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Men's hoops notes for Pac-10 home opener


January 04, 2011

76-39 (.661) PAST FOUR SEASONS
The Arizona State's men's hoops team (8-5; 1-1 in the Pac-10), the only Pac-10 team to post 20 wins in each of the past three seasons, finally gets to play some home games as it plays host to Stanford (Thursday, Jan. 6 at 6:30 p.m. MT/FOX Sports Arizona) and California (Saturday, Jan. 8, at 12:30 p.m. MT/FOX Sports Net) to open its Pac-10 home slate. ASU split the Oregon trip last weekend, losing at Oregon State 80-58 (Dec. 30 and winning at Oregon 60-55 to close Mac Court on Jan. 1, as the Sun Devils were without leading scorer Trent Lockett (14.7 ppg.), who missed both games with a sprained left big toe. With Lockett out and all three of ASU's seniors in foul trouble at Oregon, a trio of Sun Devils stepped up win. First-year players Carrick Felix had season highs of 19 points, six boards, four assists and 34 minutes while Brandon Dunson did the same with 14 points and 29 minutes. Sophomore Ruslan Pateev (career highs with 10 points in 28 minutes) also helped the cause as ASU continued its solid work in close games. The Sun Devils are in their fifth season under 2009-10 Pac-10 Coach of the Year Herb Sendek as last year's second-place Pac-10 team finished 22-11, the first time ASU had posted three straight 20-win seasons since JFK was President. ASU finished second in the Pac-10 (12-6) for the first time since 1980-81 after being picked for seventh in the preseason media poll and tenth by Sporting News. After posting just three 20-win seasons in the previous 25 seasons, ASU has posted three straight under Herb Sendek in his four years. ASU was 8-22 in Coach Sendek's first year (2006-2007), but is 76-39 (.661) in past four and giving up just 60.9 ppg. in his 145-game tenure.

COVERAGE FOR THIS WEEKEND
The Stanford game on Thursday (Jan. 6) at 6:30 MT is televised on FOX Sports Arizona. It can be found on the radio at KTAR 620 AM in Arizona as well as SIRIUS 214/XM 193. The California game on Saturday (Jan. 8) at 12:30 p.m. MT is televised on FOX Sports Arizona and can be found on the radio at KTAR 620 AM in Arizona as well as SIRIUS 215/XM 193.

FINALLY HOME
No major conference team has played less home games than ASU, so three straight home games on the slate is a welcome sight. ASU has played just five home games, and only Virginia Tech and St. John's have played less than seven (six) as of Tuesday morning...the first six games the Sun Devils played at home once (69-66 win over UAB on Nov. 20). Among major conference teams, only ASU and Virginia Tech played just one home game in their first six contests...ASU also was the last major college team to play just one home game, as its second home game wasn't until Dec. 5, a 67-61 loss to Richmond...ASU has played five road games, three neutral games and five home games...when ASU played at Oregon on Jan. 1, it was ASU's fifth road game of the year and Oregon's 12th home game.

WINNERS WHEN CLOSE
ASU is 21-11 (.656) in games games decided by six points or less/OT in the past four seasons, including a 5-1 mark this year. ASU is 3-0 this year in games of three points or less. The 21 wins is the most in the Pac-10 in that time as is the .656 winning clip. ASU is now 4-0 in games of five points or less. Every Pac-10 team has at least one loss in that category.

GAMES OF SIX POINTS OR LESS OR OVERTIME (2007-08 TO PRESENT/PAST FOUR SEASONS)
Arizona State (21-11/.656)
UCLA (20-12/.625)
Washington State (17-12/.586)
Oregon (11-10/.524)
Washington (13-14/.481)
USC (18-20/.474)
Oregon State (16-18/.471)
Stanford (13-16/.448)
California (14-18/.438)
Arizona (15-23/.395)

ASU WINS IN GAMES OF SIX POINTS OR LESS IN 2010-11
ASU 69, UAB 66 (Nov. 20, 2010)
ASU 59, Weber State 58 (Nov. 26, 2010)
Richmond 67, ASU 61 (Dec. 5, 2010)
ASU 78, @Nevada 75 (Dec. 17, 2010)
ASU 56, North Carolina A&T 50 (Dec. 23, 2010)
ASU 60, @Oregon 55 (Jan. 1, 2011)

HERB PAC-10 NOTE
Last season's second -place Pac-10 finish matched ASU's best in its 32 seasons of Pac-10 play and its 12 wins were the most since the 1994-95 season. ASU has notched at least 11 Pac-10 wins eight times, Herb Sendek has done it in each of the past two seasons.

