The Arizona State Sun Devil men's hoops team that returns three starters from last year's squad and welcomes six newcomers has three games in six days following its Nov. 10 94-74 season opening win over Idaho State. ASU, under third-year head coach Bobby Hurley is led by seniors Tra Holder, Shannon Evans II and Kodi Justice, will take on San Diego State on Tuesday, Nov. 14, at 7 p.m. on Pac-12 Network with Ted Robinson and Don MacLean on the call, while Tim Healey and Kyle Dodd have the call on the Sun Devil Radio Network/98.7 FM.
TOP SCORERS: ASU has two of the top five scorers in the Pac-12 returning, as Tra Holder (16.2 ppg) and Shannon Evans II (15.0) averaged more than 31 points in 2016-17. Only Reid Travis (Stanford), Allonzo Trier (Arizona) and Stephan Thompson (Oregon State) averaged more than Tra and Shannon last year in overall games.
PAC-12 TOP RETURNING SCORERS IN 2017-18
17.4-Reid Travis, Stanford
17.2-Allonzo Trier, Arizona
16.3-Stephen Thompson, Oregon State
16.2-Tra Holder, Arizona State
15.0-Shannon Evans II, Arizona State
NOT MANY CAN SAY THIS: ASU's backcourt has two 1,200-point career scorers. Tra Holder has 1,233 points in 98 Sun Devil games (12.6 ppg.), while Shannon Evans II has 1,248 career points, with 754 of them coming at Buffalo from 2013-15. Combined the duo has made 779 total field goals, 284 three-pointers, 664 free throws and has dropped 2,506 collegiate points in 194 career games.Surgery went well... smiling through the good and the bad ???? pic.twitter.com/NqcEVEDFKe
— Hov (@BallForever_) November 14, 2017
MOST COMBINED CAREER POINTS BY TWO TEAMMATES ENTERING 2017-18
2,707/St. Bonaventure: Jaylen Adams (1,377) and Matt Mobley (1,330)
2,701/Rhode Island: E.C. Matthews (1,519) and Jared Terrell (1,182)
2,639/Xavier: Trevon Bluiett (1,585) and J.P. Macura (1,054)
2,463/Arizona State: Shannon Evans II (1,248) and Tra Holder (1,215)
ASU 94, IDAHO STATE 74 (NOV. 10, 2017): De'Quon Lake posted 24 points -- the best Sun Devil debut since Steve Moore had 26 vs. Arkansas-Little Rock on Nov. 22, 2003 -- and added eight rebounds and three blocks in the season opening win. Shannon Evans II added 25 points, while Tra Holder had 18 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Lake finished 10-of-14 from the line after going 1-of-4 in the first half. ASU led 51-33 at the half, sparked by Remy Martin who finished with 16 points and five assists on 6-of-8 shooting in 34 minutes off the bench. ASU had 22 assists and shot 34-of-65 (.523) from the field.
STRENGTH NOTES: ASU's 78.6 points per game last year was its best since the 1997-98 squad averaged 84.5...ASU ranked third in the Pac-12 in free throw shooting (.749) and averaged just 10.4 turnovers (first in the league and T-11th in the nation) and 9.9 three-pointers made, second in the Pac-12...Tra Holder led the league in free throws made and attempted (152-of-197/.772)...ASU likes to shoot the three as its 328 made last year was third-most in league history behind only Oregon (350 in 2006-07) and UCLA (314 in 2016-17).
PREDICTIONS: ASU was picked sixth in the Pac-12 preseason media poll announced on Oct. 12, its top preseasonranking since being picked fourth in the Pac-10 prior to the 2010-11 season. ASU has been picked 11th (2016-17 and 2012-13), eighth (2015-16), ninth (2014-15 and 2011-12), seventh (2013-14) in seven previous Pac-12 polls. Arizona was picked to finish first, followed by USC, UCLA, Oregon, Stanford, ASU, Utah, Oregon State, Colorado, Washington, California and Washington State.
LENGTH: ASU has some solid wing spans and length this year. De'Quon Lake has a 7-2 wingspan, while Vitaliy Shibel and Romello White are at 7-0. Freshman Kimani Lawrence stretched to 6-11 on his 6-7 frame.
