May 9, 2005
SUN DEVIL DATA FROM THIS YEAR AND FOR NEXT: The Arizona State University men's basketball team (18-14; 7-11 in the Pac-10 Conference in 2004-2005) advanced to the postseason for the third time in the past four seasons under head coach Rob Evans and was led by junior Ike Diogu, the first consensus All-American (second-team) in Sun Devil history. Diogu averaged 25.4 points, 8.9 rebounds and 38.6 minutes in the final 11 games and became the second Sun Devil to earn Pac-10 Player of the Year honors (Eddie House in 1999-2000 was the other) and also earned All-Pac-10 honors for the third time in his career. The Sun Devils ended the season 4-8 against NCAA Tournament teams, including a sweep of Stanford, and its final RPI was 68 and schedule strength was 36 according to collegeRPI.com.
ALL-AMERICAN HONORS: Junior Ike Diogu earned consensus second-team All-American honors in 2004-2005, as he was honored as a second-team selection by the Associated Press, Sporting News, United States Basketball Writers (USBWA), the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and Basketball Times. First-team honors went to seniors Wayne Simien (Kansas) and Hakim Warrick (Syracuse), juniors J.J. Redick (Duke) and Dee Brown (Illinois) and sophomores Chris Paul (Wake Forest) and Andrew Bogut (Utah). Second-team honors went to Diogu, seniors Luther Head (Illinois) and Salim Stoudamire (Arizona) and juniors Sean May (North Carolina) and Deron Williams (Illinois).
Ike Diogu PAC-10 NOTES: Ike Diogu became just the third Pac-10 player to lead the league in both scoring (22.6 ppg.) and rebounding (9.8 rpg.), joining A.C. Green of Oregon State (1984-85) and Mark McNamara of California (1981-82). Diogu also led the league in blocks at 2.34 per game, becoming the first player since blocks became an official statistic in 1977-78 to lead the Pac-10 in all three categories. He also topped the Pac-10 in field goal percentage (.575), offensive boards (3.69) and minutes per game (36.38) and led the league in Pac-10 games-only stats in points (22.3), offensive rebounds (4.06) and minutes (37.78) per game and was second in rebounding with 9.2 boards per game. He played 13 40-minute games on the year, including four of the final six contests. Diogu made 248 free throws this year, breaking his own Pac-10 record of 243 set in 2003-2004. With 671 made free throws in his career, Ike Diogu trails only UCLA's Don MacLean (711 from 1988-92) in the Pac-10 record book. His 854 attempts is second only to Stanford's Adam Keefe (886 from 1988-92). He also is the first Pac-10 player to lead the league in scoring in back-to-back years since Stan Love of Oregon did the trick in 1969-70 and 1970-71.
SCORING NOTES: Ike Diogu tied for fifth in the nation at 22.6 points per game this year after averaging 22.8 points in 2003-2004, which not only led the Pac-10 but was ninth in the nation. Only one other Sun Devil has finished in the nation's top-10 in scoring, as Eddie House was fourth in 1999-2000 (23.0 ppg.). Diogu entered 2004-2005 as nation's third-leading returning scorer and was the first Pac-10 scoring leader to be back on campus the following season since Reggie Miller won the honors in 1985-86 and returned in 1986-87.
Points Per Game, Nation's Top Scorers in 2004-2005 '05 Rk. Name, Team Cl. G FGM 3FG FT PTS PPG 1. Keydren Clark, St. Peters Jr. 28 230 109 152 721 25.8 2. Taylor Coppenrath, Vermont Sr. 31 271 9 226 777 25.1 3. Juan Mendez, Niagara Sr. 30 221 39 224 705 23.5 4. Rob Monroe, Quinnipiac Sr. 26 173 72 171 589 22.7 T5. Bo McCalebb, New Orleans So. 30 261 25 132 679 22.6 T5. Ike Diogu, Arizona State Jr. 32 229 18 248 724 22.6
IN AND OUT: Ike Diogu's career numbers are solid both in the Pac-10 and out. In his 91 games career, Diogu is averaging 21.4 points and 8.8 rebounds. He is averaging 21.1 points and 8.8 rebounds in 54 regular season Pac-10 games and 21.8 points and 8.8 boards in the 37 non-conference games.
