HOW TO FOLLOW
The Sun Devil Men's Basketball game against USC will be broadcasted on ESPNU on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 8 PM MST. Dave Pasch (pxp) and Bill Walton (analyst) are on the call. All 31 of Arizona State's games this season will be televised, with Coach Hurley's squad making appearances on ESPN, FOX, CBS, and Pac-12 Network in addition to several major network affiliates. Listen to Tim Healey and Kyle Dodd on ESPN 620 KTAR-AM. The action can also be tracked via live stats accessed here.
GET TICKETS
Want to see one of the nation's best defensive teams in action? Have an itch to watch some high-flying dunks? How about a team building momentum? Well you are in luck! The remainder of tickets for Sun Devil Men's Basketball home games are now on sale. You can have an impact on our home-court advantage. Group ticket packages are a great option for parties of 15 or more. Get more information on all of our different packages by calling the Ticket Sales and Service team at 480-965-5812 or sundeviltickets@asu.edu.
SEASON SNAPSHOT
The Arizona State men's basketball team is off to a 15-4 start and has put themselves in prime contention for a postseason berth and mid-season ranking. Head Coach Bobby Hurley has already taken Arizona State to the NCAA Tournament twice and has constructed a schedule that has already and will continue to test his team. Because of this, Arizona State already boasts one of the most impressive resumes through the first two months of the 2022-23 season.
RECORD: 15-4 (best start since 2017-18)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 6-2 (2nd - first 6-2 start in league play since 2012-13)
BEST WINS: #20 Michigan (neutral site), VCU (neutral site), at Colorado, Creighton (neutral site), at Oregon
ROAD WINS (4): at Colorado (12/1), at SMU (12/7), at Oregon (1/12), at Oregon State (1/14)
DOUBLE-DIGIT WINS (6): vs. NAU, #20 Michigan (neutral site), vs. Grambling State, vs. Alcorn State, at SMU, vs. San Diego, at Oregon
NET: 44
REAL-TIME RPI: 45
ESPN Strength of Record: 24
KEN-POM: 54
UPCOMING GAME TO WATCH: vs. USC (Jan. 21)
Arizona State has boasted a NET ranking as high as 22nd this season. ASU currently ranks higher the following contenders for a NCAA Tournament at-large bid...
Oklahoma St (45), Maryland (46), Florida (52), Missouri (53), Northwestern (54), Texas A&M (55), Oregon (56), Oklahoma (57), Clemson (59)
BRACKETOLOGY
Several bracket experts nationwide have Arizona State projected in the NCAA tournament. Take a look at where the most prominent national names have the Sun Devils seeded in their latest projections.
Andy Katz (NCAA): 16th in the Power 36
Jerry Palm (CBS): 9 seed
Bracket Matrix: 10 seed
Michael DeCoury (Fox Sports): 7 seed
Joe Lunardi (ESPN): 10 seed
SB Nation: 10 seed
COMFORTABLE WHEN IT'S CLOSE
Coach Hurley's team has played in a two-possession game in eight of its first 18 contests, boasting a 7-1 record. The Sun Devils are 31-14 in two possession games over the last four seasons, tied wtih Wisconsin for the most wins in the Division I during that span.
1. Arizona State 31
Wisconsin 31
3. Providence 29
Kansas 29
5. Western Kentucky 28
Miami (FL) 28
AGAINST THE AP
Arizona State was unofficially ranked 28th by the AP, receiving 79 votes on Jan. 16. Of teams ranked between 8th and 27th, only eight have more true road wins than Arizona States' four. Only eight teams in the nation have more top 100 NET wins than Arizona State with seven.
15-4 START
Sun Devil Men's Basketball is off to a 15-4 start, the best record through 19 games since the 2017-18 season. ASU has won at least 15 of it's first 19 games for the second time in the Bobby Hurley era and only the fifth time since 1979-80.
PAC-12 PLAY
The Sun Devils are 6-2 in Pac-12 play for the first time since the 2012-13 season and just the third time since 1993-94. Additionally, ASU is 3-0 on the road in league play for the first time since the 1980-81 season. They currently sit in sole possession of second place in the league.
LOCKING IT DOWN
Arizona State has been one of the best defensive teams in the country through 18 games, making it difficult on opponents to score. The Sun Devils rank 8th in the nation holding opponents to just 38.3% shooting from the field.
WILL-GUARD U
Opposing guards are shooting 35.7% from the floor against the Sun Devil defense and averaging 7.3 turnovers per game. Additionally, guards are averaging 7.75 turnovers per game against ASU in league play.
RECORD CROWDS
Sun Devil Nation showed up in a big way at Thursday's game against No. 5 UCLA, creating an electric atmosphere. The official attendance of Arizona State was 13,363, the most since the Sun Devils defeated Arizona in front of 13,500 on 1/25/20. The 942 Crew also brought their best. A record of more than 5,213 students trounced the previous best of just under 4,000.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
ASU has won 11 of its last 13 games at Desert Financial Arena. It is the best 13-game mark since ASU won 14 straight, meshed between the last eight home games of the 2013-14 season and the first six of the 2014-15 season.
