The Arizona State Sun Devil men's hoops team (19-11; 10-7) -- 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 -- puts its 15-5 record after a loss the past two seasons to test with a home game vs. the Washington State Cougars on Saturday, March 7, at 4:30 p.m. on Pac-12 Network with Roxy Bernstein and Eddie House on the call. Seniors to be recognized include Rob Edwards, Mickey Mitchell and Grant Fogerty.
QUICK STATS: 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 at a third straight for the first time since the early 1960s as it is 9-4 since Jan. 18, with two of the losses (75-72 at UCLA Feb. 27 and 67-65 at WSU on Jan. 29) decided by three-pointers in the final seconds. ASU had its seven-game Pac-12 win streak -- an ASU first since the 1980-81 team won 11 straight -- ended in the 75-72 great tilt at UCLA on Feb. 27. The Sun Devils are 15-5 (.750) in the past two seasons after a loss, the best mark in the Pac-12.
VERGE SURGE: Alonzo Verge Jr. is averaging 16.7 points per game off the bench (18 games). The Pac-12 has a Sixth Man of the Year Award and he might run away with it. After averaging 6.2 ppg., going 1-of-9 from the three-point stripe and shooting 11-of-45 (.244) from the field in his first five Pac-12 games, Verge after that five-game span is averaging 17.1 points, is 79-of-158 (.500) from the field and 34-of-46 (.723) from the foul line in the past past 12 games. In ASU's seven-game win streak he averaged 20.6 ppg., was 53-of-100 (.530) from the field, 7-of-18 (.389) from three and 31-of-43 (.721) from the free throw line.
GAME #30: WASHINGTON 90, ASU 83 (MAR. 5): ASU led 61-49 with 15:11 left but Washington stormed back to tie the game at 65 in less than four minutes as the Huskies shot 15-of-26 (.571) from the floor in the second half and held ASU to 29-of-71 (.408). Rob Edwards had 23, Alonzo Verge Jr. 19 and Taeshon Cherry 13 in the loss as UW outscored ASU 49-38 in the second half, which included 14-of-17 (.824) from the free throw line and 5-of-8 (.625) from the three-point stripe.
LAST MEETING (GAME #20): @WASHINGTON STATE 67, ASU 65 (JAN. 29): ASU committed 15 first-half turnovers and a season-high 21 for the game but led with 18 seconds left before CJ Ellenby hit a three-pointer with under five seconds left to earn the win, as he posted 27 points and 12 rebounds. Romello White led ASU with 15 points and 11 rebounds but ASU shot just 26-of-63 (.413) but held WSU to 23-of-56 (.411). WSU was 10-of-25 (.400) from three while ASU was 5-of-19 (.263). The Cougars led by 15 with just over 15 minutes left but ASU went on an 18-3 run to tie it a 51 with 10:47. WSU then went on a 11-2 run to make it 62-53 but ASU went on a 11-0 run to take a lead with 1:14 remaining.
ROAD REMY: Remy Martin averaged 22.6 ppg. and had eight 20-point games in ASU's 11 true road contests (6-5) 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. Solid stat: He has posted 10 games of 24+ points in his career, seven of them have been on the road.
PAC-12 RESEARCH: ASU forced 20+ turnovers in back-to-back Pac-12 games for the first time since February of 2001 (when it was Pac-10). ASU forced 24 vs. USC on Feb. 8 and then Stanford had 20 on Feb. 13. The 24 turnovers by USC was the most by a Sun Devil Pac-12 opponent since 2002.
WON'T TAKE 20 FOR GRANTED: While the creation of exempt tournaments and more games has given teams a better chance to reach 20 wins, we won't take for granted what one more ASU win will do. Coming off records in of 23-11 in 2018-19 and 20-12 in 2017-18, ASU needs one more win to clinch its third straight 20-win season, something it has done just twice. In James Harden's first two seasons ASU went 21-13 (2007-08) and 25-10 (2008-09) and then went 22-11 in 2009-10. You have to go back to 1960-63 for the only other time in ASU history for it to happen, as ASU went 23-6 in 1960-61, 23-4 in 1961-62 and 26-3 in 1962-63.
