SETTING THE SCENE: The No. 18 Arizona State Sun Devils (1-1) meet the Houston Baptist Huskies (0-1) on Sunday, Nov. 29, at 2 p.m. The tilt will be televised by Pac-12 Network with Brian Webber and Eddie House on the call and Tim Healey and Kyle Dodd on the radio at 620 AM. ASU returned from the more than 5000-mile roundtrip/four-day bubble trip 1-1 after beating Rhode Island 94-88 and falling to No. 3 Villanova 83-74 in the Empire Classic at Mohegan Sun.
GAME 2 (NOV. 26, 2020 AT EMPIRE CLASSIC) -- #3 VILLANOVA 83, #18 ASU 74: Villanova controlled the tempo and pace in the final 25 minutes turning a 31-29 lead with just over five minutes to go into a 41-32 halftime lead and eventually a 17-point lead late. ASU cut it to 49-43 with under 15 minutes and had the ball, but an ASU missed three-pointer and a made Wildcat three pushed the lead to nine and it would get no closer. Josh Christopher led ASU with 28 points while Alonzo Verge added 22 and a team-high seven rebounds. Villanova outrebounded ASU 43-27.
SUN DEVIL FRESHMAN POINTS
35, Mario Bennett vs. #5 Arizona, Feb. 20, 1992
34, Jahii Carson vs. Stanford (Pac-12), Mar. 13, 2013
33, Luguentz Dort vs. Utah State (Las Vegas), Nov. 21, 2018
32, Jahii Carson at Washington, Feb. 2, 2013
31, Byron Scott vs. #18 Arizona, Feb. 23, 1980
30, Jahii Carson vs. #14 Creighton (Las Vegas), Nov. 24, 2012
30, Ty Abbott vs. California, Feb. 16, 2008
29, Jamal Faulkner vs. #2 Arkansas (NCAA), Mar. 17, 1991
28, Josh Christopher vs. #3 Villanova, Nov. 26, 2020
MICKEY D NEWS: How big is it that freshman Josh Christopher is a McDonald's All-American? He is just the sixth Sun Devil to earn the honor, and the first since James Harden in 2007. Josh will be one of just three 2020 McDonald All-Americans in the Pac-12 this year, joining Evan Mobley of USC and Ziaire Williams of Stanford.
SUN DEVIL McDONALD'S ALL-AMERICANS
Josh Christopher, 2020
James Harden, 2007
Eric Boateng, 2005 (transferred from Duke)
Jamal Faulkner, 1989
Chris Sandle, 1984
Byron Scott, 1979
GAME 1 (NOV. 25, 2020 AT EMPIRE CLASSIC) -- #18 ASU 94, RHODE ISLAND 88: ASU jumped out to a 40-24 lead with just under six minutes to play but Rhode Island closed the half on a 17-8 run and then took the lead with just under 12 minutes to play before the Sun Devils closed out the game on a 10-3 run. URI led 85-84 with just under five minutes but ASU got a Remy Martin (26 points) layup, a Chris Osten putback three-point play, three free throws by Marcus Bagley (16 points) and a steal and layup by Holland Woods to seal the game. ASU had five players in double figures and posted 28 bench points in a game that had nine ties and 14 lead changes.
SUN DEVIL THREE DOT DATA: Taeshon Cherry had 11 points in the Rhode Island win, as ASU is 9-1 when he scores in double digits…ASU has made a three-pointer in 654 straight games…with 22 points vs. Villanova, Alonzo Verge Jr. has eight 20-point games in his career.
SUN DEVIL CAREER POINTS
11. 1,515 – Joe Caldwell, '61-64
12. 1,455 – Paul Williams, '79-83
13. 1,393 – Larry Armstrong, '59-62
14. 1,368 – Mario Bennett, '91-95
15. 1,345 – Remy Martin, '17-21
ANOTHER RANKED TEAM: No. 3 Villanova was the seventh non-conference top-10 team Bobby Hurley has faced in his six years, after ASU had faced one in the previous 17 seasons. Another way to put it? ASU will have faced seven top-10 OOC teams in BFH's six seasons after facing eight in the previous 37 seasons.
THREE-DOT DEVIL DATA: Bobby Hurley is 48-17 in non-conference games in his six years at ASU…ASU is 11-3 in two possession games the past two seasons and has won seven of its past eight…Sun Devils have 26 halftime comeback deficits in his five years, tops in the Pac-12.
