette 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 returns the trip to Wells Fargo Dec. 22 after ASU's win last season, and ASU also played No. 15 Xavier and hosted 2017 NCAA Tournament product Vanderbilt. Coach Hurley has played four top-10 non-conference opponents in his three years, after ASU faced one in the previous 17 seasons.
ASU REGULAR SEASON OOC GAMES VS. TOP-10 TEAMS (SINCE JOINING PAC-10)
#6 Nevada 72, ASU 66 at STAPLES Center (Dec. 7, 2018)
ASU 95 @#2 Kansas 85 (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)
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
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
Nov. 23: -9 vs. Kansas State (18:16/2nd)/92-90; +11 final 18
Nov. 24: -15 vs. #15 Xavier (3:16/first)/102-86; 73 points final 23
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
SEC: ASU has played four SEC road games, but will now play two in three days. ASU traveled to Kentucky (December of 2015 and 1991), Texas A&M (December of 2014) and to Tennessee (December of 1979).
ROAD SHOW: ASU has done well under Coach Hurley in non-league road tilts. In addition to the Dec. 10, 2017 win over No. 2 Kansas in front of 16,300, ASU 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 four-point game at the 13-minute mark. Prior to Bobby Hurley, ASU was 8-22 in its previous 30 non-conference road games. It is 4-1 under Coach Hurley with the 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
REFRESH: ASU's top three scorers are gone and took with them many 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. ASU averaged 10,603 fans, topping the 9,514 school record set in 1995-96.
WINGSPAN: ASU has six players with wingspan of at least 6-11: redshirting freshman 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).
SWEET LU: One of the most impressive newcomers in all of college basketball is Luguentz Dort, who earned Nov. 26 Pac-12 Player of the Week and Andy Katz's National Player of the Week after averaging 25 points and eight rebounds as ASU won the MGM Resorts Main Event in Las Vegas (Nov. 19-21). Dort is the first ASU freshman to garner the league's weekly award since James Harden in January of 2008.
TOP SCORING GAMES FOR LUGUENTZ DORT
33 vs. Utah State @Las Vegas, Nov. 21, 2018
28 vs. Cal State Fullerton, Nov. 6, 2018
25 vs. McNeese State, Nov. 9, 2018
24 vs. #6 Nevada, Dec. 7, 2018
GAME #8: #6 NEVADA 72, #20 ASU 66 (LOS ANGELES): ASU led by 15 midway through the first half but Nevada shot .567 (17-of-30) and outscored ASU 48-30 in the second half to give ASU its first loss. Luguentz Dort had 24 points while Zylan Cheatham had 13 points and 10 rebounds. ASU held Nevada to just 3-of-18 (.167) from the three-point stripe and outrebounded the Wolfpack 40-31 but got into foul trouble as ASU had 25 team fouls (Nevada had 15) and had 17 turnovers. Outside of Dort and Cheatham, ASU was just 10-of-33 (.303) from the field.
20: ASU won 20 straight regular season OOC games, the sixth-best Pac-12 streak in past 23 seasons, prior to its 72-66 Dec. 7 loss to Nevada.
REGULAR SEASON PAC-12 OOC WIN STREAKS(1996-PRESENT)
39, Arizona, 12/20/11-12/19/14
26, Stanford, 11/11/99-11/24/01
24, Washington, 12/5/04-12/4/06
23, USC, 12/3/15-11/22/17
21, Washington State, 12/5/06-11/29/08
20, Arizona State, 12/17/16-12/7/18
WILD STAT: ASU started 7-0 for just the second time in the past 38 seasons...but the for second year in a row. ASU had not been 7-0 since 1980-81 (Byron Scott and Fat Lever) but last year ASU started 12-0.
BEST STARTS IN ASU HISTORY
12-0/2017-18 (Bobby Hurley)
9-0/1974-75 (Ned Wulk)
7-0/2018-19 (Bobby Hurley)
7-0/1980-81 (Ned Wulk)
VS. RANKED TEAMS: ASU has defeated five ranked teams in Bobby Hurley's tenure (including four out of conference and three of them away from home). The Nov. 24, 2017, Xavier win 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. ASU followed that up with a win over No. 15 Mississippi State this year on Nov. 19.
ASU 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)
KIMANI IS BACK: Kimani Lawrence's freshman season 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 posted 16 points (previous best was nine) and minutes (36). He had 22 points including the game-winning three pointer in the Nov. 19 win over No. 15 Mississippi State.
KIMANI LAWRENCE QUICK NOTES
v Double-figures in seven of eight games
v 14 threes this year/3-15 last year
v 35-41 (.854) from FT line in career
v 6-11 1/2 wingspan
SAME CITY/TIME/RESULT AS LAST YEAR: Thanksgiving week in Las Vegas has been really good to ASU. ASU won the 2017 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. ASU then beat No. 15 Mississippi State on Nov. 19 and Utah State on Nov. 21 to win the 2018 MGM Resorts Main Event.
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. He injured his ankle on Oct. 10 and reinjured it on Nov. 21 vs. Utah State, as he missed the Omaha and Texas Southern games.
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. At times ASU has had a five-man lineup on the floor this year alone with top-85 recruits in Remy Martin (77) Lugentz Dort (33) and Kimani Lawrence (58) in the backcourt 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
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 start last year was better
8-22 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
#DUNK-KWON: De'Quon Lake is 113-of-156 (.724) from the field with 50 dunks in his 40-game career. He has 75 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 10-2 when he scores in double digits and 8-2 when he gets at least seven boards.
TOP-10: From 1995-96 through 2014-15, ASU played two top-10 teams outside of Pac-12 play in the regular season (No. 7 Duke on 11/25/09 and No. 2 Kansas on 11/26/97 both in Madison Square Garden).This year's Dec. 7 game vs. Nevada was the fourth straight season ASU played a top-10 non-conference team. ASU played Kentucky in Coach Hurley's first two seasons, hosted No. 9 Creighton in December of 2017 and started a home-and-home with Kansas last December.
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)
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).
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/Marquette 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 returns the trip to Wells Fargo Dec. 22 after ASU's win last season, and ASU also played No. 15 Xavier and hosted 2017 NCAA Tournament product Vanderbilt. Coach Hurley has played four top-10 non-conference opponents in his three years, after ASU faced one in the previous 17 seasons.
ASU REGULAR SEASON OOC GAMES VS. TOP-10 TEAMS (SINCE JOINING PAC-10)
#6 Nevada 72, ASU 66 at STAPLES Center (Dec. 7, 2018)
ASU 95 @#2 Kansas 85 (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)
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
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
Nov. 23: -9 vs. Kansas State (18:16/2nd)/92-90; +11 final 18
Nov. 24: -15 vs. #15 Xavier (3:16/first)/102-86; 73 points final 23
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