The Arizona State Sun Devil men's hoops team (16-8; 7-4) -- coming off back-to-back NCAA Tournaments for the first time since 1980-81 and the only Pac-12 team to make the NCAAs the past two seasons -- takes its four-game win streak to Berkeley as Roxy Bernstein and Corey Williams are on the call for ESPNU on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 3 p.m. PT. Prior to its past two NCAA appearances under Bobby Hurley, ASU had made the NCAA Tournament three times in previous 22 seasons (1996-2017), but the Sun Devils are making a run a a third straight as it has won six of its past seven. ASU is on a four-game Pac-12 win streak for the first time the 2009-10 season, as it did it twice that season. It has not won five straight Pac-12 games since Feb. 5-22, 2009, when James Harden was on his way to earning Pac-10 Player of the Year honors in a 25-10 season.
DUDE IS EN FUEGO: The Pac-12 has a Sixth Man of the Year Award, and Alonzo Verge Jr. has put himself in discussions with recent play. After going through a five-game period of averaging 6.2 ppg., going 1-of-9 from the three-point stripe and shooting 11-of-45 (.244) from the field, Verge has been on fire recently, as after that five-game span he is averaging 17.2 points, is 41-of-74 (.554) from the field, 7-of-13 (.538) from three and 14-of-20 (.700) from the foul line.
ROAD REMY: Junior Remy Martin is averaging 21.9 ppg. and has five 20-point games in ASU's eight road contests (5-3) this year. He led the team last year in road scoring at 15.0 ppg. and in his freshman season was 11-of-23 (.478) from three and 24-of-29 (.828) from free throw line in road games. Crazy stat: He has posted nine games of 24+ points in his career, six of them have been in road games.
VS. CAL: ASU earned its 12th sweep over Cal in 2018-19 with wins of 80-66 in Berkeley and 69-59 in Tempe...ASU is 4-2 in Berkeley in its last six trips...in the most recent meeting, ASU won 69-59 in Tempe as Rob Edwards had 16 points to lead ASU to the halftime comeback win. ASU trailed 34-28 at the half, but Edwards posted 14 second-half points as ASU shot 16-of-28 (.571) from the field in the second half and held Cal to just 8-of-24 (.333)...in the most recent trip to Berkeley on Jan. 9, 2019, ASU won 80-66. It missed 11 of its first 12 shots and trailed 25-11 with 6:23 left in the first half, but Remy Martin scored 24 points over the next 26 minutes to lead ASU as it shot 13-of-16 from the free throw line in the second half to close out a win. ASU was 15-of-26 (.577) from the field in the second half and Martin made five three-pointers as the Sun Devils built a 14-point lead with 8:40 left and never let margin get under eight points.
GAME 24 -- ASU 74, @STANFORD 69: Remy Martin posted 24 points (on 9-of-14 shooting) and Alonzo Verge Jr. had 19 off the bench to lead ASU to its fifth road win of the year as ASU led for 37:48 of the game, controlled the boards (30-21) and forced 20 turnovers. Verge led the team in rebounds (seven) and assists (four) as ASU held Stanford to just .286 (6-of-21) from the three-point stripe while shooting .547 (29-of-53) from the field. Jalen Graham added six points and five rebounds in just under 16 minutes as ASU won its fourth straight Pac-12 game for the first time since the 2009-10 season.
NOW AND THEN: Rob Edwards in the past 10 games is averaging 13.3 ppg and has 29 three pointers -- in the previous five games he averaged 2.0 ppg and was 1-of-18 (.056) from three.
THIS IS US: ASU has 25 wins (11 on the road) when trailing at the half under Bobby Hurley in five seasons, after going 12-64 (.157) the previous five seasons. It did it seven times in 2017-18 and did it in 2018-19 at Georgia, vs. No. 1 Kansas, at California, at UCLA, vs. Cal and at Oregon State. This year it has halftime comeback wins over St. John's, at Princeton, vs. No. 22 Arizona and vs. USC. ASU trailed Arizona 37-15 with just over five minutes remaining in the first half before closing the gap to 43-30 at the half and then scored the first 10 points of second half. The 22-point comeback matches what is believed to the biggest in Pac-12 history. Just last Saturday ASU trailed USC by 13 with 5:34 left before cutting the gap to 40-32 at the half and then winning 66-64 despite leading for just 5:57 of the game.
PAC-12 STAT STUFF: ASU leads the league in turnovers forced (16.58 per game)...it ranks second in the Pac-12 in steals at 7.88 per game (188 in 24 games) while its turnover margin (+2.96) is third…Remy Martin leads the league at 19.46 points per game and fourth in steals (1.67 per game with 40 on the year)…Romello White leads the Pac-12 in rebounding at 9.22 per game and is secon in field goal percentage (.603). His seven double-doubles is tied for fifth the league while his 11 double-digit rebounding games is tied for league lead…Remy leads the Pac-12 at 21.27 ppg. in conference games and his 15 20-point games is tied for league lead...Remy is the only player since 1996-97 to open Pac-12 play with six straight 20+ games (streak ended Jan. 29 at WSU)...ASU is 19-5 when Rob Edwards scores 13 in his two seasons (12-2 when he scores 15)...ASU has now won four straight against UCLA for the first time in school history after the 84-66 Tempe win on Feb. 6.