COLLINS IS BALLIN'
Transfer point guard Frankie Collins has added a different dimension to the Sun Devils offense. Not only can he score at a high level, he has emerged one of the best passers in the conference. He has tied or outright paced ASU's assist category in 15 of the 18 games he's played in this season. Collins' 4.9 assists per game third in the Pac-12. He is one of only two players in the conference averaging at least 10 points, 4.9 assists, and four rebounds (USC's Drew Peterson). Collins boasts those averages in 28.1 minutes per game compared to Peterson's 35.6.
BALANCED SCORING
A signature of the Arizona State offense has been the different individuals stepping up at the offensive end. The Maroon & Gold are averaging 72.7 points per game (4th in the Pac-12) and four different Sun Devils are averaging at least 10.6 points per game or more (D.J. Horne, Frankie Collins, Desmond Cambridge Jr., Devan Cambridge). No one on the team averages over 30 minutes, with 10 players averaging at least 10.0 minutes per game. Arizona State has had three players - Desmond Cambridge Jr., Frankie Collins and DJ Horne - score at least 20 points twice. 11 different Sun Devils have scored 10 or more points in at least one game this season.
PROTECTING THE PAINT
Arizona State continues to find themselves near the top of the national rankings in blocks and rebounds per game. 12 players have recorded at least one block this season, led by Warren Washington's 39. Washington 2.05 blocks per game put him at 25th in the country and 3rd in the Pac-12. ASU ranks 19th nationally in blocks per game as a team. Warren Washington has 21 total games in his career with multiple blocks and nine this season. The Maroon & Gold have outscored their opponent in the paint 16 times in 19 games this season. ASU has yet to be outscored in the paint in a conference game, holding a 45 point advantage in the paint in league play. ASU has scored 41.4% of their points this season from inside the paint (572/1,381).
2X PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Desmond Cambridge Jr. was named Pac-12 Player of the Week on Monday. He was instrumental in Arizona State's sweep of Oregon and Oregon State, winning Pac-12 Player of the Week for the second time this season. It is the seventh Player of the Week honor in his illustrious career (Ivy 4x, Pac-12 2x, Mountain West 1x).
Cambridge Jr. is the first Sun Devil to win Pac-12 Player of the Week twice in the same season since Remy Martin did it back in 2019. Cambridge Jr. joins Colorado guard KJ Simpson as the only two individuals to be named the conference's top player multiple times in 2022-23. Arizona State now has a total of three Pac-12 Player of the Week recipients so far this season, with Austin Nunez earning Freshman of the Week honors back in November. It is the 13th time a Sun Devil has won a Pac-12 Player of the Week award under Bobby Hurley.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• DJ Horne has recorded double-digit point totals in 12 games this season, and eight of his last 10 games. He now has 34 double-digit efforts over his last two seasons inTempe.
• Arizona State has had at least 20 assists five times this season. It is the most such instances since the Sun Devils, led by James Harden, had six in the 2008-09 season. The Sun Devils have out-assisted their opponent in four of the last five games including a 12-9 edge over the Bruins.
• Desmond Cambridge Jr. has paced ASU's scoring effort in three straight games four of eight conference games so far.
• Arizona State is 11-0 this season when scoring at least 70 points. The Sun Devils are also 10-0 when out-rebounding their opponent.
COMEBACK KINGS
The Sun Devils now have 37 halftime comebacks under Bobby Hurley including 18 on the road. In fact, the Sun Devils now have four halftime comebacks this year and three on the road (OSU, Colorado and SMU). All four comebacks have come away from home, with the other one being a neutral site contest against VCU at the Legends Classic held in Brooklyn, NY. In both of ASU's road Pac-12 comeback wins (Colorado, Oregon State), the opposition has combined to shoot 14-48 (29.1%) from the field including 7-26 (26.9%) from three in the second half. 18 of the 37 halftime comebacks under Coach Hurley have been in Pac-12 play. The Sun Devils trailed by as many as 16 against Oregon State, making it the largest comeback since they overcame a 22-point deficit against Arizona on February 25, 2020. The win was also ASU's largest road comeback since trailing by 18 at Georgia on December 15, 2018.
Fifth-year guard Desmond Cambridge Jr. reahed a significant milestone in a win over Washington earlier in the season. He surpassed 2,000 career points, becoming the 10th active player in the NCAA to reach the mark. His 2,058 points rank 9th among active NCAA players and his 338 threes rank fifth among active players. He is one of five active players with over 2,000 points and 550 rebounds in his career.
942 CREW GIVEAWAY
BACK IN DFA ????
— 942 Crew (@942Crew) January 20, 2023
Students, you showed out last night in a BIG WAY, let's do it again THIS SATURDAY AND SUNDAY????@SunDevilHoops??:
???1/21
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?8 PM
STUDENT GIVEAWAY: LOB U TEE@SunDevilWBB??:
???1/22
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?3 PM
STUDENT GIVEAWAY: STATE LONG SLEEVE
SHOW OUT DEVILS???? pic.twitter.com/psDFt237n0
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