NOVEMBER HAS BEEN GOOD: The Sun Devils are now 17-3 (.850) in November the past three seasons (AKA the Remy Martin era). The wins include seven away from home and five over eventual NCAA Tournament teams, including 2019 NCAA Tournament teams Utah State and Missisisppi State in November of 2018, 2018 No. 1 seed Xavier, eventual 2018 Elite Eight bound Kansas State and always good San Diego State.
REMY: Associated Press preseason All-American Remy Martin (just the second in ASU history, other was Ike Diogu in 2003-04) posted 26 points vs. Rhode Island on Nov. 25, his sixth-best scoring game in his career. Wild note: Five of the six were away from Tempe.
REMY MARTIN TOP SCORING TILTS
33 at Princeton (11/26/19)
31 vs. Arizona (1/31/19)
30 at UCLA (2/27/20)
29 at Oregon (1/11/20)
27 at Arizona (3/9/19)
26 vs. Rhode Island (11/25/20)
THREE-DOT DATA ON WHAT BFH HAS DONE: ASU notched its third straight 20-win season in 2019-20 for just the third time in program history after being picked to finish sixth in the annual preseason media poll…top two average attendance marks in ASU history, including 10,603 in 2017-18…2019-20 saw ASU (20-11) post its first seven-game Pac-12 win streak since the 1980-81 team won 11 straight…Sun Devils went 11-7 in the Pac-12 in 2019-20 after going 12-6 in 2018-19, just the second time in the past 25 seasons the Sun Devils have posted back-to-back winning Pac-12 records…notched best two non-conference wins in school history with wins vs. No. 1 Kansas (Dec. 22, 2018) and at No. 2 Kansas (Dec. 10, 2017)…reached NCAA Tournament for just fourth time in 23 seasons in 2018 and then followed it with back-to-back appearances for the first time since 1980-81 in 2019. The 2020 was about to be the first time three straight since the 1960s…in November of 2017, defeated two eventual 2018 NCAA Tournament No. 1 seeds in a span of a two weeks (at Kansas and Xavier)…matched the highest Associated Press ranking in school history (No. 3) in December of 2017…named 14th Sun Devil Men's Basketball Coach on April 9, 2015…1992 Final Four Most Outstanding Player.
GET TO KNOW HOLLAND WOODS: We weren't sure Holland Woods would play this year after transferring from Portland State with just one year to play, but when the NCAA allowed this year to be a "free" year, the first team All-Big Sky Conference guard has now entered the rotation. He averaged 17.7 points to rank fifth in the Big Sky, along with 5.2 assists (second) and 2.1 steals (first). He shot .842 from the free throw line and led team in scoring 14 times and assists 25 times. He posted 13 20-point games and dropped 30 twice.
GAME 2 (NOV. 26, 2020 AT EMPIRE CLASSIC) -- #3 VILLANOVA 83, #18 ASU 74: Villanova controlled the tempo and pace in the final 25 minutes turning a 31-29 lead with just over five minutes to go into a 41-32 halftime lead and eventually a 17-point lead late. ASU cut it to 49-43 with under 15 minutes and had the ball, but an ASU missed three-pointer and a made Wildcat three pushed the lead to nine and it would get no closer. Josh Christopher led ASU with 28 points while Alonzo Verge added 22 and a team-high seven rebounds. Villanova outrebounded ASU 43-27.
SUN DEVIL FRESHMAN POINTS
35, Mario Bennett vs. #5 Arizona, Feb. 20, 1992
34, Jahii Carson vs. Stanford (Pac-12), Mar. 13, 2013
33, Luguentz Dort vs. Utah State (Las Vegas), Nov. 21, 2018
32, Jahii Carson at Washington, Feb. 2, 2013
31, Byron Scott vs. #18 Arizona, Feb. 23, 1980
30, Jahii Carson vs. #14 Creighton (Las Vegas), Nov. 24, 2012
30, Ty Abbott vs. California, Feb. 16, 2008
29, Jamal Faulkner vs. #2 Arkansas (NCAA), Mar. 17, 1991
28, Josh Christopher vs. #3 Villanova, Nov. 26, 2020
MICKEY D NEWS: How big is it that freshman Josh Christopher is a McDonald's All-American? He is just the sixth Sun Devil to earn the honor, and the first since James Harden in 2007. Josh will be one of just three 2020 McDonald All-Americans in the Pac-12 this year, joining Evan Mobley of USC and Ziaire Williams of Stanford.