PHYSICAL: Top wingspans on the team are Jalen Graham (7-2), Romello White (7-0) and Kimani Lawrence (6-11 1/2). Best standing vertical is Graham (32.5"), while Remy Martin is next (31.5") while best approach verticals are Remy (40.5"), Jaelen House (39.5") and Graham (39").
SOME SOLID DUBS: Bobby Hurley has led ASU to a 47-16 regular season non-conference record in his five years, with notable wins over NC State, at Creighton, Texas A&M, UNLV (twice), Stephen F. Austin, Kansas State, Xavier, St. John's (twice plus a NCAA Tournament win), Kansas (twice), Vanderbilt and Georgia (twice).
PAC-12 REFRESHER: ASU finished second in the Pac-12 for just the fourth time in its 41-year Pac-10/12 history last year (2009-10, 1980-81 and 1979-80). ASU won 12 loop games for just the sixth time.
BEST PAC-12 RECORDS
16-2: 1980-81
15-3: 1979-80
12-6: 2018-19, 2009-10, 1994-95, 1982-83
ROAD: ASU opened Pac-12 play with three straight on the road for the seventh time in the past 12 seasons and for the third time in Coach Hurley's five seasons (also in 2017-18, 2016-17, 2014-15, 2011-12, 2010-11 and 2008-09). Coach Hurley's squad navigated something similar as in the past three seasons six times teams have opened with five of first seven on the road (as USC did this year). ASU in 2017-18 is the only one of the six to make the NCAA Tournament in that time.
NCAA NOTE: ASU had been to four NCAA Tournaments (1995, 2003, 2009 and 2014) in 26 seasons (1992-2017) and not been back-to-back since 1980-81. Remy Martin, Kimani Lawrence and Romello White have now gone to the Dance in each of their first two seasons.
ROMELLO: Romello White sprained his right ankle on Dec. 28 vs. Texas Southern and played eight minutes. His stats took a hit as he played limited minutes at Arizona on Jan. 4. He had 18 points and 17 rebounds in the Georgia win on Dec. 14 and was averaging 14.7 ppg/ 13.7 rpg and shooting 32-of-44 (.727) in his previous six games to TSU (Dec. 28).
REMY: Remy Martin became the 38th member of the ASU 1,000-point club on Jan. 11 as he now has 1,188 career points in 88 career games (13.5 pPg.). He has 15 20-point games on the year and posted seven straight -- averaging 24.3 points in those seven -- before posting 15 at Washington State on Jan. 29. The seven straight 20-point tilts matched the best by a Sun Devil since Eddie House posted eight in 1999-2000. Remy posted a career-high 33 points at Princeton on Nov. 26 and is averaging 19.5 ppg. after averaging 11.3 in his first two years.
PAC-12 MOST CONSECUTIVE GAMES 20+ POINTS IN SEASON SINCE 1996-97
11-Ed Gray, CAL (Jan. 9, 1997-Feb. 15, 1997)
9-Landry Fields, STAN (Nov. 24, 2009-Jan. 2, 2010)
9-Brandon Roy, UW (Jan. 26, 2006-Feb. 26, 2006)
8-Tyler Dorsey, UO (March 9, 2017-April 1, 2017)
8-Eddie House, ASU (Dec. 18, 1999-Jan. 15, 2000)
8-Jason Terry, UA (Jan. 28, 1999-Feb. 20, 1999)
7-Remy Martin, ASU (Dec. 28, 2019-Jan. 25, 2020)
7-Klay Thompson, WSU (Feb. 17, 2011-Mar. 21, 2011)
7-Luke Ridnour, UO (Feb. 2, 2003-Mar. 13, 2003)
7-Jeremy Veal, ASU (Jan. 24, 1998-Feb. 19, 1998)
7-O.J. Mayo, USC (Feb. 21, 2008-Mar. 13, 2008)
ROAD WINS: ASU's 5-4 Pac-12 road mark last year was its best since the 2009-10 and 2008-09 teams went 5-4 and matched ASU's best Pac-12 road mark in 39 seasons. Last year was only ASU's sixth winning road record since it joined the Pac-10 in 1978-79 (41 seasons). Ned Wulk's 1980-81 (8-1) and 1979-80 (7-2) teams set the bar, while Bill Frieder's 1994-95 Sweet Sixteen team also went 5-4.
LOTS OF HOTEL PENS: ASU played five of its first seven in Shanghai, Connecticut, New Jersey and San Francisco as it spent 17 of its first 32 nights of the season in a hotel and flew 20,134 miles on nine flights. When Coach Hurley took the ASU job in April of 2015 he said ASU was going to play some folks and not be afraid to go on the road. ASU's tally of non-conference states in his five years is at 11 with other trips to the Bahamas (vs. Kentucky) and China. ASU has played non-conference games in New York (MSG and Barclays), Nebraska (Creighon), at Kentucky, Nevada (at UNLV), Florida (Old Spice Classic), California (San Francisco and San Diego State), at Kansas, at Georgia, Tennessee (Vanderbilt) and New Jersey (at Princeton).