THIS IS US: ASU has 26 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 in Connecticut, at Princeton, vs. No. 22 Arizona, vs. USC and vs. Oregon State. 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. On Feb. 8 ASU trailed USC by 13 with 5:34 left in the first half before cutting the gap to 40-32 at the half and then winning 66-64 despite leading for just 5:57 of the game.
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").
FEB. 22 NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Remy Martin earned USBWA National Player of the Week (for week ending Feb. 22) and Pac-12 Player of the Week after averaging 23.0 points on 67 percent shooting (16-24), including 5-of-6 behind the arc, and 3.5 assists in the Bay Area road sweep. He scored 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting in 74-69 victory at Stanford. In the final 7:17 of the game, he scored 11 of those points. He scored 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting to go along with five assists in 80-75 win at California, as he scored 15 of his points in the final 11:08. It marked his third Pac-12 Player of the Week award in his career.
PAC-12 STAT STUFF: ASU leads the league in turnovers forced (16.30 per game)...it ranks first in the Pac-12 in steals at 7.87 per game (236 in 30 games) while its turnover margin (+3.17) also leads the league Remy Martin is second in the Pac-12 at 19.17 points per game…Romello White is second in the Pac-12 in rebounding at 8.97 per game and is fifth in field goal percentage (.568). His eight double-doubles is sixth in the league while his 13 double-digit rebound games is second…Remy is second in the Pac-12 at 20.12 ppg. in conference games and his 18 20-point games leads the league...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 20-7 when Rob Edwards scores 13 in his two seasons (13-4 when he scores 15).
SOLID DUBS: Bobby Hurley has led ASU to a 47-16 regular season OOC record in his five years. notable wins: NC State, at Creighton, Texas A&M, UNLV (2x), Stephen F. Austin, Kansas State, Xavier, St. John's (2x plus NCAA Tournament win), Kansas (2x), Vanderbilt and Georgia (2x).
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.
GOOD NOTE: ASU has defeated eight 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 77, #14 Oregon 72 (Feb. 20, 2020)
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 4 0, #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)
REMY: Remy Martin became the 38th member of the ASU 1,000-point club on Jan. 11. He now has 1,296 career points (94 games/13.8 pg) and has 18 20-point games on the year. He posted seven straight - averaging 24.3 points - before posting 15 at WSU on Jan. 29. The seven matched the best by a Sun Devil since Eddie House had eight in 1999-2000. Remy is averaging 19.2 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)
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).
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 (11-3 WHEN HE SCORES 13/5-1 WHEN SCORES 20)
43 vs. St. Mary's (12/18/19)
26 vs. #14 Oregon (2/20/20)
26 vs. UCLA (2/6/20)
23 vs. Texas Southern (12/28/19)
22 at California (2/16/20)
20 vs. Prairie View A&M (12/11/19)
19 vs. Washington (3/5/20)
19 at Stanford (2/13/20)
19 vs. Creighton (12/21/19)
18 at Washington (2/1/20)
17 vs. Oregon State (2/22/20)
16 vs. USC (2/8/20)
15 vs. Georgia (12/14/19)
13 vs. Arizona (1/25/20)
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)
SUN DEVIL FRESHMAN BLOCKS (1978-79 TO PRESENT)
55, Mario Bennett, 1991-92
33, Jamal Faulkner, 1990-91
31, Ike Diogu, 2002-03
29, Jalen Graham, 2019-20
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)
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
15. 1,330 – Ty Abbott, '07-11
16. 1,329 – Alex Austin, '86-90
17. 1,309 – James Harden, '07-09
18. 1,304 – Al Nealey, '57-60
19. 1,296 – Remy Martin, '17-present
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 20-7 and 13-4 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 (13-4)
28 at Utah (2/16/19)
24 vs. #14 Oregon (2/20/20)
24 vs. Utah (1/18/20)
23 vs. Washington (3/5/20)
23 at UCLA (2/27/20)
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)
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.