MOST SUN DEVIL WINS IN PAC-10 PLAY
1980-81, 16-2/2nd/Ned Wulk
1979-80, 15-3/2nd/Ned Wulk
2009-10, 12-6/2nd/Herb Sendek
1994-95, 12-6/3rd/Bill Frieder
1982-83, 12-6/T-3rd/Bob Weinhauer
2008-09, 11-7/T-3rd/Herb Sendek
2002-03, 11-7/4th/Rob Evans
1992-93, 11-7/T-3rd/Bill Frieder

WITH TRENT OUT
When Trent Lockett is not in the lineup ASU has to replace a player who in the Pac-10 ranks 11th in scoring (14.7) and rebounding (6.5) and fifth in field goal percentage (.571) and in minutes per game (33.5).

TY ON THE CHARTS UPDATE
Senior Ty Abbott now has 1,121 career points which is 24th on the Sun Devil career list. Tommy Smith (1999-2003) is at 1,123, Fat Lever (1978-82) is 22nd at 1,137 and Chad Prewitt (1998-2002) is 21st at 1,177. Abbott also has 102 starts, one of only seven Sun Devils to have started 100 games in their careers. Jeff Pendergraph has the ASU record with 120 starts. When Abbott scores in double digits, ASU is 41-16 (.732) including 29-13 (.690) in the past three seasons. Abbott missed the Nov. 25 Houston Baptist game due to a knee bruise.

AT HOME
ASU is 47-13 (.783) at home in the past four seasons, including a 15-5 mark in 2007-08 that set the ASU mark for total home wins that was topped by last year's 16-4 (.800) mark. ASU is 32-8 (.800) the past three seasons at home.

RECAP FROM OREGON STATE (DEC. 30)
ASU fell at Oregon State 80-58 in its Pac-10 opener on Dec. 30 as it allowed a 30-26 lead at the 2:28 mark of the first half get away and found itself down 34-30 at the half...ASU cut the lead the 34-31 to open the half but never got closer than as the Beavers snapped a six-game losing streak to ASU by shooting .581 (18-of-31) in the second half...it was 60-51 at the 9:02 mark but the Beavers put away ASU with a 20-7 closing run...ASU was outrebounded by 17 (43-26), the second-largest opponent margin in the Herb Sendek era, while the 22-point defeat is the fifth-largest...ASU also allowed 32 Beaver field goals, the most allowed by an ASU team since No. 14 Washington was 33-of-65 from the field on March 2, 2006.

RECAP FROM OREGON (JAN. 1)
Sophomore Carrick Felix had career highs in points (19), field goals made and attempted (6-of-12), free throws made and attempted (7-of-8), minutes (34), rebounds (six) and assists (four) as ASU came back five down in the second half for the 60-55 win...junior college transfer Brandon Dunson had career highs in points (14) and minutes (20). He also had season highs with 5-of-8 shooting, two three-pointers and two steals...sophomore Ruslan Pateev had career highs in points (10), field goals made and attempted (5-of-8) and minutes (28)...ASU is now 6-3 against Oregon under Coach Sendek and has won five straight overall in the series...ASU is 3-2 in Eugene and 3-1 in Tempe and is 40-31 against the Ducks all-time...in the nine games under Herb Sendek ASU has held the Ducks to 52-of-167 (.311) from the three-point stripe, 175-of-432 (.405) from the field and 57.3 points per game...ASU finished 16-17 at McArthur Court in its 33 Pac-10 seasons and won its final three games at Mac Court, its first three game win streak at Mac since Bill Frieder's teams won three straight from 1991-93...ASU's 15 three-point attempts is the fewest since it lost to No. 7 (and eventual national champion) Duke on Nov. 25, 2009, when it had just 13. The 15 three-point attempts is the fewest in the past 41 games...ASU is now 6-4 on the Oregon road trip under Coach Sendek, 6-2 in the past four seasons.

VS. STANFORD
ASU swept Stanford in the regular season last year for the ninth time overall in its 32 Pac-10 seasons (first time since 2004-05 and for just the second time in the past 15 seasons), but then fell to the Cardinal 70-61 in the Pac-10 Tournament...Herb Sendek is 4-5 vs. the Cardinal...ASU shot 50 percent in the two wins overall and held the Cardinal to .388 from the field and .259 from the three-point stripe...in the Jan. 30 game in Tempe ASU jumped out to a 54-17 lead late in the second half and led 54-22 at intermission...Ty Abbott's 29 points in that game was the most by a Sun Devil last year as he hit his first six three-pointers...ASU had a season-low five turnovers against Stanford in the Feb. 25 game at Stanford...Stanford had an 11-point first-half lead and led ASU 35-28 at halftime but ASU outscored the Cardinal 40-25 in the second half...ASU was 13-of-16 (.813) from the free throw line and Eric Boateng made all 11 shots to tie a Pac-10 record.