ALONZO VERGE TOP SCORING GAMES
43 vs. St. Mary's (12/18/19)
26 vs. UCLA (2/6/20)
23 vs. Texas Southern (12/28/19)
20 vs. Prairie View A&M (12/11/19)
19 at Stanford (2/13/20)
19 vs. Creighton (12/21/19)
18 at Washington (2/1/20)
16 vs. USC (2/8/20)
15 vs. Georgia (12/14/19)
13 vs. Arizona (1/25/20)
ON THE ROAD (AGAIN) TO START PAC-12: ASU opened Pac-12 on the road for the eighth time in past dozen seasons when it traveled to Arizona on Jan. 4. Ironically with the 20-game league slate and opening weekends announced, ASU will travel to Cal and make it nine times in past 13 years to open the Pac-12 season on the road next year.
ASU PAC-12 OPENERS PAST 12 SEASONS (ALSO NEXT YEAR -- HOME GAMES BOLD)
ASU @California (Dec. 3, 2020)
@#25 Arizona 75, ASU 47 (Jan. 4, 2020)
Utah 96, ASU 86 (Jan. 3, 2019)
@#17 Arizona 84, #3 ASU 78 (Dec. 30, 2017)
ASU 98, @Stanford 93 (Dec. 30, 2016)
#4 Arizona 94, ASU 82 (Jan. 3, 2016)
@#8 Arizona 73, ASU 49 (Jan. 4, 2015)
Washington 76, ASU 65 (Jan. 2, 2014)
ASU 55, Utah 54 OT (Jan. 2, 2013)
@Arizona 68, ASU 51 (Dec. 31, 2011)
@Oregon State 80, ASU 58 (Dec. 30, 2010)
@UCLA 72, ASU 70 (Dec. 31, 2009)
ASU 90, @Stanford 60 (Jan. 2, 2009)
ROMELLO NOTES: Romello made .625 of his shots in his first two seasons including 120-of-184 in his freshman year...coached by Jerry Stackhouse in the Atlanta AAU circuit...started 63 of 65 games his first two years and led team in offensive boards in each of the past two seasons with 77 last year and 79 in 2017-18...has two of the best field goal percentage mark's in ASU history as he shot .652 in freshman year (fourth) and .598 last year (ninth-best).
ROMELLO WHITE TOP REBOUNDING GAMES
17 vs. Georgia (Dec. 14, 2019)
16 vs. UCLA (Feb. 6, 2020)
16 vs. Prairie View A&M (Dec. 11, 2019)
15 vs. San Diego State (Nov. 14, 2017)
14 vs. Louisiana (Dec. 7, 2019)
14 vs. Texas Southern (Dec. 1, 2018)
14 at Washington (Feb. 1, 2018)
13 vs. San Francisco (Dec. 2, 2018)
12 vs. Creighton (Dec. 21, 2019)
12 vs. Saint Mary's (Dec. 18, 2019)
ROAD: ASU won at Princeton (67-65/Nov. 26) and San Francisco (71-67/Dec. 3), as it is 7-2 (.778) in OOC road games under Bobby Hurley, after going 8-22 (.267) in its previous 30 efforts.
ASU OUT OF CONFERENCE ROADIES UNDER BOBBY HURLEY (7-2)
ASU 71, San Francisco 67 (Dec. 3, 2019)
ASU 67, Princeton 65 (Nov. 26, 2019)
Vanderbilt 81, ASU 65 (Dec. 17, 2018)
#20 ASU 76, Georgia 74 (Dec. 15, 2018)
#16 ASU 95, #2 Kansas 85 (Dec. 10, 2017)
ASU 74, San Diego State 63 (Dec. 10, 2016)
ASU 66, UNLV 56 (Dec. 16, 2015)
#5 Kentucky 72, ASU 58 (Dec. 5, 2015)
ASU 79, Creighton 77 (Dec. 2, 2015)
CARRIED LEAGUE: In Bobby Hurley's first four seasons, ASU led the Pac-12 in wins over ranked out-of-conference teams in the regular season (five) with wins over Kansas (twice), Xavier, Mississippi State and Texas A&M. Four of the wins were away from Tempe. The rest of the league was 15-42 in those four seasons and seven of the teams had one or zero wins.
2018-19 QUICK REVIEW: ASU was 23-11 and 12-6 (second) in the Pac-12 after being picked sixth in the preseason media poll. It beat No. 1 Kansas on Dec. 22, ASU's first win over No. 1 at home and second all-time (won at Oregon State in March of 1981) and notched first NCAA Tournament win since 2009 with a 74-65 victory over St. John's on March 20.
