Men's hoops game notes vs. Stanford

The ASU Men's basketball team will take on Stanford as the team begins its quest for the 2010 Pacific Life Pac-10 Tournament champhionship. Following are notes for the upcoming game:

ASU Notes And Stats in PDF Format

Pac-10 league records (2007-10 past three seasons)
1. UCLA, 37-17/.685
2. Arizona State, 32-22/.593
2. Washington, 32-22/.593
4. California, 30-24/.556
5. USC, 28-28/.519

"(Herb) Sendek always has been one of the most respected coaches in the business. No one doubts his intellect or ability to adjust. But Sendek might have done his best coaching job in his lengthy career this season after losing James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph to the NBA. The Sun Devils went into Saturday's game at Cal with a chance to win the Pac-10. They lost, but they still can finish second above Washington. Sendek won't win national coach of the year, but he should claim the Pac-10 honor." -- Andy Katz, ESPN.com

Sendek engineering something special at ASU (by Dan Bickley, Arizona Republic/March 4, 2010)

Once overlooked, Glasser has helped raise ASU to new levels (SI.com/March 4, 2010)

Use of the Zone Attacks Perceptions and Ego (New York Times/March 3, 2010)

66-32 (.680) past three seasons
The Arizona State's men's hoops team, in its fourth season under 2009-10 Pac-10 Coach of the Year Herb Sendek and winners of 20 games (22-9) in three straight seasons for the first time since JFK was President, will try to improve upon that number this week when it travels to Staples Center for the Pac-10 Tournament where it will face seventh-seeded Stanford at 6 p.m. PT/7 p.m. MT on Thursday, March 11 on FOX Sports Net and KTAR 620 AM (also SIRIUS 215/XM 193). The Sun Devils, 8-2 in their past 10 games, 7-1 in past eight games and 12-4 since opening the season 0-2 on the Los Angeles road trip, 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. ASU finished off a 7-2 back-half of Pac-10 record with home wins over USC and UCLA last weekend and has held 16 of 31 opponents to under 40 percent field goal shooting, including seven of the nine Pac-10 schools (33 of its past 66 opponents have shot under 40 percent). ASU is 32-22 (.593) in Pac-10 games the past three seasons, tied for the second-best mark in that time with Washington. UCLA is 37-17 (.685) to lead the way. ASU enters this week eighth in the nation in scoring defense (58.1 points per game), 21st in three-pointers made per game (8.2) and 31st in field goal percentage defense (.399).

Pac-10 opponents held under 40 percent shooting by ASU this year
@USC, Jan. 2 (15-42.357)
Washington, Jan. 8 (18-50/.360)
Washington State, Jan. 10 (17-57/.298)
@Oregon, Jan. 14 (22-59/.373)
Stanford, Jan. 30 (24-68/.353)
Oregon State, Feb. 11 (14-57/.246)
UCLA, Mar. 6 (17-52/.327)

He was on roll
Senior point guard Derek Glasser, who ranks 21st nationally at .878 (108-of-123) from the free throw line and is the ASU career leader in assts (542), games (129) and free throw percentage (.843), hopes to pick up where he left off last year at Staples Center. He earned Pac-10 All-Tournament honors by averaging 13.7 points in the three games and shot 16-of-31 (.516) from the field, 5-of-11 (.455) from the three-point stripe and had 12 assists and just four turnovers while averaging 37.3 minutes.

Perspective
With its Feb. 25 win at Stanford, ASU clinched its third straight 20-win season for the first time since 1961-63. This manufactured note says it all...ASU posted its 20th win for the third straight season (en route to 26) on Feb. 16, 1963, a 104-87 win at BYU. Six days later on Feb. 22, Herb Sendek was born.

Wow
ASU was picked to finish seventh in the Pac-10 preseason media poll and some had them tagged for last, as ASU was one of just seven schools to have two draft picks in the top 35 last year (James Harden was third and Jeff Pendergraph 31st), joining North Carolina (three), USC, Louisville, Wake Forest and UCLA. This year marks the first time ASU has posted three straight winning seasons since Bill Frieder led ASU to five straight from 1990-91 to 1994-95 (and also the last time ASU had posted back-to-back winning seasons before last year). ASU has produced 68 wins in the past two-plus seasons, just the second-time in school history a three-year period has produced 68 wins. ASU has notched 20 wins for the third straight season after reaching 20 wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1979-80 and 1980-81. ASU had not had three straight 20-win seasons since the 1960-61 (23-6), 1961-62 (23-4) and 1962-63 (26-3) teams racked up 73 wins. Entering this season UCLA (13-17), Stanford (13-17), USC (16-14) and ASU (22-9) were the only Pac-10 schools to notch 20 wins in each of the past two seasons.