MOST POINTS IN A PAC-10 GAME UNDER COACH SENDEK
36, James Harden at Oregon (Feb. 5, 2009)
31, Jeff Pendergraph at Stanford (Jan. 2, 2009)
30, Ty Abbott vs. California (Feb. 16, 2008)
29, Ty Abbott vs. Stanford (Jan. 30, 2010)
29, Jeff Pendergraph at Arizona (Feb. 10, 2008)
28, Ty Abbott at Arizona (Feb. 21, 2010)

VS. CAL
ASU leads the series with Cal 35-34...Herb Sendek is 4-6 vs. California and 3-5 at ASU, as he also faced the Golden Bears twice in NCAA Tournament action...Herb Sendek's last win at NC State was a 58-52 NCAA Tournament win over California on March 17, 2006 in Dallas...the visiting team has won nine of previous 12 in the series.

CAIN IS ABLE
Freshman Kyle Cain had 17 rebounds vs. Houston Baptist on Nov. 25, the most by a Sun Devil since Jeff Pendergraph had 19 at Oregon on Feb. 8, 2007. The 17 boards is tied for second-most by a freshman in ASU history with Mario Bennett, who had 17 vs. Oregon on Feb. 1, 1992. Ike Diogu has the ASU freshman record with 18 vs. Oregon on March 13, 2003, in the Pac-10 Tournament. He then posted 16 boards vs. Long Beach State in 26 minutes on Dec. 21 and had 14 boards (but zero points) in just 23 minutes vs. North Carolina A&T on Dec. 23. He is averaging 9.3 boards per game in his past six contests.

MOST REBOUNDS BY ASU FRESHMAN
18 by Ike Diogu vs. Oregon @Pac-10 Tournament (March 13, 2003)
17 by Kyle Cain vs. Houston Baptist @Great Alaska Shootout (Nov. 25, 2010)
17 by Mario Bennett vs. Oregon (Feb. 1, 1992)
16 by Kyle Cain vs. Long Beach State (Dec. 21, 2010)

RIK UPDATE
Senior Rihards Kuksiks is now 29-of-66 (.439) from the three-point stripe in the past 10 games. Kuksiks posted his eighth 20-point game of his career with 20 points at Nevada on Dec. 17, and ASU is 6-2 in those games. He now has 244 career three-pointers in his career, fourth on the ASU chart. Eddie House is third with 250. He became the 34th member of ASU's 1,000-point club against Long Beach State, as he now has 1,026. Kuksiks added eight free throw attempts vs. Nevada, tied for the most in his career. The senior is 25-of-51 (.490) from the three-point stripe in his past eight games against ranked opponents. He has been clutch in close games the past two years, as ASU has played six games of two points or less (and is 4-2), and he is 22-of-46 (.478) from three. He matched career-highs in points (27) and rebounds (nine) in the Jan. 8 win over No. 24 Washington last season. He had six 20-point games in 2009-10 with 27 vs. USF and #24 Washington, 25 at Oregon, 24 vs. USC and UCSB and 21 vs. Jacksonville, with ASU going 5-1 in those games.

TOP SCORING GAMES FOR RIHARDS
27 vs. #24 Washington (Jan. 8, 2010)
27 vs. San Francisco (Nov. 20, 2009)
25 at Oregon (Jan. 14, 2010)
24 vs. USC (Mar. 4, 2010)
24 vs. UCSB (Dec. 21, 2009)
21 vs. Jacksonville (Mar. 16, 2010/NIT)
20 at Nevada (Dec. 17, 2010)
20 vs. Syracuse (Mar. 22, 2009 @Miami/NCAA)

PAST FOUR SEASONS
ASU is 33-23 (.589) in the past four seasons in Pac-10 play, third in the league. ASU is one of five teams who are above .500 in league play in that time frame.