REMY: Remy's two best scoring games last year were wins over Arizona -- 31 in 95-88 double OT win on Jan. 31 and 27 in final game of regular season on road on March 9...led ASU to first sweep over Arizona since 2008-09 and first win in Tucson since 2010...second-team All-Pac-12 by the league's coaches in 2018-19...21 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals to spark ASU back from an 18-point deficit to a 76-74 victory at Georgia on Dec. 15, 2018, leading to his Dec. 17 Pac-12 Player of the Week Award. Had 12 points, five boards, two assists and two steals in the second half, including back-to-back baskets inside the final 3:11 which gave ASU its first lead of game at 71-70....led Pac-12 with a 2.4 assist-to-turnover ratio and second in league at five apg..had his November and early December of 2018 ruined by a bum ankle.
SUN DEVIL CAREER SCORING CHART UPDATE
23. 1,220 Dennis Dairman, '62-65
24. 1,188 – Remy Martin, '17-present
25. 1,177 – Chad Prewitt, '98-02
WHO WE LOST: Three regular rotation players are gone from last year, including All-Pac-12 performers Zylan Cheatham and Lu Dort (Pac-12 Freshman of the Year), as well as De'Quon Lake.
CLOSE OUT AND HAND UP: Sun Devil opponents are shooting .322 from the three-point stripe, the third-best defensive mark in ASU history.
SUN DEVIL BEST THREE-POINT DEFENSE TEAMS
.317, 2009-10 (181-571)
.319, 2008-09 (212-665)
.322, 2019-20 (169-525)
.326, 2012-13 (175-536)
.333, 1994-95 (137-411)
.334, 2018-19 (292-874)
GOOD NOTE: ASU has defeated seven ranked teams in Bobby Hurley's five seasons, but it trailed at the half in five of the wins, including both wins over Kansas.
ASU WINS VS. RANKED TEAMS UNDER BOBBY HURLEY (ASU DEFICIT AT HALF)
ASU 66, #22 Arizona 65 (Jan. 25, 2020)--Arizona 43, ASU 30
#18 ASU 80, #1 Kansas 76 (Dec. 22, 2018)--Kansas 39, #18 ASU 31
ASU 72, #15 Mississippi State 67 (Nov. 19, 2018/Las Vegas)
#16 ASU 95, at #2 Kansas 85 (Dec. 10, 2017)--Kansas 40, #16 ASU 37
ASU 102, #15 Xavier 86 (Nov. 24, 2017/Las Vegas)-- Xavier 46, ASU 44
ASU 74, #23 USC 67 (Feb. 12, 2016)-- USC 30, ASU 27
ASU 67, #18 Texas A&M 54 (Dec. 5, 2015)
ROB EDWARDS: Dropped buckets in big wins in 2018-19, with 15 off the bench vs. #1 Kansas, 19 vs. Arizona, 28 at Utah and 13 at Oregon State...when he scores 13, ASU is 19-5 and 12-2 when he scores 15...entered ASU with 909 points in 63 games (14.4 ppg.)...71-of-85 (.835) from the free throw line in 2018-19...missed six games early and only scored 14 points in the first nine games (14 in opener, six DNPs due to a back injury and zero points vs. Nevada and Georgia)...stats last year look a lot better when you remember he went from Nov. 7-Dec. 16 without scoring. In those three games he did play, he was 4-of-26 (.154) from field and 2-of-9 (.222) from three and had 14 points (all against CSF in the opener).
ROB EDWARDS 15+ POINTS SUN DEVIL SCORING TILTS (12-2)
28 at Utah (2/16/19)
24 vs. Utah (1/18/20)
23 vs. CCSU (11/14/19)
20 vs. Colorado/China (11/9/19)
19 at Washington (2/1/20)
19 vs. Arizona (1/31/19)
18 at Oregon State (1/9/20)
17 vs. Louisiana (12/7/19)
16 vs. California (2/24/19)
16 vs. Stanford (2/20/19)
15 vs. Arizona (1/25/20)
15 vs. Oregon (3/15/19)
15 vs. UCLA (3/14/19)
15 vs. #1 Kansas (12/22/18)
STARTING LINEUP COMBINATIONS (9)
Cherry, Edwards, Lawrence, Martin, White (2): UTAH, UA
Cherry, Edwards, Martin, Verge, White (4): Creighton, TSU, @UA, @WSU
Cherry, Edwards, Martin, Valtonen, White (2): Georgia, SMC
Cherry, Lawrence, Martin, Verge, White (3): @OSU, @UO, CU
Edwards, Lawrence, Martin, Mitchell, White (4): @UW, UCLA, USC, @STAN
Edwards, Martin, Thomas, Valtonen, White (3): @USF, LA, PVAM
Edwards, Lawrence, Martin, Valtonen, White (3): SJU, UVA, @PU
Edwards, Lawrence, Martin, Verge, White (1): Rider
Edwards, Graham, Lawrence, Martin, Verge (2): CCSU, CU
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
43-Alonzo Verge Jr. vs. Saint Mary's, Dec. 18, 2019
FINAL FOUR TRIVIA: Coach Hurley is one of four current head coaches who won the Final Four Most Oustanding Player Award. Juan Dixon (2002), Danny Manning (1988) and Patrick Ewing (1984) are the others.
