Full Men's Hoops Schedule Notes and Breakdown

2020-21 Sun Devil Men's Basketball Links and Features | Sun Devil Men's Basketball All-Time AP Rankings | Sun Devil Men's Basketball Year-by-Year Records/Postseason | ASU Men's Basketball Degrees Earned (1990-present) | Pac-12 Nov. 25 Schedule Update

The Pac-12 announced in late November more news on the Pac-12 schedule in 2020-21. Below the list of the schedule is a breakdown on all kinds of items on the Pac-12 schedule. 

2020-21 SUN DEVIL MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
Wednesday, Nov. 25 vs. Rhode Island at Mohegan Sun/Empire Classic, 7 p.m. ET/ESPN
Thursday, Nov. 26: vs. #3 Villanova at Mohegan Sun/Empire Classic, 9:30 p.m./ET
Sunday, Nov 29: vs. Houston Baptist, 2 p.m./Pac-12 Network
Thurs., Dec. 3: at California, 7 p.m. PT/Pac-12 Network
Thurs., Dec 10 vs. San Diego State, 8 p.m./FS1
Sun., Dec 13 at Grand Canyon
Wed, Dec. 16: vs. UTEP
Friday, Dec. 18 vs. Incarnate Word
Tues., Dec. 22: vs. Utah (7 p.m./Pac-12 Network)
Thurs., Dec. 31: at Washington State
Sat., Jan. 2: at Washington
Thurs., Jan. 7: vs. UCLA
Sat., Jan. 9: vs. USC
Thurs., Jan. 14: at Oregon
Sat., Jan. 16: at Oregon State
Thurs., Jan. 21: vs. Arizona
Thurs., Jan. 28: vs. California
Sat., Jan. 30:  vs. Stanford
Thurs., Feb. 4: at Colorado
Sat., Feb. 6: at Utah
Thurs., Feb. 11: vs. Oregon
Sun., Feb. 14: vs. Oregon State
Wed., Feb. 17: at USC
Sat., Feb. 20: at UCLA
Thurs., Feb. 25: vs. Washington 
Sat., Feb. 27: vs. Washington State
Sat., March 6: at Arizona

WHY DECEMBER PAC-12 GAMES?
The Sun Devil men's basketball team -- the highest scoring squad in the Pac-12 over the past three seasons at 78.1 points per game -- will open its 2020-21 Pac-12 season at California on Dec. 3 and close it at Arizona on March 6. The Sun Devils will visit California on Thursday, Dec. 3, to open the season and host Utah on Tuesday, Dec. 22, for their two December league tilts. They will not host Colorado and not travel to Stanford. ASU will open Pac-12 season on the road for the ninth time in the past 13 seasons.

20 LEAGUE GAMES
The Conference received approval to move to a 20-game format in May 2019, and announced original dates for the additional two games in December 2019. However, due to the NCAA's shift in season start date to Nov. 25, programs were allowed to reach mutually agreeable dates for the previously scheduled league games. In total, five of the original 12 dates were moved to allow for flexibility in non-league scheduling due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The remainder of league play will resume the week of Dec. 30 and conclude March 6 or 7 ahead of the 2021 Pac-12 Men's Basketball Tournament at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas from March 10-13.

QUICK REVIEW FROM LAST SEASON
Bobby Hurley's fifth squad in 2019-20 won 20 games for the third straight season for just the third time in school history and posted a seven-game Pac-12 win streak in February, the program's longest since it won 11 straight in 1980-81. The team's 11-7 record marked just the second time it posted back-to-back winning seasons in Pac-12 play in the past 25 years. Remy Martin earned Pac-12 first-team honors, while Alonzo Verge Jr. claimed the league's Sixth Man of the year Award. Verge led the nation in off-the-bench scoring at 16.8 points per game in 19 games, while the team led the league in steals (249/8.03 per game), turnover margin (+3.19) and turnovers forced (16.42). The Sun Devils averaged 9,251 fans on the, sixth on the all-time Sun Devil list. ASU defeated two ranked teams at home (No. 22 Arizona on Jan. 25 and No. 14 Oregon on Feb. 20), as the Sun Devils came back from 22 down (37-15) to beat the Wildcats.

