Men's Hoops Third Game in Five Days is at Pauley Pavilion Monday at 6 p.m. PT
SPARKY ON THE ROAD FOR TRIO: The Sun Devil men's basketball squad (10-15; 6-9) takes its three-game win streak to Los Angeles, Boulder and Salt Lake City as it plays three road games in six days starting with a trip to Pauley Pavilion on Monday (Feb. 21) to take on the Bruins, with FS1 on the call with Noah Eagle and Steve Lavin. ASU played its best game of the year in an 81-57 route of Oregon -- who had won 11 of previous 13 -- Thursday as ASU shot a season-high 31-of-54 (.574) from the field and 9-of-20 (.450) from three and scored 45 second-half points for a regular season sweep of the Ducks for the first time since 2011. ASU has now won three of the past four in Tempe against the Ducks (3-2 overall in the past five). On Saturday, ASU took care of business early over Oregon State as the game was tied at 2-2 and that was it in a 73-53 win as five Sun Devils notched double digits. ASU is 4-2 in its past six that started with the triple-overtime win over UCLA on Feb. 5.
ABOUT THE MODEST 3-GAME STREAK: ASU won at Washington State (58-55 on Feb. 12), against Oregon (81-57 on Feb. 17) and against Oregon State (73-53 on Feb. 19) for its three-game win streak. Marreon Jackson is 11-of-18 (.611) from the three-point stripe and 16-of-25 (.640 from the field in those three games and is averaging a team-best 15.0 points per game. ASU is holding opponents to just 58-of-168 (.345) from the field, 17-of-78 (.218) from three and 55 points in that time and is shooting .503 (83-of-165) and outrebounding its opponent by +4.4 per game. The second-half offensive efficiency has been great, as ASU is 41-of-81 (.506) from the field, 12-of-28 (.429) from three and is outscoring opponents 107-77.
WILD NOTE AS OF FEB. 20: ASU is tied with Stanford for second-most Quad 1 wins in the Pac-12 (4-7), as Arizona is 5-2 and Stanford also is 4-7. ASU strength of schedule is fourth-best, and its non-conference slate is currently fourth-best as well. ASU is 4-7 against Quad 1 and 6-8 vs. the others. The Sun Devil Quad 1 wins are at Oregon (63), at Creighton (67), UCLA (13) and at Washington State (48).
SOME REALLY GOOD TILTS BETWEEN ASU AND UCLA: ASU has won five of the past eight vs. UCLA, and the past four meetings have been sensational. ASU won the last meeting on Feb. 5 in Tempe 87-84 in triple overtime as the teams posted only 20 combined turnovers in 55 minutes...on Feb. 20, 2021, UCLA won in Pauley 80-79 as ASU led for all but one second and had just five turnovers...on Jan. 7, 2021 in Tempe, ASU took UCLA to overtime without four players due to COVID protocols as four Sun Devils played at least 42 minutes...on Feb. 27, 2020, the week before COVID became a thing, ASU (18-9; 10-4) walked into Pauley Pavilion in first place in the Pac-12 but fell 75-72 on a last second three-pointer in front of 9,626 maskless people.
THE PAST FOUR ASU-UCLA TILTS
ASU 87, #3 UCLA 84/Feb. 5, 2022 -- teams combine for just 20 turnovers
@UCLA 80, ASU 79/Feb. 20, 2021 -- ASU leads for all but one second
UCLA 81, ASU 75 OT/Jan. 7, 2021 -- Sun Devils down 4 players, but battle
@UCLA 75, ASU 72/Feb. 27, 2020 -- First place Sun Devils lose on last-second three
WHAT HAPPENED RECENTLY WASN'T NORMAL: ASU competed a five-game stretch prior to the Washington game where it played at #16 USC, at #3 Arizona and then at home vs. #19 USC, vs. #3 UCLA and vs. #4 Arizona in 15 days. It marked the first time a Pac-12 team had played five straight ranked teams since the 2001-02 Sun Devil squad played six straight.