DUDE IS EN FUEGO: The Pac-12 has a Sixth Man of the Year Award, and Alonzo Verge Jr. has put himself in discussions with recent play. After going through a five-game period of averaging 6.2 ppg., going 1-of-9 from the three-point stripe and shooting 11-of-45 (.244) from the field, Verge has been on fire recently, as after that five-game span he is averaging 17.2 points, is 41-of-74 (.554) from the field, 7-of-13 (.538) from three and 14-of-20 (.700) from the foul line.
ROAD REMY: Junior Remy Martin is averaging 21.9 ppg. and has five 20-point games in ASU's eight road contests (5-3) this year. He led the team last year in road scoring at 15.0 ppg. and in his freshman season was 11-of-23 (.478) from three and 24-of-29 (.828) from free throw line in road games. Crazy stat: He has posted nine games of 24+ points in his career, six of them have been in road games.
THANKS TO PAC-12 RESEARCH FOR THIS NOTE: ASU has forced 20+ turnovers in back-to-back Pac-12 games for the first time since Feburary of 2001 (when it was Pac-10). ASU forced 24 vs. USC last Saturday and then Stanford had 20 on Thursday. The 24 turnovers by USC was the most by a Sun Devil Pac-12 opponent since 2002. ASU leads the Pac-12 at 16.58 turnovers forced per game.Hitting game winners with his whole country behind him. ??????
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) February 11, 2020
Learn more about what makes Remy Martin, ?????? ????????. pic.twitter.com/hnOlPZHkCc
VS. CAL: ASU earned its 12th sweep over Cal in 2018-19 with wins of 80-66 in Berkeley and 69-59 in Tempe...ASU is 4-2 in Berkeley in its last six trips...in the most recent meeting, ASU won 69-59 in Tempe as Rob Edwards had 16 points to lead ASU to the halftime comeback win. ASU trailed 34-28 at the half, but Edwards posted 14 second-half points as ASU shot 16-of-28 (.571) from the field in the second half and held Cal to just 8-of-24 (.333)...in the most recent trip to Berkeley on Jan. 9, 2019, ASU won 80-66. It missed 11 of its first 12 shots and trailed 25-11 with 6:23 left in the first half, but Remy Martin scored 24 points over the next 26 minutes to lead ASU as it shot 13-of-16 from the free throw line in the second half to close out a win. ASU was 15-of-26 (.577) from the field in the second half and Martin made five three-pointers as the Sun Devils built a 14-point lead with 8:40 left and never let margin get under eight points.
GAME 24 -- ASU 74, @STANFORD 69: Remy Martin posted 24 points (on 9-of-14 shooting) and Alonzo Verge Jr. had 19 off the bench to lead ASU to its fifth road win of the year as ASU led for 37:48 of the game, controlled the boards (30-21) and forced 20 turnovers. Verge led the team in rebounds (seven) and assists (four) as ASU held Stanford to just .286 (6-of-21) from the three-point stripe while shooting .547 (29-of-53) from the field. Jalen Graham added six points and five rebounds in just under 16 minutes as ASU won its fourth straight Pac-12 game for the first time since the 2009-10 season.
NOW AND THEN: Rob Edwards in the past 10 games is averaging 13.3 ppg and has 29 three pointers -- in the previous five games he averaged 2.0 ppg and was 1-of-18 (.056) from three.
THIS IS US: ASU has 25 wins (11 on the road) when trailing at the half under Bobby Hurley in five seasons, after going 12-64 (.157) the previous five seasons. It did it seven times in 2017-18 and did it in 2018-19 at Georgia, vs. No. 1 Kansas, at California, at UCLA, vs. Cal and at Oregon State. This year it has halftime comeback wins over St. John's, at Princeton, vs. No. 22 Arizona and vs. USC. ASU trailed Arizona 37-15 with just over five minutes remaining in the first half before closing the gap to 43-30 at the half and then scored the first 10 points of second half. The 22-point comeback matches what is believed to the biggest in Pac-12 history. Just last Saturday ASU trailed USC by 13 with 5:34 left before cutting the gap to 40-32 at the half and then winning 66-64 despite leading for just 5:57 of the game.
PAC-12 STAT STUFF: ASU leads the league in turnovers forced (16.58 per game)...it ranks second in the Pac-12 in steals at 7.88 per game (188 in 24 games) while its turnover margin (+2.96) is third…Remy Martin leads the league at 19.46 points per game and fourth in steals (1.67 per game with 40 on the year)…Romello White leads the Pac-12 in rebounding at 9.22 per game and is secon in field goal percentage (.603). His seven double-doubles is tied for fifth the league while his 11 double-digit rebounding games is tied for league lead…Remy leads the Pac-12 at 21.27 ppg. in conference games and his 15 20-point games is tied for league lead...Remy is the only player since 1996-97 to open Pac-12 play with six straight 20+ games (streak ended Jan. 29 at WSU)...ASU is 19-5 when Rob Edwards scores 13 in his two seasons (12-2 when he scores 15)...ASU has now won four straight against UCLA for the first time in school history after the 84-66 Tempe win on Feb. 6.