NATIONALLY: Ike Diogu's play this year was among the best in the nation, as he finished tied for fifth nationally in points per game at 22.6 and was 16th at 9.8 rebounds per contest. He posted a Pac-10 leading 15 double-doubles and led the nation in free throws made (248) and attempted (311). His national-best consecutive games in double-figures scoring streak is at 91 games (every game of his career). He has 11 30-point games (six in 2004-2005), 50 20-point games (21 this year), 30 double-doubles (15 this year) and 15 other games with nine rebounds.
THREE-DOT DATA: ASU shot 263-of-355 (.741) from the free throw line in the final 16 games...Kevin Kruger finished the year with 17 double-digit scoring games and was 66-of-74 (.892) from the foul line in Pac-10 games, second in the league...Jason Braxton made his 102nd career start at UNLV on March 17. Only Eddie House (114) and Ron Riley (109) started more games as Sun Devils. Braxton posted double-digit points in seven games and had 115 assists and just 49 turnovers on the year, a league-leading 2.35 ratio. His 166 steals is fifth on the ASU career charts and his 384 assists is seventh. He posted a season-high 11 points in the Feb. 17 75-73 win over Oregon State and had a career-high nine boards vs. Arizona on March 5...Allen Morill is averaged 18.6 minutes and 4.4 rebounds in the final seven games.
SENIOR Steve Moore: Steve Moore gave ASU a huge lift in the Feb. 19 66-56 win over Oregon, as he posted 17 second-half points (7-of-10 from the field) en route to 22-points. He posted 50 points on the Los Angeles road trip Feb. 10-12, including a 31-point outing at UCLA when he hit eight three-pointers, the most by a Sun Devil since Stevin Smith tied his own school record with 10 vs. Oregon on Jan. 27, 1994. Moore had 19 vs. USC on Feb. 12, as he was 16-of-29 (.551) from the field and 12-of-18 (.667) from the three-point stripe in those two games. Moore averaged 16.0 points, second on the team, in the final nine games and averaged 12.4 points in 59 career games. He made 110 three-pointers, the most by a two-year player in ASU history.
NOT FAR AWAY: The Sun Devils, who tied Washington State for sixth in the Pac-10 at 7-11, lost several tough games down the stretch, including back-to-back games which were decided by game-winning shots in the closing seconds (57-55 at Washington State on Feb. 26 and 70-68 vs. #11 Arizona on March 5). ASU also lost a three-point game at the 1:00 mark at #13 Washington (a 90-82 loss on Feb. 24) and final close call was a 95-90 overtime loss in the Pac-10 Tournament to #14 Washington on March 10, as the Huskies ended the year as a No. 1 national seed and Pac-10 Tournament champions.
Kevin Kruger: Sophomore Kevin Kruger was one of three Sun Devils who averaged double-digit scoring in ASU's Pac-10 contests (11.8 ppg.) and had 17 double-digit scoring games in 2004-2005. He averaged 12.2 points in the final 13 games, made 131-of-161 (.814) free throws in his 59-game career and was 66-of-74 (.892) from the foul line in Pac-10 games this year, second in the loop. He matched a career-high with 22 points vs. #14 Washington at the Pac-10 Tournament on March 10.
NIT: ASU made its ninth appearance in the postseason NIT this year and is 3-9 (.250)ŠASU's previous appearance to this year's 89-78 loss at UNLV on March 17 was at UNLV on March 12, 2002, when it fell 96-91...its other NIT appearance under Rob Evans was in 1999-2000, when it beat New Mexico State 83-77 on March 15 in Tempe but lost at North Carolina State 60-57 on March 21Šoverall, ASU is 21-30 (.412) in postseason.