PAC-10 LEAGUE RECORDS (2007-10/PAST FOUR SEASONS)
1. UCLA, 38-18/.679
2. Washington, 34-22/.607
3. Arizona State, 33-23/.589
4. California, 30-25/.545
5. USC, 29-27/.518
6. Arizona, 28-28/.500
7. Stanford, 27-28/.491
8. WSU, 25-31/.446
9. Oregon, 18-38/.321
10. Oregon State, 17-39/.304

LET'S TALK ABOUT TRENT
Trent Lockett opened some eyes real quick in 2010-11. It started with a then career-high 22 points in the season opener at New Mexico (Nov. 16) where two of his dunks placed him No. 2 on SportsCenter's Top-10 and he has been nothing short of very good since. He had a new career-high with 24 points vs. Weber State on Nov. 26 in Alaska. A native of Golden Valley, Minn., and a student in Barrett, the Honors College, he is averaging 33.5 minutes and comes from one of the top high school programs in the country (Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, Minn.). He earned a spot on the five-man Pac-10 All-Freshman Team in 2009-10. He has 19 double-figure scoring games, including a 17-point, six-rebound and eight assist effort against Stanford on Jan. 30, 2010. He posted his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 boards vs. Richmond on Dec. 5. Trent missed both games of the Oregon road trip on Dec. 30-Jan. 1 with a sprained big left toe.

TRENT'S TOP SCORING GAMES
24 vs. Weber State (Nov. 26, 2010)
22 at New Mexico (Nov. 16, 2010)
19 vs. UAB (Nov. 20, 2010)
19 vs. San Francisco (Nov. 20, 2009)
18 vs. Houston Baptist (Nov. 25, 2010)

THREE-DOT DATA
ASU is now 5-1 when it leads at the half in 2010-11 and 62-15 under Herb Sendek...ASU has won 17 games under Herb Sendek when it has trailed at the half including the Dec. 23 56-50 win over North Carolina A&T when it trailed 29-23 at intermission. ASU shot just 20-of-57 (.351) in the victory, its second-lowest mark in a win under Coach Sendek. The lowest shooting mark was a 16-of-56 (.286) mark in a 53-47 win at Arizona on Jan. 21, 2009...senior Jamelle McMillan leads the Pac-10 in assists with 58 in 13 games (4.5). He has 269 career assists and just 132 career turnovers. He had six steals vs. Long Beach on Dec. 21, the most by a Sun Devil since James Harden had seven vs. USC on March 13, 2008, in the first round of the Pac-10 Tournament...Sun Devils rank third (Ty Abbott at 34.0) and fifth (Trent Lockett at 33.5) in minutes per game among Pac-10 players...senior Rihards Kuksiks is third with 2.6 three-bombs made per game (34 in 13 games) while Abbott is fourth (29 in 12).

HEAD COACH
Herb Sendek, 84-61 (.579) at ASU, is in his 18th season as a head coach in 2010-2011 and has averaged 19.4 wins per season. He led the NC State Wolfpack to five straight NCAA appearances from 2002-06 and is now 338-219 (.607) and was 191-132 (.591) at NC State. The 47-year-old (born Feb. 22, 1963) Pittsburgh, Pa., native remains the third-youngest coach in the Pac-10. Only Duke posted more ACC wins (regular season and ACC Tournament) than NC State's 53 from 2002-2006. An overlooked note is his 10-year stay at NC State. To compare it to the Pac-10, since the league expanded to 10 teams in 1978-79, only five coaches have coached at their schools for at least 10 years: Lute Olson (24/Arizona), Ralph Miller (19/Oregon State), Mike Montgomery (18/Stanford), Ernie Kent (13/Oregon) and Ben Braun (12/California).

CURRENT LONGEVITY AMONG PAC-10 COACHES (YEARS AT SCHOOL)
Lorenzo Romar, Washington-9th
Ben Howland, UCLA-7th
Herb Sendek, ASU-5th
Johnny Dawkins, Stanford; Mike Montgomery, Cal; Craig Robinson, OSU-3rd
Ken Bone, Washington State; Kevin O'Neill, USC; Sean Miller, UA-2nd
Dana Altman, Oregon-First Year

SUN DEVILS SIGN BIG-TIME POINT GUARD
Arizona State inked Mesa, Ariz., senior Jahii Carson in the November signing period. The 5-11 energizer is a consensus top-50 pick by anyone who follows the recruiting world, and Clark Francis' Hoop Scoop rankings in Basketball Times he is the second-highest Pac-10 recruit at No. 24, behind only Washington's Tony Wroten (No. 22).

HOOP SCOOP CLASS OF 2011 RANKINGS (BASKETBALL TIMES/NOVEMBER 2010)
Pac-10 Conference Top-50 Signings
22. Tony Wroten (Washington)
24. Jahii Carson (Arizona State)
34. Norman Powell (UCLA)
40. Josiah Turner (Arizona)
44. Jabari Brown (Oregon)
47. Nick Johnson (Arizona)