Most wins over a three-year period in ASU history
1960-61 TO 1962-63 (73-13/.849)
2007-08 TO 2009-10 (68-32/.680)

Teams that had 2009 First-Team All-Americas one year later
Arizona State, James Harden (22-9 this year; 25-10 last year)
Davidson, Stephen Curry (16-15 this year; 26-7 last year)
North Carolina, Tyler Hansbrough (16-15 this year; 28-4 last year)
Oklahoma, Blake Griffin (13-17 this year; 27-5 last year)
Pitt, DeJuan Blair (24-7 this year; 31-5 last year)

First-Team All-Pac-10
Junior Ty Abbott is averaging 15.6 points and 6.0 boards in the past 14 games and is 52-of-122 (.426) from the three-point stripe in that time...In the 18 league games, Abbott finished ninth in the loop in scoring (14.7 points per game), 11th in rebounding (5.7 rpg.), ninth in free throw percentage (.818 as he was 36-of-44), fourth in three-point percentage (.411 as he was 53-of-129), second in three-pointers made per game (2.9) and sixth in defensive rebounds per game (5.0)....had monster road tilt with 28 points on 11-of-17 shooting, including 5-of-8 three-pointers, in season-high 39 minutes in 73-69 win at Tucson on Feb. 21...posted a season-high 29 points vs. Stanford, including seven three-pointers, and also added a career-best 12 rebounds, all on the defensive end...played a then season-high 38 minutes, posted 20 points and matched season highs in assists (four) and steals (three) vs. California on Jan. 28...last year he shot 19-of-86 (.221) from the floor, 8-of-59 (.136) from the three-point stripe and averaged 2.9 points and 3.7 rebounds in Pac-10 play...missed just one game after having arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in mid-October...earned Pac-10 Player of the Week honors after the sweep of the Washington schools Jan. 8-10. He scored 17 points in each win...has played in 99 games in his three-year career and started in 88...quietly is closing in on 1,000 career points as he has 946 (9.6 points per game)...when Abbott scores in double digits, ASU is 37-10 (.787) and 25-6 (.806) the past two seasons.

A gamer
Derek Glasser has set the ASU record for most games played in a career, as he has played in 129. Jeff Pendergraph played in 126 to set the mark last year, and now Jerren Shipp is second on the list as he has played in 127 games...averaging 10.2 points and is shooting 87.8 percent from the free throw line (108-of-123) this year...led league in assist-to-turnover ratio in Pac-10 games at 1.9 (75 assists and 20 turnovers)...leads the league in assists per game (4.8) and in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.2 (149 assists and 67 turnovers)...is the ASU career assist record holder with 542, topping the mark held by the late Bobby Thompson, who had 454 from 1983-87, and his 290-of-344 (.843) shooting from the free throw line currently is the best in school history...posted a career-high 24 points in the Nov. 27 win over LSU...has played 20 turnover free games in his 129-game career...has five 20-point games in his career...the first Sun Devil with 1,000 points (1,011) and 500 assists (542).

ASU career games
1. Derek Glasser, 2006-2010, 129
2. Jerren Shipp, 2006-2010, 127
3. Jeff Pendergraph, 2005-09, 126

ASU career free throw percentage
1. Derek Glasser, 2006-10, 84.3 (290-of-344)
2. Alex Austin, 1986-90, 81.5 (255-of-313)
3. Rick Taylor, 1974-78, 81.4 (253-of-311)
4. Dennis Hamilton, 1963-66, 81.3 (261-of-321)
5. Kevin Kruger, 2003-06, 81.2 (229-of-282)

Same stat, different dude
Eric Boateng currently leads the Pac-10 in field goal percentage at .653 (109-of-167) and finished even better in Pac-10 play at 68-of-103 (.660). Last year Sun Devil Jeff Pendergraph led the nation in field goal percentage at .660, the best mark by a Pac-10 player since Todd MacCullouch of Washington shot .662 in 1998-99. Boateng won't have enough makes to qualify for national honors but no team has had different players lead the league in field goal percentage since Washington State's Fred Ferguson (1993-94) and Mark Hendrickson (1994-95).