PHYSICAL: Top wingspans on the team are Jalen Graham (7-2), Romello White (7-0) and Kimani Lawrence (6-11 1/2). Best standing vertical is Graham (32.5"), while Remy Martin is next (31.5") while best approach verticals are Remy (40.5"), Jaelen House (39.5") and Graham (39").
SOME SOLID DUBS: Bobby Hurley has led ASU to a 47-16 regular season non-conference record in his five years, with notable wins over NC State, at Creighton, Texas A&M, UNLV (twice), Stephen F. Austin, Kansas State, Xavier, St. John's (twice plus a NCAA Tournament win), Kansas (twice), Vanderbilt and Georgia (twice).
PAC-12 REFRESHER: ASU finished second in the Pac-12 for just the fourth time in its 41-year Pac-10/12 history last year (2009-10, 1980-81 and 1979-80). ASU won 12 loop games for just the sixth time.
BEST PAC-12 RECORDS
16-2: 1980-81
15-3: 1979-80
12-6: 2018-19, 2009-10, 1994-95, 1982-83
ROAD: ASU opened Pac-12 play with three straight on the road for the seventh time in the past 12 seasons and for the third time in Coach Hurley's five seasons (also in 2017-18, 2016-17, 2014-15, 2011-12, 2010-11 and 2008-09). Coach Hurley's squad navigated something similar as in the past three seasons six times teams have opened with five of first seven on the road (as USC did this year). ASU in 2017-18 is the only one of the six to make the NCAA Tournament in that time.
NCAA NOTE: ASU had been to four NCAA Tournaments (1995, 2003, 2009 and 2014) in 26 seasons (1992-2017) and not been back-to-back since 1980-81. Remy Martin, Kimani Lawrence and Romello White have now gone to the Dance in each of their first two seasons.
ROMELLO: Romello White sprained his right ankle on Dec. 28 vs. Texas Southern and played eight minutes. His stats took a hit as he played limited minutes at Arizona on Jan. 4. He had 18 points and 17 rebounds in the Georgia win on Dec. 14 and was averaging 14.7 ppg/ 13.7 rpg and shooting 32-of-44 (.727) in his previous six games to TSU (Dec. 28).
REMY: Remy Martin became the 38th member of the ASU 1,000-point club on Jan. 11 as he now has 1,188 career points in 88 career games (13.5 pPg.). He has 15 20-point games on the year and posted seven straight -- averaging 24.3 points in those seven -- before posting 15 at Washington State on Jan. 29. The seven straight 20-point tilts matched the best by a Sun Devil since Eddie House posted eight in 1999-2000. Remy posted a career-high 33 points at Princeton on Nov. 26 and is averaging 19.5 ppg. after averaging 11.3 in his first two years.
PAC-12 MOST CONSECUTIVE GAMES 20+ POINTS IN SEASON SINCE 1996-97
11-Ed Gray, CAL (Jan. 9, 1997-Feb. 15, 1997)
9-Landry Fields, STAN (Nov. 24, 2009-Jan. 2, 2010)
9-Brandon Roy, UW (Jan. 26, 2006-Feb. 26, 2006)
8-Tyler Dorsey, UO (March 9, 2017-April 1, 2017)
8-Eddie House, ASU (Dec. 18, 1999-Jan. 15, 2000)
8-Jason Terry, UA (Jan. 28, 1999-Feb. 20, 1999)
7-Remy Martin, ASU (Dec. 28, 2019-Jan. 25, 2020)
7-Klay Thompson, WSU (Feb. 17, 2011-Mar. 21, 2011)
7-Luke Ridnour, UO (Feb. 2, 2003-Mar. 13, 2003)
7-Jeremy Veal, ASU (Jan. 24, 1998-Feb. 19, 1998)
7-O.J. Mayo, USC (Feb. 21, 2008-Mar. 13, 2008)
ROAD WINS: ASU's 5-4 Pac-12 road mark last year was its best since the 2009-10 and 2008-09 teams went 5-4 and matched ASU's best Pac-12 road mark in 39 seasons. Last year was only ASU's sixth winning road record since it joined the Pac-10 in 1978-79 (41 seasons). Ned Wulk's 1980-81 (8-1) and 1979-80 (7-2) teams set the bar, while Bill Frieder's 1994-95 Sweet Sixteen team also went 5-4.
LOTS OF HOTEL PENS: ASU played five of its first seven in Shanghai, Connecticut, New Jersey and San Francisco as it spent 17 of its first 32 nights of the season in a hotel and flew 20,134 miles on nine flights. When Coach Hurley took the ASU job in April of 2015 he said ASU was going to play some folks and not be afraid to go on the road. ASU's tally of non-conference states in his five years is at 11 with other trips to the Bahamas (vs. Kentucky) and China. ASU has played non-conference games in New York (MSG and Barclays), Nebraska (Creighon), at Kentucky, Nevada (at UNLV), Florida (Old Spice Classic), California (San Francisco and San Diego State), at Kansas, at Georgia, Tennessee (Vanderbilt) and New Jersey (at Princeton).
