The Arizona State Sun Devil men's hoops team (14-17; 7-11) meets the Stanford Cardinal in the first game of the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas at noon PT/1 p.m. MT Wednesday, March 8, on the Pac-12 Network. Roxy Bernstein and Don MacLean have the call, while Tim Healey and Kyle Dodd have the radio call on the Sun Devil Sports Radio Network, presented by MidFirst (620 AM). ASU swept the Cardinal this year, winning 98-93 in Palo Alto to start the league season on Dec. 30, and then posted a comeback 75-69 win on Feb. 11 in Tempe. Junior Kodi Justice is averaging 19.3 points in the past three games while shooting 15-of-24 (.625) from the three-point stripe, while Torian Graham was the league's top scorer in conference games at 18.6 per game.
PAC-12 MOST THREE-POINTERS
350, Oregon, 2006-07
314, UCLA, 2016-17
309, Arizona State, 2016-17
QUICKLY ON THE TWO WINS OVER STANFORD: Torian Graham averaged 27 points in the two wins over the Cardinal, going 20-of-32 (.625) from the field and 11-of-19 (.579) from the three point stripe, while Tra Holder averaged 20.5 going 11-of-20 (.550) from the field and 14-of-16 (.875) from the four line...ASU shot 25-of-56 (.446) from the three-point stripe and held the Cardinal to 11-of-43 (.256) from behind the arc...ASU was 50-of-65 (.769) from the free throw line while Stanford was 29-of-48 (.604).
SERIES NOTE: Stanford leads the series 48-36, but ASU has won the past three, its best streak since a five-game streak from 1992-94.
THREE-GAME SWEEPS: ASU beat Stanford twice this year, and this will mark the sixth time the Sun Devils have swept an opponent and then will face them in the Pac-10/12 Tournament. ASU has completed the sweep twice, as it beat Arizona three times in 2008-09 and Washington State three times in 1986-87.
SUN DEVIL SWEEPS AND THEN FACE TEAMS IN PAC-12 TOURNAMENT
OREGON 2010-11: Won 60-55 at Oregon, 73-53 in Tempe, lost 76-69 in Los Angeles
STANFORD 2009-10: Won 88-70 in Tempe, 68-60 at Stanford, lost 70-61 in Los Angeles
ARIZONA 2008-09: Won 53-47 in Tucson, 70-68 in Tempe, won 68-56 in Los Angeles
OREGON STATE 2004-05: Won 65-63 at OSU, 76-59 in Tempe, lost 71-68 in Los Angeles
WASHINGTON STATE 1986-87: Won 80-64 at WSU, 66-62 in Tempe, won 76-60 in Los Angeles
SUN DEVIL PAC-12 TOURNAMENT NOTES: Isaac Austin's 19-of-24 (.791) field goal effort in 1990 Pac-12 Tournament is the best in league history with at least that many attempts…Alex Austin's 11 three pointers in 1990 (11-of-22) is third-best in tournament history…the Beard's seven steals vs. USC on March 13, 2008 (freshman season) is a Pac-12 Tournament record…Jahii Carson's 34 points vs. Stanford on March 13, 2013, is sixth-most in tournament history and his 14 field goals is tied for third-most…Mike Redhair's 14 three-point attempts vs. Washington on March 8, 1990, is tied for third-most attempts…Ike Diogu's 18 rebounds vs. Oregon on March 13, 2003, is second-most in tournament history. Eric Boateng also had 15 vs. Stanford on March 11, 2010…Ike Diogu's five blocks vs. UW on March 10, 2005, is tied for second-most in tournament history.
STANFORD-ARIZONA STATE IN THE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
2010 – Stanford won, 70-61, as a No. 7 seed over No. 2 seeded ASU in the quarterfinals
2012 – Stanford won, 85-65, as a No. 7 seed over No. 10 seeded ASU in the first round
2013 – ASU won, 89-88, in OT as a No. 9 seed over No. 8 seeded Stanford in the first round
2014 – Stanford won, 79-58, as a No. 6 seed over No. 3 seeded ASU in the quarterfinals
SEASON RESET: 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...only Tra Holder, Obi Oleka and Kodi Justice returned from last year's team that posted eight wins against top-100 RPI teams in Bobby Hurley's first season...five players average at least 9.0 ppg. overall and five players average at least 33.4 minutes in Pac-12 play.