Boat
Eric Boateng already has his degree in Global Studies, speaks a little bit of Chinese and an African dialect called "Twi" and is taking advantage of the 24-hour access for ASU's new practice facility (Weatherup Center)...averaging 8.6 points and 7.0 boards while shooting 65.3 percent from the field (109-of-167), as he has scored 268 points after scoring 57 last year...68-of-103 (.660) from the field in Pac-10 play...had monster game vs. UCLA on March 6 with 16 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, four blocks and zero turnovers in 34 minutes...notched 19 points and 13 boards vs. Cal on Jan. 28...in his past 11 games he is 52-of-77 (.675) from the floor and is averaging 11.0 points and 8.5 boards with 15 blocks...has made 14 straight shots entering the March 4 USC game, as he is the only player to make 11-of-11 in D-I this year. Jon Avery of IUPUI was 10-of-10 against Oral Roberts on Jan. 14, 2010 as was Dominic Calegari of UC Davis vs. UC Irvine on the same might)...had career-best 24 points at Stanford on Feb. 25.

11-of-11 field goal games in a Pac-10 game
Eric Boateng (Arizona State) at Stanford (Feb. 25, 2010)
Bryce Taylor (Oregon) vs. USC (March 10,2007/Pac-10 Tournament)
Tommy Smith (Arizona State) vs. Washington (Feb. 10, 2001)
Marques Johnson (UCLA) at California (Feb. 27, 1976)

Against Stanford
ASU swept Stanford this year for the ninth time overall in its 32 Pac-10 seasons but for the first time since 2004-05 and for just the second time in the past 15 seasons...Herb Sendek is 4-4 vs. the Cardinal...Stanford and ASU have never played against each other in the Pac-10 Tournament...

Stuff
ASU's 43 points in the second half at Arizona on Feb. 21 is the most it has scored in the second-half of a Pac-10 game since it had 47 at Stanford last year on Jan. 2 (so a span of the past 35 Pac-10 games). ASU also had 40 at Stanford on Feb. 25...only three players have scored 25 points against ASU this year. Jerome Randle and Jerome Boykin of California both had 25 Jan. 28 and Tweety Carter had 27 for Baylor on Dec. 3...Rihards Kuksiks led ASU with six boards at Arizona, his most rebounds since he had nine vs. Washington on Jan. 8, and then had 10 vs. UCLA on March 6...in his past nine games Jerren Shipp is averaging 7.1 points and in the past seven games he is averaging 7.6 points...Rihards Kuksiks had 17 points off the bench in the UA win, matching a Sun Devil high with Trent Lockett who had 17 vs. Texas State on Nov. 16. Those digits mark the most points off the bench by a Sun Devil since Christian Polk had 18 vs. Arizona on Feb. 25, 2007.

Really?
ASU had a winning record at the halfway mark of the Pac-10 season (5-4) for just the third time in the past 15 seasons (1995-96 to present) and for the second straight season under Herb Sendek. ASU was 5-4 at the turn last year en route to the NCAA Tournament with NBA draft picks James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph leading the way. In 2002-03, ASU also was 5-4 at the turn, with Freshman of the Year Ike Diogu (and eventual NBA Lottery pick) and four seniors in the starting lineup and also advanced to the NCAA Tournament. This year also marks the fourth straight year Herb Sendek's Sun Devils posted at least the same Pac-10 record in the second half as it did in the first half, as it was 5-4 through first nine games and 7-2 in the final nine. ASU is now 14-22 (.389) in the first half of Pac-10 play under Coach Sendek but 20-16 (.556) in the second half. ASU notched its first 7-2 "half" record in a Pac-10 season since the 1982-83 team went 7-2 in the back half of Pac-10 play en route to a 12-6 league mark. In the past three seasons ASU is 14-13 in the first half of Pac-10 play (.519) but 18-9 (.667) in the second half.

At the other end
ASU has the tough-to-defend combination of leading the league in three-pointers made per game (8.2) and percentage (.371). In the 23 seasons since the three-pointer has been used (1986-87), only five teams have led the league in both three-bombs made and percentage (Oregon in 2007-08, 2003-04, 2002-03 and 2001-02 and Stanford in 1999-2000). Also, it is not just a get-fat-on-non-conference-opponent type of thing...ASU is third in Pac-10 games only by shooting .351 from the arc and making 7.9 per game, best in the league.