JALEN SOLID: One good thing that came out of the Colorado Jan. 15 loss was the play of Jalen Graham, who had a then career-high 16 points in just over 19 minutes, including 6-of-7 from the free throw line. He then had 12 points in just 14:23 (foul trouble) in the Jan. 17 win over Utah including the game-winner with four seconds left. On Jan. 22 at Stanford he was 8-of-13 from the floor and again had 16 points and tied the game at 76 with under seven seconds left. After averaging 4.8 points in his first 11 games this year (and 5.2 points in first 60 games of career) he is averaging 14.1 points and 6.1 rebounds in the past 12. The USC (19 points at home and 15 points on road), Oregon (18 points), UCLA (16 points and career-best six assists), Stanford (16 points) and Colorado (16 points) are the top six scoring games of his career. After starting season 7-of-23 from the foul line, he has made 22-of-32 (.688) in those 12 games.
JALEN GRAHAM FIRST 11/PAST 12 GAMES
PPG: 4.8/14.1
RPG: 3.0/6.1
APG: 0.5/2.7
FG-A: 23-55 (.418)/73-141 (.518)
FT-A: 7-23 (.304)/22-32 (.688)
ASU 73, OREGON STATE 53 (FEB. 19, 2022): ASU never let it get tied beyond 2-2 in a 73-53 win over Oregon State, as the Sun Devils jumped out to a 42-29 hafltime lead and stretched it to 26 behind five players in double digits. Marreon Jackson led with 15 points off the bench, while Jay Heath added 13. DJ Horne led a 17-assist night with six as ASU added 10 steals and outscored the Beavers 22-8 in bench points and 20-8 in points off turnovers for its 13th straight over the Beavers in Tempe.
ASU 81, OREGON 57 (FEB. 17, 2022): ASU led for nearly 37 minutes and shot 17-of-28 (.607) in the second half and led by as many as 27 in an 81-57 route of Oregon Thursday, completing its first regular season sweep of the Ducks since the 2010-11 season. Jalen Graham had 18 points, nine boards and five assists while Kimani Lawrence, DJ Horne and Marreo Jackson all had 16 points, with Jackson's all coming off the bench in the first half. ASU outrebounded Oregon 40-29 and had 19 assists (including a career-best six from Jay Heath) and eight steals and outscored Oregon 18-4 in fast break points.
DEFENSE: ASU is holding opponents to .402 shooting (590-1467), its best defensive effort since 2009-10 (.402/678-of-1687), tied for fourth best in school history. ASU has held 14 opponents under 40 percent shooting.
ASU BEST FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE DEFENSE
.391 -- 1962-63 (791-2024)
.399 -- 1971-72 (797-of-1997)
.401 -- 1967-68 (834-2078)
.402 -- 2021-22 (590-1467)
.402 -- 2009-10 (678-1687)
.410 -- 2012-13 (861-2098)
.410 -- 2007-08 (718-1752)
CRAZY NOTE FROM USC FEB. 3: ASU lost a tough one to #19 USC on Feb. 3 58-53 despite holding USC to 30 percent shooting (18-of-60), the first time since 1996-97 it held an opponent to 30 percent or less shooting and lost (27 times). ASU fell behind 14-2 but led 40-32 with under 12 minutes but USC outscored ASU 26-13 to close the game. THREE DOTS ON DUDES: Kimani Lawrence is averaging 10.7 points and 6.8 rebounds and enters Oregon State game with 940 career points...Jay Heath and Jalen Graham each missed the first two games -- and many practices -- because of COVID protocols...Alonzo Gaffney leads team with 35 blocks and posted 10 points in the triple overtime win over UCLA...Marreon Jackson's 98 assists is team best and he has played in 152 games and is 393-of-478 (.822) at the free throw line with 2,067 career points (13.6 ppg.). He is averaging 16.2 points in the past six games...Luther Muhammad started 54 games in his first two years at Ohio State before sitting last year at ASU with a shoulder injury. After scoring seven points in the previous five games, he matched a season-high with 12 at Wazzu and is a .800 career free throw shooter (128-of-160).