TAKING CARE OF THE BALL: ASU has done a great job of taking care of the ball, as it has averaged just 6.4 turnovers in its past nine games and is tied for 13th in the nation with just 10.5 turnovers per tilt. ASU's 309 three-pointers already is a school record, while Torian Graham's 98 three-pointers is third on the ASU single-season list and tenth on Pac-12 single season list. He needs just two more three-pointers to become just the eighth Pac-12 player to make 100 in a season. Also random stat from Coach Hurley's two-year tenure at ASU: ASU is 21-0 when shoots better from the field than the opponent (12-0 this year).
PAC-12 MOST 3-POINT FIELD GOALS IN A SEASON
120, Salim Stoudamire, ARIZ, 2005
114, Steve Kerr, ARIZ, 1988
113, Stevin Smith, ASU, 1993
112, Damon Stoudamire, ARIZ, 1995
110, Tajuan Porter, ORE, 2007
106, Jason Gardner, ARIZ, 2002
104, Bryce Alford, UCLA, 2017
98, Torian Graham, ASU, 2017
98, Klay Thompson, WSU, 2011
98, Gabe York, ARIZ, 2016
QUICK HITTERS: ASU's 78.6 points per game is its best since the 1997-98 squad averaged 84.5, as ASU ranks third in the Pac-12 in free throw shooting (.742). ASU is averaging just 10.5 turnovers (first in the league and T-13th in the nation) and 10 three-pointers made, second in the Pac-12. Tra Holder leads the league in free throws made and attempted (146-of-188/.778).
MINUTE(S)MEN: Tra Holder leads the Pac-12 in minutes per game in conference games at 37.9, but not far behind him are two other Sun Devils: Shannon Evans II (36.7/second) and Torian Graham (36.6/third). It doesn't drop off much from there, with Kodi Justice averaging 33.8 and Obi Oleka 33.4. In the past 18 seasons, all three of them rank in the Sun Devil top-10 for minutes per game in Pac-12 tilts.
SUN DEVIL MINUTES PER GAME (PAC-10/12 GAMES) 1999-2000 TO PRESENT/PAST 18 SEASONS
39.3, Eddie House, 1999-2000
39.2, Kevin Kruger, 2005-06
38.3, Jahii Carson, 2012-13
37.9, Tra Holder, 2016-17
37.8, Ike DIogu, 2004-05
37.7, Carrick Felix, 2012-13
37.5, James Harden, 2008-09
37.2, Ike Diogu, 2003-04
36.6, Torian Graham, 2016-17
36.7, Shannon Evans II, 2016-17
BUCKET FILLERS: ASU has three of the top scorers in the Pac-12 entering play this week. Torian Graham (18.2 ppg.) is second followed by Tra Holder (16.5/fifth) and Shannon Evans II (15.2/T-12th).
SHANNON FTS: Shannon Evans II is third in the Pac-12 in free throw percentage (96-of-116/.828), just .009 off the lead. 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.
ASU 75, STANFORD 69 (2/11/17): ASU trailed 67-63 with under three minutes left, but Torian Graham hit back-to-back three pointers and ASU outscored the Cardinal 12-2 down the stretch for the win...ASU trailed 56-47 with 9:19 left but then hit five three-pointers and made 11-of-15 free throws...Graham had 24 points, including six three-pointers...ASU was outrebounded 49-27 and gave up 22 offensive boards but forced 21 turnovers, ASU's best effort in a Pac-12 game since UCLA had 23 on Feb. 12, 2004...it marked ASU's first sweep of Stanford since the 2009-10 season.