Conference tournaments
Herb Sendek is 19-16 (.543) in 16 years of conference tournament action. He went 13-10 (.565) in his ten years at NC State, 4-3 (.571) in his three years at Miami (Ohio) and is 2-3 at ASU...in first-round action, he is 12-4 (.750)...8-2 at NCSU, 3-0 at Miami and 1-2 at ASU...Coach Sendek made history when Wolfpack became the first team to knock off the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament in consecutive years when it beat second-ranked Maryland (2002) and ninth-ranked Wake Forest (2003).

All over stat sheet
Junior Jamelle McMillan was all over the stat sheet the eight games prior to his injury in mid-January, as he missed four games, and ASU was 2-2. In the eight games prior to the injury he averaged 32.8 minutes, 9.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and had 12 steals and just 11 turnovers. What is eye-opening are the numbers with him playing and not playing for the Sun Devils. Some notes to ponder...ASU is giving up 56.3 points per game in the 27 games he has played yet gave up 70.5 in his absence...as the point man in the zone, ASU opponents shot .450 from the field and .363 from the three-point stripe in the games he was missing, yet in the games he played those numbers drop to .390 and .307...and no one is happier than Derek Glasser to have Jamelle in the backcourt...Glasser is shooting .444 from the three-point stripe in games Jamelle plays, in the four games without him he was 7-of-30 (.233) from the field and 0-of-11 (.000) from the three-point stripe.

Points allowed
Quietly the Jan. 10 71-46 win over Washington State and the 56-46 wins over Oregon State (Feb. 13) and UCLA (Mar. 6) were three of the best in terms of points allowed by ASU in its Pac-10 history. It is the eighth-fewest points allowed in ASU's 576 Pac-10 regular-season contests.

Fewest points allowed in a Pac-10 game
ASU 48, @Oregon State 38 (Feb. 7, 2009/Herb Sendek)
ASU 69, Oregon State 38 (Jan. 8, 2009/Herb Sendek)
ASU 42, @Cal 41 (Mar. 3, 2008/Herb Sendek)
ASU 53, Washington 41 (Jan. 31, 1991/Bill Frieder)
ASU 67, @Washington State 41 (Feb. 11, 1984/Bob Weinhauer)
ASU 82, Oregon State 44 (Feb. 25, 1995/Bill Frieder)
ASU 96, WSU 45 (Feb. 7, 2002/Rob Evans)
ASU 56, UCLA 46 (Mar. 6, 2010/Herb Sendek)
ASU 56, Oregon State 46 (Feb. 13, 2010/Herb Sendek)
ASU 71, Washington State 46 (Jan. 10, 2010/Herb Sendek)

Impressive
Freshman Trent Lockett, a native of Golden Valley, Minn., comes from one of the top high school programs in the country (Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, Minn.) and has made a solid first impression as he earned a spot on the Pac-10 All-Freshman five-man all-freshman team. His 17 points against Stanford (Jan. 30) matched his second-best scoring night, as he had 19 vs. USF on Nov. 20 and 17 vs. Texas State on Nov. 16. He also added a career-best eight assists (he had 15 assists entering the game) vs. Stanford. He is averaging 7.0 points, 3.6 boards and is shooting 75-of-155 (.484) from the field. He has nine double-figure scoring games on the year, including a 17-point, six-rebound and eight assist effort against Stanford on Jan. 30.

Pac-10 leaders overall games
In overall statistics, ASU leads the league in three-point percentage (.371), assist-to-turnover ratio (+1.2) and three-pointers made per game (8.2). It is second in scoring defense (58.1 points per game/eighth in nation), field goal percentage defense (.397) and third in field goal percentage (.453) and turnover margin (+1.8) and scoring margin (+8.8). Individually Derek Glasser leads the league in assists per game (4.8) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2) and is second in free throw percentage (.878) while Ty Abbott is sixth in three-point shooting (.418) and third in threes made per game (2.5). Eric Boateng is first in field goal percentage at .653 (109-of-167) and sixth in rebounding (7.0).

Pac-10 leaders in conference tilts
In Pac-10 games only, ASU led the league in three-pointers made (7.9) and fewest turnovers per game (11.4)...ASU ranks second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2) and field goal percentage defense (.410)...ASU ranks third in scoring margin (+3.8), scoring defense (60.7 ppg.), free throw percentage (.715) and three-point percentage (.351)...Ty Abbott finished ninth in the loop in scoring (14.7 points per game), 11th in rebounding (5.7 rpg.), ninth in free throw percentage (.818 as he was 36-of-44), fourth in three-point percentage (.411 as he was 53-of-129), second in three-pointers made per game (2.9) and sixth in defensive rebounds per game (5.0)...Derek Glasser is first in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.9), third in assists per game (4.2) and fifth in free throw percentage (.871)...Eric Boateng finished third at 7.6 boards per game and is first in field goal percentage at .660 (68-of-103).