MEET THE SIX: ASU will have six newcomers fill roles in 2017-18, led by three who were in the program last year. Romello White is a 6-8 forward from Suwanee, Ga. who practiced last season as an academic redshirt and was a top-100 player (No. 77 by ESPN, No. 81 by Scout) in the 2016 signing class. Texan Mickey Mitchell is a skilled 6-7 sophomore who started seven games and played in 23 for Ohio State in 2015-16, came to ASU in December of 2016 and will be eligible this December, while 6-9 redshirt freshman Vitaliy Shibel has a great southpaw shooting stroke but missed last year with an ACL injury. Junior college transfer De'Quon Lake has a 6-10 frame and a 7-2 wing span. ESPN 2017 top-100 players Kimani Lawrence (New Hampton School/Providence, RI) is a 6-7 swingman with 6-11 wingspan who is No. 54, while Remy Martin (Sierra Canyon/Chatsworth, Calif.) is a 6-0 lead guard and is No. 82 in the rankings.
NOV. 14 VS. SAN DIEGO STATE (7 P.M./PAC-12 NETWORK): ASU leads the series 17-10, with the last Tempe meeting a 55-52 Sun Devil on Dec. 19, 2009. Last year at SDSU on Dec. 10 ASU fell behind 14-4 and was down 32-25 at the half but came back behind 10 three-pointers and 16-of-18 free throws to win at always tough Viejas Arena, where 2016 MWC regular season champion SDSU was 49-5 in its previous 54. Tra Holder had 17 points. SDSU enters 2017-18 having won an average of 25 games the last 12 seasons (including seven NCAA Tournament appearances) and has won the Mountain West Championship regular season title three of the past four years.
ABOUT THE FRESHMEN: From one coast to the other one, Bobby Hurley's staff signed a pair of top-100 players last fall, as 6-7 swingman Kimani Lawrence (New Hampton School in New Hampton, N.H.) and 6-1 guard Remy Martin of Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon joined the program this summer. A four-star signee according to Scout, Martin averaged 14.5 points as a junior. Lawrence, a four-star small forward from The New Hampton School in New Hampton, N.H., is the nation's 54th overall prospect according to ESPN.
SCOUT.COM SUN DEVIL TOP-100 RECRUITS ON ROSTER
54. Kimani Lawrence, 2017
81. Romello White, 2016
98. Remy Martin, 2017
100. Tra Holder, 2014
2016-17 QUICK NOTES: ASU zig-zagged across North America three times (Orlando, Bahamas and New York City) and got road wins at San Diego State, Stanford, Oregon State and Washington.
SHANNON FTS: Shannon Evans II finished tied for second in the Pac-12 in free throw percentage (100-of-120/.833) last year, just .002 off the leader. Two Sun Devils have led the Pac-12, as Chris Beasley shot .875 (112-of-128) in 1983-84 and Alex Austin made 69-of-80 (.863) in 1988-89.
TRA NOTES: Tra Holder moved past the 1,000-point mark at UCLA on Jan. 19, 2017, as he is the 36th member of the Sun Devil 1,000-point club.
SUN DEVIL CAREER POINTS
1. Eddie House, 1996-2000/2,044
20. Arthur Thomas, 1984-88/1,268
21. Jahii Carson, 2012-14/1,261
22. Tra Holder, 2014-present/1,233
TRA'S YEAR-BY-YEAR IMPROVEMENTS
SEASON: FG% / FT% / PPG
2014-15: .317 / .708 / 7.0
2015-16: .387 / .727 / 14.2
2016-17: .433 / .772 / 16.2
FREE THROWS: The Sun Devils made free throws at a rate that was third-best in school history (489-of-653/.749) last year. ASU shot .756 in 1977-78 and .754 in 1954-55 for its best seasons...ASU went 12-of-12 in the second half of tight win at San Diego State on Dec. 10 and was 16-of-18 for the game...Tra Holder is 378-of-510 (.741) from the charity stripe in his 98 games...Shannon Evans II made his first 20 free throws to start the 2016-17 season and is 286-of-353 (.810) in his 96-game career.