STATS IN FINAL 9:19 OF ASU FEB. 11 WIN OVER STANFORD
FG: ASU 6-10/STAN 5-14
3FG: ASU 5-6/STAN 0-4
FT: ASU 11-15/STAN 3-8
POINTS: 28-13
ASU 98, @STANFORD 93 (12/30/16): Lots of three-dot data from the Pac-12 opening win over on Dec. 30...ASU made 33-of-43 free throws (second-most made in a Pac-12 game in ASU history)...52 first-half points were ASU's most in Pac-12 game since Feb. 2, 2010 (54 vs. Stanford)...98 points most by ASU in a Pac-12 road game since 99-90 2OT win at Cal on Jan. 17, 2008, and the most in regulation Pac-12 road game since Jan. 17, 2004 (100-85 at USC)...Torian Graham's 30 points was most by a Sun Devil in Pac-12 opener since Jeff Pendergraph had 31 at Stanford on Jan. 2, 2009...Torian's 30 points off bench most by a Sun Devil since Steve Moore had 31 at UCLA on Feb. 10, 2005...ASU's last win in Palo Alto was Feb. 25, 2010...ASU's 13-of-24 (.542) three-point shooting also is a season high.
ASU'S HIGHEST SCORING PAC-10/12 ROAD GAMES
ASU 111, @California 108, 2OT (Jan. 8, 2000)
ASU 103, @Arizona 98, 2OT (Mar. 11, 1995)
ASU 100, @USC 85 (Jan. 17, 2004)
ASU 99, @California 90, 2OT (Jan. 17, 2008)
@Arizona 127, ASU 99 (Jan. 15, 1998)
ASU 99, @Oregon 84 (Jan. 30, 1993)
ASU 98, @Stanford 93 (Dec. 30, 2016)
2,399 POINTS: Junior Tra Holder moved past the 1,000-point mark at UCLA on Jan. 19 as he is the 36th member of the Sun Devil 1,000-point club. ASU has a backcourt with two 1,000-point scorers, as Shannon Evans has 1,225 career points, 754 of them coming in 62 games at Buffalo.
SUN DEVIL CAREER POINTS
1. Eddie House, 1996-2000/2,044
22. Dennis Dairman, 1962-65/1,220
23. Tra Holder, 2015-present/1,191
FREE THROW DATA: The Sun Devils are making free throws at a rate that is third-best in school history (457-of-616/.742). 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 368-of-497 (.740) from the charity stripe in his 95 games...Shannon Evans II made his first 20 free throws to start the season and is 280-of-347 (.807) in his career.
40-MINUTE MEN: On Feb. 16 at Washington, Tra Holder and Shannon Evans II each played 40 minutes, while Torian Graham and Kodi Justice both played 39 minutes in the 83-81 win. According to Stats Inc., it was the only time in the past 21 seasons (1996-97 to present) that four Sun Devils played at least 39 minutes in a regulation game. It also marked the first time any Pac-12 team had done it since Oregon State at Arizona State on March 5, 2011 (Omari Johnson and Roberto Nelson played 40, while Joe Burton and Kevin McShane played 39). It was so crazy and will probably never happen again...except it did vs. No. 5 UCLA on Feb. 23, when the ASU starters played 199 minutes.
HE CAN PLAY: Transfer Shannon Evans II arrived at ASU after having spent two seasons under Coach Hurley at Buffalo. As a sophomore in 2014-15 he averaged 15.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists and led the Bulls to the NCAA Tournament as he earned second-team All-MAC honors. As a freshman, he averaged 8.5 points and 3.3 assists per game and was named to the All-MAC Freshman Team. He sat the 2015-16 season but has two years to play starting in 2016-17.
