@SUNDEVILHOOPS NOTES: USAA PRESENTING SPONSOR FOR OPENER

EVERYONE CHILL, WE GOT THIS: It is a rite of passage for a team that lost its top scorers to have media ask a player if they are surprised a team is ranked low in preseason rankings, and then write about the losses of last year. They sort of go together right? Well for what it’s worth, in 2008-09 the Sun Devils lost the third pick in the draft and the Pac-10 Player of the Year (bearded guy) and the nation’s top field goal maker and first pick of the second round (Jeff Pendergraph) coming off its best season in decades. The collapse of the program was predicted with a seventh-place finish. Luckily, guys like Derek Glasser and Ty Abbott decided to still play and the Sun Devils went 12-6 in the Pac-10, finished second in the loop, won 22 games, and Herb Sendek took home Pac-10 Coach of the Year honors. ASU has finished higher than predicted in each of the past two seasons, as short memory people forget the Sun Devils were picked seventh last year en route to getting the third seed in the Pac-12 Tournament. ASU also under-promised and over-delivered in 2012-13 (picked for 11th and tied for sixth) and in 2007-08 (picked for ninth but tied for fifth) under Coach Sendek.

NICE HOME SCHEDULE: The USA Today top-25 poll is out, and several Sun Devil opponents who visit Wells Fargo Arena are on the fringe of being ranked. Arizona is ranked second, and the Wildcats visit Tempe on Saturday, Feb. 7, in a game that will be broadcast by FOX at 2:30 p.m. ASU has won two of the past three vs. its in-state rival at Wells Fargo Arena. Defending Ivy League champ Harvard is tied for the No. 26 spot and visits Tempe on Dec. 28 (Noon on Pac-12 Networks), while the other No. 26 Stanford comes to town on Thursday, March 5 (9 p.m.). Utah is the Pac-12 home opener on Thursday, Jan. 15, at 8 p.m. (FOX Sports 1) and is 30th, while UCLA is ranked 33rd and returns to Tempe on Wed., Feb. 18 for an ESPN2 tilt at 7 p.m. Oregon received votes to rank 35th and visits on Friday, Jan. 30 at 6 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks), while Colorado is tied for 36th and has a Jan. 17 tip here on Pac-12 Networks at 2:30 p.m.

DON'T BLAME US: Scoring in DI men's hoops was at its lowest since 1951-52 in 2012-13 (67.5 ppg), but did increase to 71.0 ppg last year. Meanwhile in Tempe, ASU went from averaging 61.0 ppg in 2011-12 to 71.8 ppg in 2012-13, and then followed that up with 75.3 points per game last year, its best mark since averaging 76.0 in 2004-05.

COACH OF THE YEAR:  The Pac-12 in 2014-15 will have five current coaches who have earned Pac-10/12 Coach of the Year. Herb Sendek earned it in 2009-10, while Dana Altman (2012-13), Sean Miller (2010-11 and 2013-14) and Lorenzo Romar (2011-12, 2008-09, and 2004-05) also earned kudos at their respective schools. Washington State head coach Ernie Kent earned the honor at Oregon in 2001-02.

GILLING AND ABLE: Senior Jon Gilling (who by the way speaks Danish, English, Swedish, and German) over his three-year career has proven he can shoot the three-ball. He enters his senior year having made 203-of-510 (.398) from beyond the arc, and he led the Pac-12 at 2.40 three-pointers made per game (84 in 35 games) in his sophomore year (2012-13) ... posted the fourth 20-point game of his career on March 8, 2013, at Oregon State with a season-best 20 as he matched a career-best with six threes ... posted double digits in 13 games on the year ... had 15 vs. Texas in NCAA Tournament on March 20, vs. California on March 1, and vs. College of Charleston on Nov. 29 ... team was 7-3 when he scored 12 in 2013-14 ... seventh Sun Devil to notch 200 career three-pointers ... only one player in Sun Devil history shot it better than Jon last year with at least 150 three-point attempts (66-of-152/.434), and that was Rihards Kuksiks in 2008-09 (93-of-210/.443).