SUN DEVIL GAMES
1. 132 – Jon Gilling, '11-15
2. 131 – Derek Glasser, '06-10
3. 130 – Kimani Lawrence, '17-22
3. 130 – Eric Jacobsen, '12-16
3. 130 – Ty Abbott, '07-11
ABOUT FEB. 5, 2022: ASU topped No. 3 UCLA 87-84 in triple overtime on Feb. 5 and now have eight wins over AP top three teams in their history, four of them in the past 41 years (1981-92 to present). Two of them were by a Bobby Hurley-coached squad over Kansas and then the UCLA win. Random note: Bill Walton was the color commentator for all four of them in past 41 years.
ASU WINS OVER ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP THREE TEAMS
ASU 87, #3 UCLA 84 3 OT (Feb. 5, 2022)
#18 ASU 80, #1 Kansas 76 (Dec. 22, 2018)
#16 ASU 95, at #2 Kansas 85 (Dec. 10, 2017)
ASU 69, #2 Arizona 66 (2 OT) (Feb. 14, 2014)
#5 ASU 87, #1 Oregon State 67 (Mar. 7, 1981)ASU 95, #3 USC 78 (Dec. 1, 1971)
ASU 68, @#2 USC (Dec.12, 1970)
ASU 89, #3 Michigan 87 (Dec. 27, 1965 at Portland/Far West Classic)
CLOSE: Coach Hurley's Sun Devils have done a good job of winning close games through the years. It got some fast on Dec. 5 at Oregon (69-67), followed it up with a 67-62 win over 2021 WAC Champion Grand Canyon on Dec. 9, added a 58-57 win at Creighton on Dec. 14 and then a 64-62 win over Utah on Jan. 17. ASU's first two losses were by three points total, losing on a 65-footer to UC Riverside (66-65 on Nov. 11) and a tough 65-63 game at San Diego State (Nov. 18) that had 10 lead changes and six ties. ASU is 17-8 in Pac-12 two-possession games the past three years and 23-12 overall. Its 23 wins in that time is the most in the league.
PAC-12 TWO POSSESSION GAMES (2019-22)
Oregon, 19-8 (.704)
UCLA, 20-9 (.690)
USC, 16-8 (.667)
Arizona State, 23-12 (.657)
LONG PAUSE: Here is how one-game in 27 days happened prior to ASU losing to Colorado (Jan. 15)...ASU fell to San Francisco 66-65 on Dec. 19 on three USF free throws in the final seconds...ASU then played once prior to Jan. 15 Colorado game...on Dec. 21, ASU had its Florida A&M home game canceled due to campus power outage that affected several buildings...team broke for holiday break only to learn its Dec. 30 at USC and Jan. 1 at UCLA games were postponed due to protocols with the Trojans and Bruins...ASU scrambled and moved its Jan. 19 tilt at California to Jan. 2...upon returning, ASU had to enter a pause due to COVID protocols, which meant it couldn't play a Jan. 5 game at UCLA (rescheduled from Jan. 1), its Jan. 8 Arizona game (since played Feb. 7) and its Jan. 13 Utah game (since played Jan. 17). How weird is one game from Dec. 20-Jan. 14? Using 2016-17 as an example, ASU played seven games in that time frame.
FT LINE: ASU's backcourt of Marreon Jackson (47-of-58), DJ Horne (28-of-29 and made his first 22 on the season), Jay Heath (35-of-43) Luther Muhammad (21-of-26) and Jamiya Neal (11-of-16) are a combined 142-of-172 (.826) at the free throw line.
WILD STAT: ASU held Washington State to 18-of-59 (.305) shooting in both games this year. It won the road tilt (58-55) and lost the one in Tempe by 22 (51-29). It also held USC to 18-of-60 (.300), which means ASU is 1-2 in games it has held opponents to under .310 shooting.