SHANNON EVANS II 20-POINT SCORING GAMES (18/9 AT ASU)
33 vs. Cornell (1/3/15)
28 at #13 Oregon (2/2/17)
28 vs. UNLV (12/3/16)
25 vs. Washington (1/25/17)
25 at Ball State (2/4/15)
24 at UT-Arlington (11/18/14)
23 vs. Central Arkansas (12/22/16)
23 at Western Michigan (1/10/15)
23 at Grand Canyon (11/25/14)
21 at Washington State (2/18/17)
21 at Oregon State (2/4/17)
21 vs. Utah (1/7/17)
21 vs. Tulane (11/18/16)
21 at Kent State (2/28/15)
21 at St. Bonaventure (12/3/14)
20 vs. Niagara (12/19/14)
20 vs. Manhattan (12/21/13)
20 vs. Cal Poly (11/13/16
QUICK QUESTIONS WITH SHANNON EVANS
Most upset you have ever been on the court: Losing the NCAA tournament
Happiest you have ever been on the court: Winning the MAC championship
You can go watch a past sporting event live...which one? 1991 Duke vs UNLV
Past Sun Devil (any sport) you wish you could have watched compete: Pat Tillman
ASU 83, USC 82 (2/26/17): ASU trailed 81-71 at the 2:32 mark when Obi Oleka was fouled and made two free throws. It started a great comeback for ASU, who outscored USC 12-1 in that time...Kodi Justice had a career-high 22 points while Tra Holder and Obi Oleka had 18 each...ASU outscored USC 27-11 in points off turnovers, as ASU had just seven...USC did not have a field goal in the final 3:55...ASU is now 9-1 vs. USC in Tempe in the last 10 meetings.
STATS IN FINAL 2:32 OF ASU FEB. 26 WIN OVER USC
FG: ASU 3-6/USC 0-4
3FG: ASU 2-5/USC 0-2
FT: ASU 4-4/USC 1-3
POINTS: 12-1
FALL SIGNINGS: From one coast to the other one, Bobby Hurley's staff signed a pair of top-100 players this past fall, as 6-6 swingman Kimani Lawrence (New Hampton School in New Hampton, N.H.) and 6-2 guard Remy Martin of Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon will join the Sun Devil program in 2017-18. 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 NEXT FALL
54. Kimani Lawrence, 2017 (freshman next year)
81. Romello White, 2016 (sitting this year/academic redshirt)
98. Remy Martin, 2017 (freshman next year)
100. Tra Holder, 2014 (2015 Pac-12 All-Freshman Team)
PUTTING UP NUMBERS: Senior 6-8 forward Obi Oleka has to do much of the big man work this year, as he has led or tied for team lead in rebounding in all but five games. He has 14 double-doubles and had a career-best 17 rebounds vs. Central Arkansas on Dec. 22.
OBI ONE TO KEEP AN EYE ON: It was the Jan. 14 WSU game where forward Obinna Oleka (Oh-BEE-nah Oh-LEH-ka) began to emerge last season. Obi was in double figures in 13 of the final 16 games and averaged 11.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and was 41-of-49 (.837) from the free throw line in that time. He also had three of his four double-doubles in that span. Oleka had no points and one rebound in the first two games, but because he only played five games for State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota the previous two seasons and didn't play in 2014-15, a slow start was expected. Consider this: Before he took the court in the opener Nov. 13, his previous official game was Dec. 7, 2013...a 705-day break between games.
TOP CAREER SCORING GAMES FOR OBINNA OLEKA
22 at #16 Arizona (1/12/17)
20 vs. Citadel (11/23/16)
19 vs. #9 Creighton (12/20/16)
19 vs. Kennesaw State (11/18/15)
OBI OLEKA'S 15 DOUBLE-DOUBLES THIS SEASON
18/10 vs. USC (2/26/17)
12/11 vs. #5 UCLA (2/23/17)
12/14 vs. California (2/8/17)
15/11 vs. Washington State (1/29/17)
17/14 at USC (1/22/17)
10/12 at #3 UCLA (1/19/17)
15/10 vs. Colorado (1/5/17)
18/17 vs. Central Arkansas (12/22/16)
19/16 vs. #9 Creighton (12/20/16)
15/11 vs. New Mexico State (12/17/16)
15/12 at San Diego State (12/10/16)
14/11 vs. #1 Kentucky (11/28/16)
20/15 vs. Citadel (11/23/16)
11/10 vs. Nothern Iowa (11/17/16)
17/13 vs. Cal Poly (11/13/16)
MOST REBOUNDS IN TWO-YEAR SUN DEVIL CAREER
1. Paul Stovall, 1970-72/647
2. Jerry Hahn, 1960-62/553
3. Bobby Lazor, 1997-99/512
4. Obi Oleka, 2015-17/498