Year NIT Score(s) Site 2004-2005 UNLV 89, ASU 78 Las Vegas 2001-2002 UNLV 96, ASU 91 Las Vegas 1999-2000 NC State 60, ASU 57 (second round) Raleigh 1999-2000 ASU 83, New Mexico State 77 (first round) Tempe 1997-98 Hawaii 90, ASU 73 Honolulu 1993-94 BYU 74, ASU 67 Provo 1992-93 Georgetown 78, ASU 68 Tempe 1991-92 Utah 60, ASU 58 (second round) Tempe 1991-92 ASU 71, Cal-Santa Barbara 58 (first round) Santa Barbara 1989-90 Long Bearch State 86, ASU 71 Tempe 1982-83 Texas Christian 78, ASU 76 (second round) Tempe 1982-83 ASU 87, Cal State Fullerton 83 (first round) Tempe
NO EASY OPENERS: With Arizona winning the 2005 Pac-10 title, this year marked the fourth time in the past six years that ASU opened the season with an eventual Pac-10 champion, as ASU faced the eventual Pac-10 champion three straight years in its Pac-10 opener from 2000-2002, facing Stanford in 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 and then opening with Oregon in 2001-2002. It is scheduled to open at Pac-10 Tournament champion Washington next year on Dec. 29, 2005. This year also marked the fifth time in his seven years Rob Evans opened Pac-10 play on the road, and the two home games were against top-five teams. ASU lost to second-ranked Stanford on Jan. 4, 2000, in Tempe, and to fourth-ranked Arizona 93-74 on Jan. 3, 2003.
ASU Pac-10 Openers Under Rob Evans Date Score Site Note Jan. 2, 1999 USC 72, ASU 70 Los Angeles, Calif. USC ends ASU 6-game win streak Jan. 6, 2000 #1 Stanford 86, ASU 67 Palo Alto, Calif. Stanford wins Pac-10, goes 27-4 Jan. 4, 2001 #2 Stanford 94, ASU 77 Tempe, Ariz. Stanford wins Pac-10, goes 31-3 Dec. 20, 2001 Oregon 103, ASU 90 Eugene, Ore. UO wins Pac-10, goes 26-9 Jan. 2, 2003 ASU 67, OSU 47 Corvallis, Ore. ASU finishes 20-12 and in NCAAs Jan. 3, 2004 #4 Arizona 93, ASU 74 Tempe, Ariz. Arizona goes 20-10 Jan. 2, 2005 #14 Arizona 97, ASU 79 Tucson, Ariz. Arizona wins Pac-10 at 14-4 Dec. 29, 2005 ASU at Washington Seattle, Wash. UW a NCAA No. 1 seed in '05
ANOTHER KRUEGER: Sophomore newcomer Bryson Krueger, who played for assistant coach Brooks Thompson at Yavapai C.C. in 2003-2004, was 32-of-70 (.457) from the three-point stripe in his final 25 games and 24-of-54 (.444) in the final 18 contests. He had nine double-digit scoring games on the year and posted his Pac-10 high with 21 points against Oregon State on Feb. 17, including five three-pointers. He ranked fourth in the Pac-10 in three-point percentage at 43.5 percent (40-of-92).
MORE DIOGU: Ike Diogu's national-best double figure scoring streak of 91 games is close to Pac-10 and NCAA-record levels. The NCAA record is 115 set by La Salle's Lionel Simmons (1987-90), while Arizona's Sean Elliott (1985-89) scored in double digits in the final 108 games of his career. Diogu's low-point total was 10 against Morehead State the first game of his career on Nov. 22, 2003, and then he hit two free throws with 21 seconds left to reach 10 points at Oregon on Jan. 22, 2005. Two Pac-10 notables never reached 70 games, as Lew Alcindor reached 69 and Don MacLean, the Pac-10's career scoring leader, had his streak stopped at 68.