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 (10): @UW, UCLA, USC, @STAN, @CAL, ORE, OSU, @UCLA, @USC, UW
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
QUICK STATS: 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 at a third straight for the first time since the early 1960s as it is 9-4 since Jan. 18, with two of the losses (75-72 at UCLA Feb. 27 and 67-65 at WSU on Jan. 29) decided by three-pointers in the final seconds. ASU had its seven-game Pac-12 win streak -- an ASU first since the 1980-81 team won 11 straight -- ended in the 75-72 great tilt at UCLA on Feb. 27. The Sun Devils are 15-5 (.750) in the past two seasons after a loss, the best mark in the Pac-12.
VERGE SURGE: Alonzo Verge Jr. is averaging 16.7 points per game off the bench (18 games). The Pac-12 has a Sixth Man of the Year Award and he might run away with it. After averaging 6.2 ppg., going 1-of-9 from the three-point stripe and shooting 11-of-45 (.244) from the field in his first five Pac-12 games, Verge after that five-game span is averaging 17.1 points, is 79-of-158 (.500) from the field and 34-of-46 (.723) from the foul line in the past past 12 games. In ASU's seven-game win streak he averaged 20.6 ppg., was 53-of-100 (.530) from the field, 7-of-18 (.389) from three and 31-of-43 (.721) from the free throw line.
GAME #30: WASHINGTON 90, ASU 83 (MAR. 5): ASU led 61-49 with 15:11 left but Washington stormed back to tie the game at 65 in less than four minutes as the Huskies shot 15-of-26 (.571) from the floor in the second half and held ASU to 29-of-71 (.408). Rob Edwards had 23, Alonzo Verge Jr. 19 and Taeshon Cherry 13 in the loss as UW outscored ASU 49-38 in the second half, which included 14-of-17 (.824) from the free throw line and 5-of-8 (.625) from the three-point stripe.
LAST MEETING (GAME #20): @WASHINGTON STATE 67, ASU 65 (JAN. 29): ASU committed 15 first-half turnovers and a season-high 21 for the game but led with 18 seconds left before CJ Ellenby hit a three-pointer with under five seconds left to earn the win, as he posted 27 points and 12 rebounds. Romello White led ASU with 15 points and 11 rebounds but ASU shot just 26-of-63 (.413) but held WSU to 23-of-56 (.411). WSU was 10-of-25 (.400) from three while ASU was 5-of-19 (.263). The Cougars led by 15 with just over 15 minutes left but ASU went on an 18-3 run to tie it a 51 with 10:47. WSU then went on a 11-2 run to make it 62-53 but ASU went on a 11-0 run to take a lead with 1:14 remaining.
ROAD REMY: Remy Martin averaged 22.6 ppg. and had eight 20-point games in ASU's 11 true road contests (6-5) 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. Solid stat: He has posted 10 games of 24+ points in his career, seven of them have been on the road.
PAC-12 RESEARCH: ASU forced 20+ turnovers in back-to-back Pac-12 games for the first time since February of 2001 (when it was Pac-10). ASU forced 24 vs. USC on Feb. 8 and then Stanford had 20 on Feb. 13. The 24 turnovers by USC was the most by a Sun Devil Pac-12 opponent since 2002.
WON'T TAKE 20 FOR GRANTED: While the creation of exempt tournaments and more games has given teams a better chance to reach 20 wins, we won't take for granted what one more ASU win will do. Coming off records in of 23-11 in 2018-19 and 20-12 in 2017-18, ASU needs one more win to clinch its third straight 20-win season, something it has done just twice. In James Harden's first two seasons ASU went 21-13 (2007-08) and 25-10 (2008-09) and then went 22-11 in 2009-10. You have to go back to 1960-63 for the only other time in ASU history for it to happen, as ASU went 23-6 in 1960-61, 23-4 in 1961-62 and 26-3 in 1962-63.