PAC-12 OPENER AT CAL (DEC. 3): The Sun Devils have won five of the past seven at Haas Pavilion and are 10-4 vs. California in its past 14. Remy Martin, who earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors last season, averaged 22.6 ppg. and had eight 20-point games in ASU's 11 true road contests (6-5) last year. He led the team last year in road scoring at 15.0 ppg. Solid stat: He has posted 10 games of 24+ points in his career, seven of them have been on the road.

PAST 13 PAC-12 OPENERS (HOME GAMES BOLD)
ASU at California (Dec. 3, 2020)
at #25 Arizona 75, ASU 47 (Jan. 4, 2020)
Utah 96, ASU 86 (Jan. 3, 2019)
at #17 Arizona 84, #3 ASU 78 (Dec. 30, 2017)
ASU 98, at Stanford 93 (Dec. 30, 2016)
#4 Arizona 94, ASU 82 (Jan. 3, 2016)
at #8 Arizona 73, ASU 49 (Jan. 4, 2015)
Washington 76, ASU 65 (Jan. 2, 2014)
ASU 55, Utah 54 OT (Jan. 2, 2013)
at Arizona 68, ASU 51 (Dec. 31, 2011)
at Oregon State 80, ASU 58 (Dec. 30, 2010)
at UCLA 72, ASU 70 (Dec. 31, 2009)
ASU 90, at Stanford 60 (Jan. 2, 2009)

VS. SAN DIEGO STATE: ASU under Bobby Hurley has never shied away from good non-conference games, so it is no shock his staff pursued a team that won its first 26 games last year and finished sixth in the final AP poll with a 30-2 record. The Sun Devils will host 2020 Mountain West Conference champion San Diego State on Dec. 10 and then return the trip to San Diego in December of 2021. ASU last played the Aztecs on Nov. 14, 2017, as the Sun Devils notched a second-half comeback to win 90-68 in Tempe. SDSU enters 2020-21 having won an average of 24.9 games the last 15 seasons (including eight NCAA Tournament appearances that would have been nine in 2019-20) and has won the Mountain West Championship regular season title four of the past seven years.

"This is a big part of what we do," says Sun Devil head coach Bobby Hurley, who is in his sixth season in Tempe and has led ASU to three straight 20-win seasons. "We are thrilled to matchup with San Diego State the next two seasons and add them to an already challenging schedule that now includes 20 Pac-12 games. We take great pride in making every effort to play one of the most demanding and toughest non-conference schedules in the nation.

FIRST PAC-12 HOME GAME VS. UTAH (DEC. 22): ASU is 4-4 vs. the Utes in Tempe in Pac-12 play. ASU and Utah had split the season series the previous two seasons, with each team winning on the road, but only met in Tempe last year with ASU winning 83-64 behind 24 points from Rob Edwards.

OFF TO THE GREAT NORTHWEST (DEC. 31-JAN. 2): The Sun Devils missed the Seattle/Pullman swing in 2018-19, but have notched a split in each of Bobby Hurley's other four seasons, winning at Pullman in 2017-18 and 2015-16 and getting a win in Seattle in 2016-17 and 2019-20.

HOSTING USC AND UCLA (JAN 7-9): Last year the Sun Devils swept UCLA and USC in Tempe. ASU has won four of the past five over UCLA and has won 11 of past 12 vs. USC in Tempe.