Rob Evans: Rob Evans (194-184/.513) finished his seventh season at Arizona State (13th overall) after being hired on April 7, 1998. The 1997 SEC Coach of the Year spent six seasons at Ole Miss, compiling an 86-81 (.515) record. He led the Rebels to a 42-16 record in his final two seasons after going 44-65 (.403) in his first four, winning two SEC West titles, and led Ole Miss to back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 1937-38. The 58-year old Evans is a 1968 graduate of New Mexico State, where he captained two NCAA Tournament teams and is a 1989 inductee of the Athletic Hall of Fame. He is 108-103 (.512) at ASU and has led the Sun Devils to four postseason appearances, including a 2003 NCAA appearance that was the school's first since 1995. He is 151-115 (.568) in the past nine seasons. He reached his 100th win at ASU against Long Island on Dec. 28, becoming just the third coach in ASU history to top the century mark, joining Ned Wulk (406-272 from 1957-82) and Bill Frieder (132-108 from 1989-97).
IKE AGAINST THE BAY: ASU split home games with the Bay Area schools Feb. 3-5, completing a sweep of Stanford for the first time since 1993-94 with a 74-67 win behind Ike Diogu's career-high 39 points, but fell to California 84-82, as Diogu posted 35. Diogu was 28-of-47 (.595) from the floor and 16-of-20 (.800) from the line in those two games and averaged 37 points and nine boards and played 40 minutes in both contests. Dick Vitale named him his National Player of the Week for the second time of the season, while he also earned Pac-10 Player of the Week for the third time on the year and fourth time in his career.
BAD LUCK: Since 1990, 60 of 61 Pac-10 teams who have won at least 11 conference games have been selected to the NCAAs. The exception? ASU in 1992-93, when it was 11-7 and tied for third. Also, 65 of 67 teams since 1990 who have posted 18 wins and 10 Pac-10 wins have qualified. Again, the odd teams out were ASU in 1992-93 and 1999-2000.
PLAYER QUICK NOTES
#0 Allen Morill: Has played in 50 games in two-year career and started in eight contests...averaging 11.6 minutes per game...averaged 18.6 minutes in final seven games and played career high 32 minutes at Washington on Feb. 24, 2005...averaged 5.2 points and 4.8 rebounds in final five games...averaged 25 minutes on the 2003-04 Washington road trip...an eight-game starter in 2003-2004...25-of-37 (.676) from the free throw line in 2003-2004.
#1 Jason Braxton: Played in all 120 games in career (sixth in ASU history) and started in 102, third-most in ASU history...had seven double-digit scoring games in 2004-2005...had 115 assists and just 49 turnovers on the year, a 2.35 ratio which led the league...earning his B.I.S. degree in four years in business and psychology in May of 2005
#5 Ike Diogu: The 2005 Pac-10 Player of the Year and a consensus second-team All-American...has earned Pac-10 Player of the Week three times in 2004-2005 and four times in his career...an ESPN.com third-team All-American in 2003-2004...six straight 20-point games from Dec. 22, 2004-Jan.8, 2005 is the fourth-best streak by a Sun Devil in the past 18 years. Eddie House posted eight straight in 1999-2000, while Jeremy Veal (1997-98) and Trent Edwards (1988-89) each had seven straight...a 2003-2004 Associated Press Preseason All-American, the first in Sun Devil history and 11th in Pac-10 history...a 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American...12-of-12 outing at the FT line at USC on Jan. 17, 2004, is the first time a Sun Devil was perfect in at least 12 free throws in a game since Arthur Thomas was 13-of-13 on Dec. 4, 1987, against San Diego State...2003 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and an All-Pac-10 selection in his first three seasons...Pac-10 Tournament record 18 rebounds vs. Oregon on March 13, 2003.