JON GILLING TOP SCORING GAMES
22 at Washington (2/2/13)
21 vs. Arizona (3/4/12)
20 at Oregon State (3/8/14)
20 vs. Washington (1/26/12)

SUN DEVIL SEASON THREE-POINTERS MADE
1. 113 – Stevin Smith, 1993
2. 96 – Stevin Smith, 1994
3. 93 – Rihards Kuksiks, 2009
4. 84 – Jonathan Gilling, 2013

CAREER THREE-POINT GOALS
1. 323 – Stevin Smith, ’90-94
2. 280 – Rihards Kuksiks, ’07-11
3. 273 – Ty Abbott, ’07-11
4. 263 – Ron Riley, ’92-96
5. 250 – Eddie House, ’96-2000            
6. 224 – Jeremy Veal, ’94-98
7. 203 – Jon Gilling, ’11-15

CAREER THREE-POINT ATTEMPTS
1. 891 – Stevin Smith, ’90-94
2. 831 – Ron Riley, ’92-96
3. 757 – Ty Abbott, ’07-11
4. 696 – Rihards Kuksiks, ’07-11
5. 683 – Eddie House, ’96-2000            
6. 564 – Jeremy Veal, ’94-98
7. 510 – Jon Gilling, ’11-15

VS. THE FIRST THREE: It will be the first meeting between the Sun Devils and both Chicago State and Bethune Cookman, as well as Coach Sendek's first meeting vs. both schools...ASU leads the series with Loyola-Marymount 10-9, but the teams have not met since ASU beat LMU 99-71 on March 7, 1980, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament that was held in Tempe in Wells Fargo Arena...ASU's starting five in 1979-80 had a few decent players named Kurt Nimphius, Sam Williams, Alton Lister, Fat Lever and Byron Scott. Lister, Lever and Scott were eventually first-round NBA picks, while Williams was the 33rd overall pick (second round) in 1981 and Nimphius was the 47th overall pick in the third round in 1980.

WHEN ASU FACES MARYLAND: Arizona State and the Terrapins have met just twice, but the most recent meeting was a great one in Arizona State history. Unranked Arizona State entered the 1994 Maui Invitational under Bill Frieder and beat Texas A&M 103-73 and upset No. 13 Michigan 79-62 in the first two rounds. The Sun Devils then topped seventh-ranked and Joe Smith-led Maryland 97-90 in the final on Nov. 23. The Sun Devils shot .604 from the field, while Mario Bennett earned Maui Invitational MVP honors. It marked ASU’s first tournament title outside Arizona since the 1970-71 season, and shot the Sun Devils to 12th in the Associated Press rankings the next week. ASU won seven games against ranked opponents that year en route to a Sweet Sixteen appearance for the first time since the 1974-75 season. Bill Frieder also became first coach to win three Maui Invitational titles, as he won it in 1985 and 1988 at Michigan. Maryland beat ASU 65-50 in the other meeting in the 1953-54 season. Sun Devil head coach Herb Sendek posted seven wins vs. Maryland in his time at North Carolina State.

PRESEASON TOURNAMENTS UNDER COACH SENDEK: ASU has played in Anaheim (Wooden Legacy in November of 2013 and 76 Classic in 2008), Las Vegas Invitational (2012), Orlando (Old Spice Classic in 2011), Anchorage (Great Alaska Shootout in 2010), New York City (Preseason NIT in 2009) and the Maui Invitational (November of 2007) under Coach Sendek in his eight years.

GET SOME POINTS TO START THE YEAR: Dating to the 1980-81 season, the most points in an ASU opener was by Jeremy Veal, who had 32 in a Nov. 16, 1997, win over Cal State Northridge. The most points in Coach Sendek's eight openers at ASU was 24 by the Beard on Nov. 14, 2008, as ASU topped Mississippi Valley State 80-64.

MOST POINTS BY A SUN DEVIL IN OPENER UNDER COACH SENDEK
24-James Harden, So. (ASU 80, Mississippi Valley State 64/Nov. 14, 2008)
23-Jerren Shipp, Fr. (NAU 75, ASU 71/Nov. 13, 2006)
22-Trent Lockett, So. (@New Mexico 76, ASU 62/Nov. 16, 2010)
22-Christian Polk, Fr. (NAU 75, ASU 71/Nov. 13, 2006)