PAST 12 ASU VS. USC GAMES IN TEMPE (ASU LEADS 11-1)
ASU 66, USC 64/Feb. 8, 2020
ASU 80, USC 77/Feb. 8, 2018
ASU 83, USC 82/Feb. 26, 2017
ASU 74, #23 USC 67/Feb. 12, 2016
ASU 64, USC 59/Feb. 22, 2015
ASU 98, USC 93 (OT)/Jan. 24, 2013
ASU 56, USC 52/Feb. 25, 2012
USC 63, ASU 61/Jan. 27, 2011
ASU 59, USC 54/Mar. 4, 2010
ASU 65, USC 53/Feb. 15, 2009
ASU 80, USC 66/Mar. 1, 2008
ASU 68, #22 USC 58/Feb. 18, 2007

TERRITORIAL CUP IN TEMPE (JAN. 21): The Territorial Cup in Tempe takes place the fourth full weekend of the Pac-12 Season. ASU has topped the Wildcats in five of the past nine in Tempe and has 12 wins vs. Arizona in the past 13 seasons. The 69-66 double-overtime Sun Devil win over No. 2 Arizona (23-1 entering game) on Feb. 14, 2014, was the highest-ranked team the Sun Devils had topped at home – until it beat No. 1 Kansas on Dec. 22, 2018. On Jan. 31, 2019, in Tempe, Remy Martin had 31 points and eight assists while Zylan Cheatham had 22 rebounds -- the most by any Pac-12 player in a league game in 19 seasons -- to lead ASU to a 95-88 overtime win over hot-shooting Arizona.

HOSTING UO AND OSU (FEB. 11-14): ASU has an 11-game win streak over Oregon State in Tempe and is 12-7 vs. Oregon in Tempe since 2001 and has won seven of the past 11 in Tempe in the series. In 2018 ASU came back from a 13-point deficit with 11 minutes left to go for a 77-75 victory over Oregon State in Tempe. Last year the Sun Devils swept the Oregon schools in Tempe, which included a 74-73 win over Oregon State and a 77-72 win over No. 14 Oregon as Alonzo Verge Jr. had 26 points off the bench.
 
ASU'S 11-GAME WIN STREAK IN TEMPE OVER OSU
ASU 74, Oregon State 73/Feb. 22, 2020
ASU 70, Oregon State 67/Jan. 17, 2019
ASU 77, Oregon State 75/Jan. 13, 2018
ASU 86, Oregon State 68/Jan. 28, 2016
ASU 73, Oregon State 55/Jan. 28, 2015
ASU 86, Oregon State 82 (OT)/Feb. 6, 2014
ASU 76, Oregon State 66/Jan. 14, 2012
ASU 80, Oregon State 66/Mar. 5, 2011
ASU 56, Oregon State 46/Feb. 11, 2010
ASU 69, Oregon State 38/Jan. 8, 2009
ASU 72, Oregon State 53/Jan. 5, 2008

AT ARIZONA (MARCH 6): The Sun Devils head to Tucson to close the regular season on Saturday, March 6. ASU swept Arizona in 2018-19 for the first time since 2008-09 and won in Tucson for the first time since winter of 2010. Last year, the team's split with each winning at home.

PAC-12 ROAD WINS: ASU's 5-4 Pac-12 road mark in 2018-19 was its best since the 2009-10 and 2008-09 teams each went 5-4 as well and matched ASU's best Pac-12 road mark in 39 seasons. Bobby Hurley's fourth season was only ASU's sixth winning road record since it joined the Pac-10 in 1978-79. Ned Wulk's 1980-81 (8-1) and 1979-80 (7-2) set the bar, while Bill Frieder's 1994-95 Sweet Sixteen team also went 5-4.
 
SUN DEVIL WINNING ROAD RECORDS IN PAC-12
2018-19: 5-4 (12-6/2nd)
2009-10: 5-4 (12-6/2nd)
2008-09: 5-4 (11-7/T-3rd)
1994-95: 5-4 (12-6/3rd)
1980-81: 8-1 (16-2/2nd)
1979-80: 7-2 (15-3/2th)