#12 Bryson Krueger: Sophomore played for current ASU assistant coach Brooks Thompson at Yavapai C.C. in 2003-2004 before arriving at ASU...32-of-70 (.457) from the three-point stripe in his final 25 games...nine double-digit scoring games on the year...24-of-54 (.444) in the final 18 contests from the three-point stripe....15 points vs. #14 Washington in Pac-10 Tournament on March 10...had 21 points on 5-of-6 three-point shooting against Oregon State on Feb. 17...had 10 points vs. Washington on Jan. 30 and 13 points vs. Washington State on Jan. 27...had 16 points vs. UCLA on Jan. 13...injured ankle on Dec. 28 vs. Long Island, missed Dec. 29 win over Valparaiso and played just eight minutes at Arizona on Jan. 2...had a season-high 23 points against UC Riverside on Dec. 12...had 16 points vs. UCLA on Jan. 13.
#13 Kevin Kruger: Notched double digits in 17 games in 2004-2005...131-of-161 (.814) from the free throw line in career and 96-of-112 (.857) in Pac-10 games...68-of-77 (.883) from the free throw line in the final 19 games this season...scored at least 15 points in nine games in 2004-2005, including both games vs. Stanford (Feb. 3) and California (Feb. 5)..matched career-high with 22 points at #14 Washington on March 10 in Pac-10 Tournament...17 points at #13 Washington on Feb. 24...17 points at USC on Feb. 12...18 points (10-of-11 from free throw line) vs. UCLA on Jan. 13, 2005...had 22 points, including 6-of-10 from three, at No. 22 Arizona on March 7, 2004...20 points in first start at OSU on Feb. 19, 2004.
#21 Steve Moore: Finished career with 110 three-pointers, most by any two-year player in Sun Devil history and seventh-most by any ASU player...averaged 12.4 points in 59 career games and started in 49...averaged 16.0 points per game in the final nine games...22 points vs. #14 Washington in Pac-10 Tournament on March 10...17 second-half points (22 overall) in 66-56 win over Oregon on Feb. 19...19 points at USC (Feb. 12) and 31 at UCLA (Feb. 10)...made 8-of-11 (.727) three-pointers at UCLA...posted 20 points vs. Vanderbilt and vs. Cal State Northridge...20 double-figure scoring games in 2004-2005...had 19 points at Stanford on Jan. 6...20 second-half points at Nebraska on Dec. 3, 2003Šfinished career with eight 20-point games.
#33 Tyrone Jackson: Averaged 16.8 minutes in the final 13 games and had 41 assists and just 13 turnovers in that time, including a career-high six on Feb. 5 vs. California...posted nine points at Washington State on Feb. 26 and had eight points at Oregon (Jan. 22) and vs. Stanford (Feb. 3)...a high school teammate of Stanford's Chris Hernandez...was 21-of-29 (.724) from the free throw line in the final 13 games to go along with 12 steals.
#45 Serge Angounou: Scored a career-high 20 vs. USC on Jan. 15 and at Oregon on Jan. 22...18-of-20 (.900) from the free throw line in final 15 games...has five double-doubles and eight double-figure rebounding games, including an 18-point, 10-rebound game against Washington State on Jan. 27 when he was perfect in seven field goal attempts...missed 2002-2003 with a knee injury suffered on Nov. 13, 2002, and then missed the first 12 games of 2003-2004...went scoreless in the first two games and posted just six points in the third game, but had 13 double-digit scoring games...12 boards vs. Oregon on Feb. 19...15 points vs. California on Feb. 5...20 points and 10 boards at Oregon on Jan. 22...20 points and seven boards vs. USC on Jan. 15...13 points and 11 boards vs. UCLA on Jan. 13...had 11 points and 11 boards vs. Valparaiso on Dec. 30...posted 14 points vs. Fairleigh Dickinson on Dec. 6...posted 13 points vs. Vanderbilt on Nov. 27 and 13 points and 14 boards in 34 minutes at Temple on Nov. 30.
