Aug. 13, 2012

--Want to go to the Las Vegas Invitational? Click right here!

SOME SUMMERTIME @SUNDEVILHOOPS CLIPS...
--Sun Devils Serve: Men's Hoops Visits Andre House Again
--ASU basketball putting its faith in Bachynski (by Craig Morgan, FOXSportsArizona.com/July 19, 2012)
--Carson's wait about to end in good way (by Paola Boivin/Arizona Republic/June 16, 2012)
--'Old soul' Gordon expected to bring scoring to Sun Devils (by Doug Haller, AZCentral.com/July 18, 2012)
--Check out No. 4 on the Rothstein Files: 10 Underrated Transfers For The 2012-13 College Basketball Season (by Jon Rothstein, CBSSports.com/June 8, 2012)

The Pac-12 has announced the 2012-13 men's hoops schedule (dates and opponents, times to come later towards September), and there is an interesting wrinkle this year...Wednesday games.

All TV and times will be completed in early September by the Pac-12, Pac-12 Networks, FOX Sports Net and ESPN. The Sun Devils will open the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 10, at Wells Fargo Arena against Central Arkansas, matching the earliest tip date in school history and will have 19 regular season home games for just the second time in school history.

"We open a new era in the Pac-12 on Jan. 2 with the Pac-12 Networks and look forward to variety in the conference schedule this year with conference games on Wednesdays for the first time," notes Herb Sendek, the 2009-10 Pac-10 Coach of the year. "We have some new faces and could have a lot of changes in what we do, both subtle and obvious, and the schedule is appropriate for this team right now. We had some good momentum towards the latter part of last season with Carrick (Felix), Jordan (Bachynski), Jon (Gilling), Chris (Colvin) and Ruslan (Pateev) playing well and making big improvements in their game. We also are counting on three players to make an impact who only could practice last year, as well as getting three freshman adjusted."

Last year Jordan Bachynski in the final 13 games had solid improvement. An example was the free throw shooting. He entered the Stanford Feb. 2 game 20-of-50 (.400) for the season and 40-of-90 (.444) in his career, but was 10-of-12 (.833) in that game. He had seven double-figure scoring games in those 13 games. In his final 10 games, he was 33-of-47 (.702) at the charity stripe, in the first 21 games he was 20-of-50 (.400). In the final 13 games he averaged double-figure points (10.1) and 5.9 boards per game.

Jonathan Gilling, a freshman last year, averaged 29.9 minutes, 9.0 points and was 48-of-115 (.417) from the three-point stripe in the final 22 games including going bonkers vs. Arizona on March 4 with 21 points on 7-of-8 shooting and 5-of-6 threes. He averaged 8.8 MINUTES in the first eight games but 9.0 POINTS in his final 22 games. He had eight double-figure scoring efforts in final 18 tilts.

Arizona State will play 19 home games for just the second time in school history (other was in 2009-10), and will travel to Lubbock to face Texas Tech for the first time since the 1988-89 season. The Red Raiders and Sun Devils will play on Dec. 22. ASU last visited Lubbock on Dec. 8, 1988 with ASU winning 81-75. Texas Tech will return the trip in 2013-14 to Tempe.

--Click here for the 2012-13 Sun Devil Men's Basketball Schedule

A Big East team will visit Wells Fargo Arena for the first time since the 1993-94 season, as DePaul will play in Tempe on Wednesday, Dec. 12. ASU beat Villanova 73-62 in overtime on Dec. 29, 1993, the last time a Big East team came to Wells Fargo Arena. ASU will return the trip to Chicago in 2013-14. In the past decade, only four Pac-12 teams have hosted a Big East team in regular season play.

"We recognize the non-conference schedule may not ultimately have the quality of depth that we have had the past few seasons, but Arkansas, DePaul and Texas Tech all will be vastly improved," notes Coach Sendek, as the Sun Devils have played New Mexico (twice), Tulsa (twice), Nevada (twice), Southern Miss, St. John's, Baylor (three times), Richmond, Long Beach State, Duke, LSU, BYU (twice) and San Diego State (twice) in the past four seasons. "Those teams return upperclassmen and have recruited great players and all coaches know those programs are on the rise with great coaches. We will be playing either Creighton or Wisconsin in Las Vegas, and both of them are potentially top-10 teams this year. The early schedule will be well-balanced by our 19-plus Pac-12 games, as our league will be back to being as competitive as any in the nation. We also look forward to two trips to Las Vegas where we know many Sun Devils reside."

--The Sun Devils will open the Pac-12 season at home for the first time since the 2007-08 season. ASU will host Utah on Wednesday, Jan. 2, the first Pac-12 game of the season as the rest of the league opens on Thursday. The previous four seasons ASU has opened on the road against Arizona, Oregon State, UCLA and Stanford. ASU is opening on Wednesday to avoid a conflict with the Fiesta Bowl played on Thursday, Jan. 3.