COACH HURLEY AT ASU: Posted third straight 20-win season in 2019-20 for just the third time in program history...top two average attendance marks in ASU history, including ASU-best 10,603 in 2017-18...2019-20 COVID-shortened season saw ASU (20-11) post its first seven-game Pac-12 win streak since the 1980-81 team won 11 straight...entered season with 28 halftime comebacks in his six years, tops in the Pac-12...11-7 in the Pac-12 in 2019-20 after going 12-6 in 2018-19, just the second time in the previous 25 seasons the Sun Devils posted back-to-back winning Pac-12 records...best two non-conference wins in school history vs. No. 1 Kansas on Dec. 22, 2018 and at No. 2 Kansas on Dec. 10, 2017...reached NCAA Tournament for just fourth time in 23 seasons in 2018 and then followed it with back-to-back appearances for the first time since 1980-81 in 2019...in November of 2017, defeated two eventual 2018 NCAA Tournament No. 1 seeds in a span of a two weeks (Kansas and Xavier)...matched highest AP ranking in school history (third) in December of 2017...9-3 in out of conference regular season road games, second-best in nation.
WEIRD NOTES: ASU had 12 more made field goals at Stanford on Jan. 22, but lost the game. How freakin' weird is that? That is the first time that has happened since April 1, 2016, when Morehead State had 14 more made field goals in an 85-82 loss at Nevada in overtime. The last time it happened in a regulation game was when East Tennessee State had 12 more made field goals than Tennessee Tech on Dec. 2, 2015. ASU also held USC to 18-of-60 (.300) on Feb. 3 and lost, the first time that has happened in 27 Sun Devil games dating to 1996-97.
JAY HEATH: After missing the first two games due to COVID, Jay Heath averaged six points and was 5-of-20 from the field in his first three games. Since that time in his past 18 games he is averaging 11.4 points with season-high 16 points vs. Loyola, USF and No. 4 Arizona. He has made 18-of-44 (.409) threes in the past 10 games and is 35-of-43 (.814) from the free throw line after entering the year 71-of-114 (.623). He is averaging 12.5 points per game in 72 career games.
SCHEDULE: By playing Baylor, Syracuse and Loyola in the Battle 4 Atlantis, ASU had a nine-game stretch where it faced seven 2021 NCAA Tournament teams (Washington State and San Francisco the others). In that stretch ASU played at last year's MWC champion (San Diego State), defending NCAA champ (Baylor), Syracuse (Sweet 16), Loyola (Sweet 16), at Pac-12 champion (Oregon), WAC champion (GCU) and at Creighton (Sweet 16) in 32 days.
DJ: DJ Horne hit a career-high six threes on Nov. 24 vs. Baylor. He averaged 15.1 ppg. last year at Illinois State and is a .859 career free throw shooter (85-of-99). He sent the Dec. 5 Oregon game into overtime with a three with under four seconds left, as he had season-high 23 points, six rebounds and three assists. He has 946 career points in 80 games (11.8 ppg.).
RESET: The Sun Devils had new faces and a few returners like all of college hoops. Bobby Hurley in his seventh year returned "super" fifth-year senior Kimani Lawrence, junior Jalen Graham and sophomore Marcus Bagley. Luther Muhammad sat last year (shoulder injury) after transferring from Ohio State. ASU added graduate transfer Marreon Jackson from Toledo (2020-21 MAC Player of Year in his fifth year), along with DI transfers DJ Horne (Illinois State) and Jay Heath (Boston College) and junior college transfer Alonzo Gaffney, who started his career at Ohio State. Freshmen Jamiya Neal and Enoch Boakye and ASU started the season with a 10-man rotation.
PEEPS IN SEATS: Everyone knows 2019-20 and 2020-21 hit the Sun Devil program hard in terms of momentum. In addition to a third straight NCAA Tournament appearance getting canceled in 2020 -- which would have been a first for the program since the early 1960s -- ASU had turned the corner on attendance. Desert Financial Arena averaged 10,140 fans in the three years starting with 2017-18, with 496,872 fans attending 49 Sun Devil games, as ASU racked up a 39-10 record. In the three previous seasons in 51 games ASU averaged 6,087 fans (310,459).