SUN DEVIL McDONALD'S ALL-AMERICANS
Josh Christopher, 2020
James Harden, 2007
Eric Boateng, 2005 (transferred from Duke)
Jamal Faulkner, 1989
Chris Sandle, 1984
Byron Scott, 1979
GAME 1 (NOV. 25, 2020 AT EMPIRE CLASSIC) -- #18 ASU 94, RHODE ISLAND 88: ASU jumped out to a 40-24 lead with just under six minutes to play but Rhode Island closed the half on a 17-8 run and then took the lead with just under 12 minutes to play before the Sun Devils closed out the game on a 10-3 run. URI led 85-84 with just under five minutes but ASU got a Remy Martin (26 points) layup, a Chris Osten putback three-point play, three free throws by Marcus Bagley (16 points) and a steal and layup by Holland Woods to seal the game. ASU had five players in double figures and posted 28 bench points in a game that had nine ties and 14 lead changes.
SUN DEVIL THREE DOT DATA: Taeshon Cherry had 11 points in the Rhode Island win, as ASU is 9-1 when he scores in double digits…ASU has made a three-pointer in 654 straight games…with 22 points vs. Villanova, Alonzo Verge Jr. has eight 20-point games in his career.
SUN DEVIL CAREER POINTS
11. 1,515 – Joe Caldwell, '61-64
12. 1,455 – Paul Williams, '79-83
13. 1,393 – Larry Armstrong, '59-62
14. 1,368 – Mario Bennett, '91-95
15. 1,345 – Remy Martin, '17-21
ANOTHER RANKED TEAM: No. 3 Villanova was the seventh non-conference top-10 team Bobby Hurley has faced in his six years, after ASU had faced one in the previous 17 seasons. Another way to put it? ASU will have faced seven top-10 OOC teams in BFH's six seasons after facing eight in the previous 37 seasons.
THREE-DOT DEVIL DATA: Bobby Hurley is 48-17 in non-conference games in his six years at ASU…ASU is 11-3 in two possession games the past two seasons and has won seven of its past eight…Sun Devils have 26 halftime comeback deficits in his five years, tops in the Pac-12.
NOVEMBER HAS BEEN GOOD: The Sun Devils are now 17-3 (.850) in November the past three seasons (AKA the Remy Martin era). The wins include seven away from home and five over eventual NCAA Tournament teams, including 2019 NCAA Tournament teams Utah State and Missisisppi State in November of 2018, 2018 No. 1 seed Xavier, eventual 2018 Elite Eight bound Kansas State and always good San Diego State.
REMY: Associated Press preseason All-American Remy Martin (just the second in ASU history, other was Ike Diogu in 2003-04) posted 26 points vs. Rhode Island on Nov. 25, his sixth-best scoring game in his career. Wild note: Five of the six were away from Tempe.
REMY MARTIN TOP SCORING TILTS
33 at Princeton (11/26/19)
31 vs. Arizona (1/31/19)
30 at UCLA (2/27/20)
29 at Oregon (1/11/20)
27 at Arizona (3/9/19)
26 vs. Rhode Island (11/25/20)
THREE-DOT DATA ON WHAT BFH HAS DONE: ASU notched its third straight 20-win season in 2019-20 for just the third time in program history after being picked to finish sixth in the annual preseason media poll…top two average attendance marks in ASU history, including 10,603 in 2017-18…2019-20 saw ASU (20-11) post its first seven-game Pac-12 win streak since the 1980-81 team won 11 straight…Sun Devils went 11-7 in the Pac-12 in 2019-20 after going 12-6 in 2018-19, just the second time in the past 25 seasons the Sun Devils have posted back-to-back winning Pac-12 records…notched best two non-conference wins in school history with wins vs. No. 1 Kansas (Dec. 22, 2018) and at No. 2 Kansas (Dec. 10, 2017)…reached NCAA Tournament for just fourth time in 23 seasons in 2018 and then followed it with back-to-back appearances for the first time since 1980-81 in 2019. The 2020 was about to be the first time three straight since the 1960s…in November of 2017, defeated two eventual 2018 NCAA Tournament No. 1 seeds in a span of a two weeks (at Kansas and Xavier)…matched the highest Associated Press ranking in school history (No. 3) in December of 2017…named 14th Sun Devil Men's Basketball Coach on April 9, 2015…1992 Final Four Most Outstanding Player.
GET TO KNOW HOLLAND WOODS: We weren't sure Holland Woods would play this year after transferring from Portland State with just one year to play, but when the NCAA allowed this year to be a "free" year, the first team All-Big Sky Conference guard has now entered the rotation. He averaged 17.7 points to rank fifth in the Big Sky, along with 5.2 assists (second) and 2.1 steals (first). He shot .842 from the free throw line and led team in scoring 14 times and assists 25 times. He posted 13 20-point games and dropped 30 twice.