Solid D note
Eight of ASU's 22 opponents have had season-lows in points against ASU...ASU has held the top three scoring teams in the Pac-10 to its season low...Cal is at 77.4 but ASU held the Bears to 62 on Feb. 27 in Berkeley...UW is at 80.5 but had 51 on Jan. 8, while WSU is at 71.6 and had 46 on Jan. 10...ASU held UCLA to 46 on March 4, matching a Bruin season-low...San Diego State is at 71.5 ppg. but had just 52 on Dec. 19...UCSB is averaging 67.9 ppg. but ASU held the Gauchos to 42 on Dec. 21...others with season-lows against ASU are Delaware State (34 but averaging 58.3) and Western Illinois (35 but averaging 58.7)...Jimmer Fredette of BYU, who had 49 at Arizona and is averaging 20.6 points, was 1-of-13 from the field against ASU and missed all his three-point attempts on Dec. 8 in Provo...WSU's Klay Thompson, averaging 19.6 points, was 3-of-11 from the floor and posted nine points on Jan. 10 and was 6-of-20 from the floor and 2-of-10 from the three-point stripe on Feb. 4...Duke is averaging 79.1 but had 64 on Nov. 25. Duke had a season-low 60 in its Jan. 23 win over Clemson...ASU matched the UCLA season low by holding the Bruins to 46 points on March 6.

Offense
ASU'S 88 points vs. Stanford on Jan. 10 is the second-most in a Pac-10 regulation game for ASU under Herb Sendek. It won at California 99-90 in a double overtime game on Jan. 17, 2008 and won at Stanford 90-60 last year to open Pac-10 play on Jan. 2, 2009. It then posted 81 at Washington State on Feb. 4, the first time since Jan. 13-15, 2005, it had scored at least 80 points in back-to-back Pac-10 games.

Most points in Pac-10 game by ASU under Coach Sendek
ASU 99, @California 90, 2 OT (Jan. 17, 2008)
ASU 90, @Stanford 60 (Jan. 2, 2009)
ASU 88, Stanford 70 (Jan. 30, 2010)
ASU 83, California 66 (March 7, 2009)
ASU 81, @Washington State 70 (Feb. 4, 2010)
ASU 80, USC 66 (March 1, 2008)

Best tree in the land
Herb Sendek has eight former assistants who are D-I coaches, the best mark of any coach in the nation, ahead of Mike Montgomery and Rick Pitino (seven each). Twelve-year sidekick Mark Phelps earned the Drake spot in the spring of 2008 after serving for 10 years on the staff at NC State and for two years at ASU. Former NC State sidekick John Groce also earned the Ohio University position in the spring of 2008. The others are Jim Christian at TCU (Miami assistant in 1995-96), Charlie Coles at Miami of Ohio (Miami assistant from 1994-96), Larry Hunter at Western Carolina (NC State assistant from 2001-05), Ron Hunter of IUPUI (Miami assistant from 1993-94), Ohio State's Thad Matta (Miami assistant in 1994-95) and Arizona's Sean Miller (assistant at both Miami from 1993-95 and at NC State from 1996-2000).

ASU quickly
After going 8-22 (.267) in Coach Sendek's first year (2006-2007), the Sun Devils are 68-32 (.680) and giving up just 60.6 points per game in his 130 games. ASU has had to replace two NBAers from last year in first-team consensus All-American James Harden and first-team All-Pac-10 pick Jeff Pendergraph, but returned three starters from last year's team in point guard Derek Glasser (2009 Pac-10 All-Tournament Team), Rihards Kuksiks (third-best returning three-point shooter in the nation according to NCAA minimums) and Ty Abbott (121 career threes and 65 starts entering this year). ASU has had eight players lead or share the team lead in scoring this year and has five players who have had a 20-point game in their career.

Defense
Just how good has the defense been since Herb Sendek took over? ASU has given up less than 62 points per game in each of the past three seasons . In the 18 Pac-10 games 2008-09, no team defended shooters better than ASU, as it led the league in field goal percentage defense (.421) and three-point defense (.310). Those that followed Coach Sendek's career won't find it a big shocker. In his 10 seasons in Raleigh, NC State led the ACC in scoring defense four times and held opponents to just 54.7 points per game in 1996-97, an ACC record. Last year's 60.5 points per game allowed was the lowest by ASU since the 1949-50 team gave up 59.8.