ALONZO VERGE TOP SCORING GAMES
43 vs. St. Mary's (12/18/19)
26 vs. UCLA (2/6/20)
23 vs. Texas Southern (12/28/19)
20 vs. Prairie View A&M (12/11/19)
19 at Stanford (2/13/20)
19 vs. Creighton (12/21/19)
18 at Washington (2/1/20)
16 vs. USC (2/8/20)
15 vs. Georgia (12/14/19)
13 vs. Arizona (1/25/20)
ON THE ROAD (AGAIN) TO START PAC-12: ASU opened Pac-12 on the road for the eighth time in past dozen seasons when it traveled to Arizona on Jan. 4. Ironically with the 20-game league slate and opening weekends announced, ASU will travel to Cal and make it nine times in past 13 years to open the Pac-12 season on the road next year.
ASU PAC-12 OPENERS PAST 12 SEASONS (ALSO NEXT YEAR -- HOME GAMES BOLD)
ASU @California (Dec. 3, 2020)
@#25 Arizona 75, ASU 47 (Jan. 4, 2020)
Utah 96, ASU 86 (Jan. 3, 2019)
@#17 Arizona 84, #3 ASU 78 (Dec. 30, 2017)
ASU 98, @Stanford 93 (Dec. 30, 2016)
#4 Arizona 94, ASU 82 (Jan. 3, 2016)
@#8 Arizona 73, ASU 49 (Jan. 4, 2015)
Washington 76, ASU 65 (Jan. 2, 2014)
ASU 55, Utah 54 OT (Jan. 2, 2013)
@Arizona 68, ASU 51 (Dec. 31, 2011)
@Oregon State 80, ASU 58 (Dec. 30, 2010)
@UCLA 72, ASU 70 (Dec. 31, 2009)
ASU 90, @Stanford 60 (Jan. 2, 2009)
ROMELLO NOTES: Romello made .625 of his shots in his first two seasons including 120-of-184 in his freshman year...coached by Jerry Stackhouse in the Atlanta AAU circuit...started 63 of 65 games his first two years and led team in offensive boards in each of the past two seasons with 77 last year and 79 in 2017-18...has two of the best field goal percentage mark's in ASU history as he shot .652 in freshman year (fourth) and .598 last year (ninth-best).
ROMELLO WHITE TOP REBOUNDING GAMES
17 vs. Georgia (Dec. 14, 2019)
16 vs. UCLA (Feb. 6, 2020)
16 vs. Prairie View A&M (Dec. 11, 2019)
15 vs. San Diego State (Nov. 14, 2017)
14 vs. Louisiana (Dec. 7, 2019)
14 vs. Texas Southern (Dec. 1, 2018)
14 at Washington (Feb. 1, 2018)
13 vs. San Francisco (Dec. 2, 2018)
12 vs. Creighton (Dec. 21, 2019)
12 vs. Saint Mary's (Dec. 18, 2019)
ROAD: ASU won at Princeton (67-65/Nov. 26) and San Francisco (71-67/Dec. 3), as it is 7-2 (.778) in OOC road games under Bobby Hurley, after going 8-22 (.267) in its previous 30 efforts.
ASU OUT OF CONFERENCE ROADIES UNDER BOBBY HURLEY (7-2)
ASU 71, San Francisco 67 (Dec. 3, 2019)
ASU 67, Princeton 65 (Nov. 26, 2019)
Vanderbilt 81, ASU 65 (Dec. 17, 2018)
#20 ASU 76, Georgia 74 (Dec. 15, 2018)
#16 ASU 95, #2 Kansas 85 (Dec. 10, 2017)
ASU 74, San Diego State 63 (Dec. 10, 2016)
ASU 66, UNLV 56 (Dec. 16, 2015)
#5 Kentucky 72, ASU 58 (Dec. 5, 2015)
ASU 79, Creighton 77 (Dec. 2, 2015)
CARRIED LEAGUE: In Bobby Hurley's first four seasons, ASU led the Pac-12 in wins over ranked out-of-conference teams in the regular season (five) with wins over Kansas (twice), Xavier, Mississippi State and Texas A&M. Four of the wins were away from Tempe. The rest of the league was 15-42 in those four seasons and seven of the teams had one or zero wins.
2018-19 QUICK REVIEW: ASU was 23-11 and 12-6 (second) in the Pac-12 after being picked sixth in the preseason media poll. It beat No. 1 Kansas on Dec. 22, ASU's first win over No. 1 at home and second all-time (won at Oregon State in March of 1981) and notched first NCAA Tournament win since 2009 with a 74-65 victory over St. John's on March 20.