100-POINTS: No ASU opponent has scored 100 points in Wells Fargo Arena since Feb. 27, 1988, when third-ranked Arizona topped ASU 101-73, a span of the past 283 games. Only five teams have reached triple digits against a Rob Evans' coached team in regulation in his 13 years (378 games).
NEED MOORE AT THE LINE: In its final five wins, ASU was 74-of-96 (.771) from the free throw line. It was solid in the in final three minutes, as it made 13-of-16 (.813) against Washington State on Jan. 27 (including four straight in the final 50 seconds) and was 18-of-20 (.900) in the second half against Stanford on Feb. 3. ASU's 20-of-22 (.909) mark for the game against Stanford is tied for the third-best mark in school history for a minimum of 20 attempts. Against Oregon State on Feb. 17, ASU led 71-68 with 33 seconds left but hit 5-of-6 to put the game away. Then on Feb. 19 against Oregon, ASU led 61-56 with with 30 seconds left and hit six straight.Three times this season Steve Moore has iced a close game with his late-game free throw shooting. On Nov. 30 at Temple, ASU led 61-60 when Moore made two free throws to make it 63-60 with 30 seconds left, and then hit two more to make it 65-62 with seven seconds left as ASU topped Temple. Against Cal State Northridge on Dec. 4, Moore was fouled while shooting a three-pointer with 14 seconds left and ASU down 66-64, but he sank all three to give ASU a 67-66 win. At California on Jan. 8, Moore hit two free throws with 46 seconds left and ASU leading 75-70 to give ASU a seven-point cushion as it would win 79-70.
ABOUT ITS STREAK: ASU's nine-game win streak in December was its best since 1980-81, and winning seven straight is something the Sun Devils could not accomplish in the previous 23 seasons as they posted four six-game win streaks (1990-91, 1992-93, 1994-95 and 1998-99). ASU had not won seven straight prior to this year, as it won 11 straight in 1980-81. Every other Pac-10 team had posted a seven-game win streak since the 1992-93 season. Washington, which had not won seven straight since 1990-91, won nine straight this year. Stanford (2003-04, 26 straight wins), Arizona (2003-04, 9), California (2002-03, 8), 99, 7), Washington St. (1993-94, 7) and Oregon St. (1992-93, 7) all winning at least seven straight in the 1990s.
OLD NOTES: ASU was 11-1 before falling at Arizona on Jan. 2, something it has done just twice, as both the 1974-75 and 1962-63 Sun Devils went 15-1...ASU's 11 non-conference wins is the most in the regular-season since the 1975-76 squad was 12-1 in non-conference play...ASU held Oregon to 28.6 percent from the field (20-of-70) and to their fewest points (51) at McArthur Court since March 6, 1993 (54-48 loss to Oregon State) when it topped Oregon 64-51 on Jan. 22. ASU is 4-3 at Oregon's McArthur Court under Rob Evans...ASU posted 13 three-pointers at UCLA (Feb. 10) and vs. Northwestern (Dec. 20), its most three-pointers since it hit 13 at Oregon on Jan. 27, 1996 (tied for fifth in school history). The 65 percent three-point shooting against Northwestern (13-of-20) also is a school record for at least 20 attempts, topping the 60 percent mark set at Stanford on Feb. 28, 1987 (12-of-20).
ACADEMICALLY: Despite erroneous reports (since corrected) that said "the state's three public universities have graduated only two male basketball players in the past five years" and "...not a single men's basketball player graduated from the three institutions last year" ASU has had success in the classroom. Here's a look at scholarship players already earning degrees under Rob Evans: Kenny Crandall (B.I.S., business and communications, 2004), Justin Allen (B.S., justice studies, 2003), Tyson Johnston (B.A., sociology 2003), Chad Prewitt (B.I.S., business and communications, 2002), Awvee Storey (B.I.S., sociology, 2001), Okeme Oziwo (B.S.W., social work, 1999) and Bobby Lazor (B.S., marketing, 1998). In addition, senior Jason Braxton is earning his B.I.S. in business and psychology in May of 2005, graduating in four years.