ASU lowest defensive ppg.
1. 46.5 - 1948
2. 47.6 - 1949
***58.1 - 2010***
3. 59.8 - 1950
4. 60.5 - 2009
5. 61.8 - 2007
6. 61.9 - 2008

The shooter
Junior Rihards Kuksiks is the third-best returning three-point shooter in the nation according to official NCAA statistics. Kuksiks was 93-of-210 from the arc, eighth in the nation. Only Jared Stohl of Portland (89-of-195 for .456) and Brandon Hazzard of Troy (83-of-185 for .449) were returners with better net swishing digits than the Latvian native. He shot .420 from the three-point stripe in the 16 games against NCAA Tournament teams last year and is 22-of-45 (.489) in the past seven games against ranked opponents. He was clutch in close games last year, as ASU played four games of two points or less (and went 3-1), and Rik was 14-of-30 (.467) from three. He averaged 10.3 points (third-best on the team) and his 93 three-pointers is the third-best in school history, while the 44.3 percent shooting is tied for the fourth-best. He matched career-highs in points (27) and rebounds (nine) in the Jan. 8 win over No. 24 Washington. He has five 20-point games on the year with 27 vs. USF and Washington, 25 at Oregon and 24 vs. USC and UCSB.

A feather in the cap
ASU became just the third Pac-10 team to win three straight in McKale Center in the past 27 seasons (1983-84 to present) when it beat UA 73-69 in Tucson on Feb. 21. Stanford under Mike Montgomery won four straight from 2001-2004 and UCLA under Ben Howland won three straight from 2006-08.

The head coach
Herb Sendek, 76-54 (.585) at ASU, is in his 17th season as a head coach in 2009-2010 and has averaged 19.2 wins per season. He led the NC State Wolfpack to five straight NCAA appearances from 2002-06 and is now 330-212 (.609) in 17 seasons and was 191-132 (.591) at NC State. The 46-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 victories from 2002-2006. Another 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 (in his 13th at Oregon) and Ben Braun (12/California).

Winning tough ones
ASU is 26-16 (.619) in the past three seasons in 10 points or less games after going 4-17 in Herb Sendek's first year...after going 10-29 in Herb Sendek's first two seasons when trailing at the half, ASU is 7-10 the past two years with victories at SDSU, vs. IUPUI, vs. BYU, at and vs. Arizona (Pac-10 Tournament) last year and vs. LSU and at Stanford this year...ASU is 6-2 in its past eight overtime games...in ASU's first season under Herb Sendek, it was 3-12 in two-possession games (six points or less), in the past three seasons it is 15-9 (.625).

Games of 10 points or less, past three seasons (2007-08 through 2009-10)
1. UCLA, 27-15 (.643)
2. ASU, 27-16 (.628)
3. Cal, 28-22 (.560)
4. Washington, 22-18 (.550)
5. WSU, 23-22 (.511)
6. Stanford, 24-24 (.500)
7. USC, 26-27 (.490)
8. OSU, 25-27 (.481)
9. Arizona, 23-26 (.469)
10. Oregon, 21-24 (.467)

About the road
ASU at 10-8 is the only team in the Pac-10 with a winning league road record in the past two seasons, as it has gone 5-4 each year away from Tempe...after losing its first eight Pac-10 road games under Herb Sendek, ASU is 15-13 (.536) since...ASU swept the Oregon trip for the second straight year, just its second Pac-10 road sweep since January of 2005 and its third road sweep in the past six seasons...ASU has now won the past three in Tucson and is 3-1 at UA 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 won four straight Pac-10 roadies last year for the first time since the 1980-81 team won five straight...ASU won five Pac-10 road games for just the sixth time in its 32-year history this year. It went 8-1 in 1980-81, 7-2 in 1979-80 and 5-4 in 2009-10, 2008-09, 1994-95 and 1982-83.

Pac-10 poll
The 37 media members who voted in the Pac-10 poll announced on Oct. 29 predicted the Sun Devils for a seventh-place finish. The complete poll: 1. Cal (350/25 first-place votes); 2. UW (330/7); 3. UCLA (302/5); 4. UA (221); 5. OSU (218); 6. UO (175); 7. ASU (144); 8. WSU (123); 9. USC (109); 10. Stanford (63).