REMY: Remy's two best scoring games last year were wins over Arizona -- 31 in 95-88 double OT win on Jan. 31 and 27 in final game of regular season on road on March 9...led ASU to first sweep over Arizona since 2008-09 and first win in Tucson since 2010...second-team All-Pac-12 by the league's coaches in 2018-19...21 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals to spark ASU back from an 18-point deficit to a 76-74 victory at Georgia on Dec. 15, 2018, leading to his Dec. 17 Pac-12 Player of the Week Award. Had 12 points, five boards, two assists and two steals in the second half, including back-to-back baskets inside the final 3:11 which gave ASU its first lead of game at 71-70....led Pac-12 with a 2.4 assist-to-turnover ratio and second in league at five apg..had his November and early December of 2018 ruined by a bum ankle.
SUN DEVIL CAREER SCORING CHART UPDATE
23. 1,220 Dennis Dairman, '62-65
24. 1,188 – Remy Martin, '17-present
25. 1,177 – Chad Prewitt, '98-02
WHO WE LOST: Three regular rotation players are gone from last year, including All-Pac-12 performers Zylan Cheatham and Lu Dort (Pac-12 Freshman of the Year), as well as De'Quon Lake.
CLOSE OUT AND HAND UP: Sun Devil opponents are shooting .322 from the three-point stripe, the third-best defensive mark in ASU history.
SUN DEVIL BEST THREE-POINT DEFENSE TEAMS
.317, 2009-10 (181-571)
.319, 2008-09 (212-665)
.322, 2019-20 (169-525)
.326, 2012-13 (175-536)
.333, 1994-95 (137-411)
.334, 2018-19 (292-874)
GOOD NOTE: ASU has defeated seven ranked teams in Bobby Hurley's five seasons, but it trailed at the half in five of the wins, including both wins over Kansas.
ASU WINS VS. RANKED TEAMS UNDER BOBBY HURLEY (ASU DEFICIT AT HALF)
ASU 66, #22 Arizona 65 (Jan. 25, 2020)--Arizona 43, ASU 30
#18 ASU 80, #1 Kansas 76 (Dec. 22, 2018)--Kansas 39, #18 ASU 31
ASU 72, #15 Mississippi State 67 (Nov. 19, 2018/Las Vegas)
#16 ASU 95, at #2 Kansas 85 (Dec. 10, 2017)--Kansas 40, #16 ASU 37
ASU 102, #15 Xavier 86 (Nov. 24, 2017/Las Vegas)-- Xavier 46, ASU 44
ASU 74, #23 USC 67 (Feb. 12, 2016)-- USC 30, ASU 27
ASU 67, #18 Texas A&M 54 (Dec. 5, 2015)
ROB EDWARDS: Dropped buckets in big wins in 2018-19, with 15 off the bench vs. #1 Kansas, 19 vs. Arizona, 28 at Utah and 13 at Oregon State...when he scores 13, ASU is 19-5 and 12-2 when he scores 15...entered ASU with 909 points in 63 games (14.4 ppg.)...71-of-85 (.835) from the free throw line in 2018-19...missed six games early and only scored 14 points in the first nine games (14 in opener, six DNPs due to a back injury and zero points vs. Nevada and Georgia)...stats last year look a lot better when you remember he went from Nov. 7-Dec. 16 without scoring. In those three games he did play, he was 4-of-26 (.154) from field and 2-of-9 (.222) from three and had 14 points (all against CSF in the opener).
ROB EDWARDS 15+ POINTS SUN DEVIL SCORING TILTS (12-2)
28 at Utah (2/16/19)
24 vs. Utah (1/18/20)
23 vs. CCSU (11/14/19)
20 vs. Colorado/China (11/9/19)
19 at Washington (2/1/20)
19 vs. Arizona (1/31/19)
18 at Oregon State (1/9/20)
17 vs. Louisiana (12/7/19)
16 vs. California (2/24/19)
16 vs. Stanford (2/20/19)
15 vs. Arizona (1/25/20)
15 vs. Oregon (3/15/19)
15 vs. UCLA (3/14/19)
15 vs. #1 Kansas (12/22/18)
STARTING LINEUP COMBINATIONS (9)
Cherry, Edwards, Lawrence, Martin, White (2): UTAH, UA
Cherry, Edwards, Martin, Verge, White (4): Creighton, TSU, @UA, @WSU
Cherry, Edwards, Martin, Valtonen, White (2): Georgia, SMC
Cherry, Lawrence, Martin, Verge, White (3): @OSU, @UO, CU
Edwards, Lawrence, Martin, Mitchell, White (4): @UW, UCLA, USC, @STAN
Edwards, Martin, Thomas, Valtonen, White (3): @USF, LA, PVAM
Edwards, Lawrence, Martin, Valtonen, White (3): SJU, UVA, @PU
Edwards, Lawrence, Martin, Verge, White (1): Rider
Edwards, Graham, Lawrence, Martin, Verge (2): CCSU, CU
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
43-Alonzo Verge Jr. vs. Saint Mary's, Dec. 18, 2019
FINAL FOUR TRIVIA: Coach Hurley is one of four current head coaches who won the Final Four Most Oustanding Player Award. Juan Dixon (2002), Danny Manning (1988) and Patrick Ewing (1984) are the others.