20: One can't take for granted what ASU did from 2017-20. Coming off records in of 23-11 (2018-19) and 20-12 in 2017-18, ASU notched its third straight 20-win season in the COVID cut 2019-20, something it had done just twice. In James Harden's 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. ASU went 23-6 in 1960-61, 23-4 in 1961-62 and 26-3 in 1962-63, led by another Olympic gold medalist, Jumpin' Joe Caldwell.
MARREON (SAY IT MAR (LIKE CAR) - REON): Toledo graduate transfer Marreon Jackson entered 2021-22 with 1,817 career points (14.3 ppg.) and 573 career assists. The 2020-21 MAC Player of the Year posted two triple doubles last season and made a school record 41 straight free throws to open the 2020-21 season. He posted five 30-point games at Toledo and in the final 10 games of 2020-21 averaged 19.5 points, 8.8 rebounds and 6.4 assists. He shot .904 from the free throw line in 2020-21, eighth-best in the nation as he was 103-of-114 and entering this year a career .824 free throw shooter (346-of-420).
GOOD NOTE: ASU has defeated nine ranked teams in Bobby Hurley's seven 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 87, #3 UCLA 84 3 OT (Feb. 5, 2022)
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 40, #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)
KIMANI: Kimani Lawrence had 21 points and 20 rebounds on Feb. 25, 2021, vs. Washington which was the first 20/20 outing by a Sun Devil since Nov. 19, 1997 (Mike Batiste gave Wagner 36/20) and the only 20/20 by a Sun Devil in a Pac-12 game. The 21 rebounds is second-most by a Sun Devil in a Pac-12 game. He also matched a career highs in points (22) in the Feb. 23 win over Washington. He posted double digits in 14 games in 2018-19 and his best game was 22-point effort vs. Mississippi State in Las Vegas on Nov. 19, 2018, including the game-winning three-pointer with the scored tied and 29 seconds left.
PAC-12 20/20 GAMES (1996-97 TO PRESENT)
Kimani Lawrence, ASU vs. Washington (Feb. 25, 2021) -- 21/20
Deandre Ayton, Arizona vs. California (Mar. 3, 2018) – 26/20
Noah Dickerson, UW vs. E. Washington (Nov. 12, 2017) – 28/22
Josh Hawkinson, WSU vs. Washington (Jan. 6, 2016) -- 21/20
Matt Maryasz, Stanford vs. Oregon (Jan. 20, 2005) – 20/20
Mike Batiste, ASU vs. Wagner (Nov. 19, 1997) – 36/20
Tim Young, Stanford vs. Oregon (Jan. 16, 1997) – 20/21
Todd MacCullouch, UW vs. UCLA (Jan. 31, 1999) – 26/21
Todd MacCullouch, UW vs. ASU (Jan. 8, 1998) – 30/21
Curtis Borchardt, Stanford vs. Arizona (Feb. 2, 2002) – 25/21
GOOD EARLY: Coach Hurley's Sun Devils have been good in November. The program captured Las Vegas titles at the 2017 Continental Tire Invitational and at the 2018 MGM Resorts Main Event. It has posted wins vs. Rhode Island and St. John's in Connecticut, Utah State, Mississippi State, Xavier and Kansas State in Las Vegas, Tulane in Orlando and North Carolina State in Brooklyn.
FINAL FOUR: Coach Hurley is one of three current head coaches who earned Final Four MOP, one of 10 who won the NCAA title as a player, and is the only one to win it twice.
CURRENT HEAD COACHES TO WIN NCAA TITLE AS PLAYER
Steve Alford, Indiana (1987) — Nevada
Kenny Blakeney, Duke (1991) — Howard
Juan Dixon, Maryland (2002 MOP) — Coppin State
Patrick Ewing, Georgetown (1984 MOP) — Georgetown
Bobby Hurley, Duke (1991,1992 MOP) — Arizona State
Nate James, Duke (2001) — Austin Peay
Steve Masiello, Kentucky (1998) — Manhattan
Wes Miller, North Carolina (2005) — Cincinnati
Josh Pastner, Arizona (1997) — Georgia Tech
Mark Pope, Kentucky (1996) — BYU