"We open a new era inwith the Pac-12 Networks and look forward to variety in the conference schedule this year with conference games on Wednesdays." 2009-10 Pac-10 Coach of the Year Herb Sendek

OTHER NOTES ON THE SCHEDULE
--For just the second time in past six seasons ASU will have five of its first seven Pac-12 games at home, including the Territorial Cup matchup on Saturday, Jan. 19.

--After hosting Utah on Jan. 2, ASU will host Pac-12 Tournament champion Colorado on Sunday, Jan. 6, travel north to face Oregon State (Thursday, Jan. 10) and then Oregon on Sunday, Jan. 13. ASU will visit Oregon's new arena for the first time since it opened in January of 2011, as last year the Sun Devils missed the Oregon road trip and the year prior ASU played in the final game of McArthur Court.

--After the Jan. 19 Territorial Cup matchup with Arizona, ASU resumes Pac-12 play with another home series, as it hosts USC on Jan. 24 and then UCLA on Jan. 26.

--In addition to the Utah game on Jan. 2, the Sun Devils will play three Wednesday Pac-12 games. ASU will play at Utah on Feb. 13 prior to its tilt at Colorado on Feb. 16, host Washington State on Feb. 20 prior to hosting Washington on Saturday, Feb. 23, and then play at UCLA on Feb. 27 prior to its Saturday, Mar. 2 game at USC.

--ASU concludes its season on Saturday, March 9, in Tucson. ASU is 3-3 at Arizona under Herb Sendek after winning once in Tucson in the previous 23 tries (win was in 1994-95, from 1983-84 through 2006-07 period).

--ASU will miss the Bay Area road trip, but Cal (Feb. 7) and Stanford (Feb. 9) come to town, while the Sun Devils don't host the Oregon schools who make the previously mentioned trip to Tempe on Jan. 10 (Oregon State) and Jan. 13 (Oregon).

--ASU opens it season on Saturday, Nov. 10, against Central Arkansas in Tempe, matching the earliest starting date in school history. ASU lost to Tulsa 69-67 in Raleigh on Nov. 10, 2000, and has opened on Nov. 11 once (last season) and on Nov. 13 three times. How much has college hoops scheduling timeline changed in the past two decades. In Coach Sendek's first season (1993-94) at Miami of Ohio, his season opener was on Nov. 27.

EARLIEST SEASON OPENERS IN SUN DEVIL HISTORY
Nov. 10, 2012--Central Arkansas at Arizona State
Nov. 10, 2000--Tulsa 69, ASU 67 (Raleigh, N.C.)
Nov. 11, 2011-- ASU 78, Montana State 72

--As previously announced, the Sun Devils will host Florida A&M (Nov. 18) and Cornell (Nov. 20) in the first two games of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational before meeting Arkansas on Friday, Nov. 23, at 4 p.m. PT/5 p.m. at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The Arkansas game will be broadcast on ESPN3, and the teams will play either Wisconsin or Creighton the next day. The winning teams will meet on Saturday at 8 p.m. PT on ESPN2, the losers at 5 p.m. PT on ESPN3. Arkansas and the Sun Devils have met just once, as the No. 1 seeded Razorbacks beat the Bill Frieder-coached Sun Devils in the 1991 NCAA Tournament in Atlanta, 97-90. Tickets can be purchased at the Sun Devil ticket office or by clicking right here.

SUN DEVIL 2012-13 MEN'S HOOP SCHEDULE
Sat., Nov 10 vs. Central Arkansas
Sun., Nov. 18 vs. Florida A&M (Las Vegas Invitational Home Game)
Tues., Nov. 20 vs. Cornell (Las Vegas Invitational Home Game)
Fri., Nov. 23 at Las Vegas Invitational/Orleans Arena vs Arkansas
Sat., Nov. 24 at Las Vegas Invitaional/Orleans Arena vs. Creighton/Wisconsin
Wed., Nov. 28 vs. Arkansas Pine Bluff
Sat., Dec. 1 vs. Sacramento State
Wed., Dec. 5 vs. Hartford
Sat., Dec. 8 vs. Cal State Northridge
Wed., Dec. 12 vs. DePaul
Sat., Dec. 15 vs. Dartmouth
Sat. Dec. 22 at Texas Tech
Sat., Dec. 29 vs. Coppin State
Wed., Jan. 2 Utah
Sun., Jan. 6 Colorado
Thurs., Jan. 10 at Oregon State
Sun., Jan. 13 at Oregon
Sat., Jan. 19 Arizona
Thurs., Jan. 24 USC
Sat., Jan. 26 UCLA
Thurs., Jan. 31 at WSU
Sat. Feb. 2 at Washington
Thurs., Feb. 7 vs. California
Sat., Feb. 9 vs. Stanford
Wed., Feb. 13 at Utah
Sat., Feb. 16 at Colorado
Wed., Feb. 20 WSU
Sat., Feb. 23 Washington
Wed., Feb. 27 at UCLA
Sat., March 2 at USC
Sat., March 9 at Arizona
Wed.-Sat., Mar. 13-16 at Pac-12 Tournament at MGM Grand Garden Arena (Las Vegas)