THIS IS US: ASU has 26 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 in Connecticut, at Princeton, vs. No. 22 Arizona, vs. USC and vs. Oregon State. 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. On Feb. 8 ASU trailed USC by 13 with 5:34 left in the first half before cutting the gap to 40-32 at the half and then winning 66-64 despite leading for just 5:57 of the game.
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").
FEB. 22 NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Remy Martin earned USBWA National Player of the Week (for week ending Feb. 22) and Pac-12 Player of the Week after averaging 23.0 points on 67 percent shooting (16-24), including 5-of-6 behind the arc, and 3.5 assists in the Bay Area road sweep. He scored 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting in 74-69 victory at Stanford. In the final 7:17 of the game, he scored 11 of those points. He scored 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting to go along with five assists in 80-75 win at California, as he scored 15 of his points in the final 11:08. It marked his third Pac-12 Player of the Week award in his career.
PAC-12 STAT STUFF: ASU leads the league in turnovers forced (16.30 per game)...it ranks first in the Pac-12 in steals at 7.87 per game (236 in 30 games) while its turnover margin (+3.17) also leads the league Remy Martin is second in the Pac-12 at 19.17 points per game…Romello White is second in the Pac-12 in rebounding at 8.97 per game and is fifth in field goal percentage (.568). His eight double-doubles is sixth in the league while his 13 double-digit rebound games is second…Remy is second in the Pac-12 at 20.12 ppg. in conference games and his 18 20-point games leads the league...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 20-7 when Rob Edwards scores 13 in his two seasons (13-4 when he scores 15).
SOLID DUBS: Bobby Hurley has led ASU to a 47-16 regular season OOC record in his five years. notable wins: NC State, at Creighton, Texas A&M, UNLV (2x), Stephen F. Austin, Kansas State, Xavier, St. John's (2x plus NCAA Tournament win), Kansas (2x), Vanderbilt and Georgia (2x).
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.
GOOD NOTE: ASU has defeated eight 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 77, #14 Oregon 72 (Feb. 20, 2020)
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 4 0, #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)
REMY: Remy Martin became the 38th member of the ASU 1,000-point club on Jan. 11. He now has 1,296 career points (94 games/13.8 pg) and has 18 20-point games on the year. He posted seven straight - averaging 24.3 points - before posting 15 at WSU on Jan. 29. The seven matched the best by a Sun Devil since Eddie House had eight in 1999-2000. Remy is averaging 19.2 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)
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).
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 (11-3 WHEN HE SCORES 13/5-1 WHEN SCORES 20)
43 vs. St. Mary's (12/18/19)
26 vs. #14 Oregon (2/20/20)
26 vs. UCLA (2/6/20)
23 vs. Texas Southern (12/28/19)
22 at California (2/16/20)
20 vs. Prairie View A&M (12/11/19)
19 vs. Washington (3/5/20)
19 at Stanford (2/13/20)
19 vs. Creighton (12/21/19)
18 at Washington (2/1/20)
17 vs. Oregon State (2/22/20)
16 vs. USC (2/8/20)
15 vs. Georgia (12/14/19)
13 vs. Arizona (1/25/20)
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)
SUN DEVIL FRESHMAN BLOCKS (1978-79 TO PRESENT)
55, Mario Bennett, 1991-92
33, Jamal Faulkner, 1990-91
31, Ike Diogu, 2002-03
29, Jalen Graham, 2019-20
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)
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
15. 1,330 – Ty Abbott, '07-11
16. 1,329 – Alex Austin, '86-90
17. 1,309 – James Harden, '07-09
18. 1,304 – Al Nealey, '57-60
19. 1,296 – Remy Martin, '17-present
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 20-7 and 13-4 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 (13-4)
28 at Utah (2/16/19)
24 vs. #14 Oregon (2/20/20)
24 vs. Utah (1/18/20)
23 vs. Washington (3/5/20)
23 at UCLA (2/27/20)
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)
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.
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 (10): @UW, UCLA, USC, @STAN, @CAL, ORE, OSU, @UCLA, @USC, UW
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