Nov. 13, 2006
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - Tyrone Bazy scored 21 points as Northern Arizona upset Arizona State 75-71 Monday night, spoiling coach Herb Sendek's debut for the Sun Devils.
ASU had won 16 straight home openers. Its last home-opening loss was in 1989, when the Sun Devils lost to Brigham Young in Bill Frieder's first season as head coach.
Jerren Shipp led ASU with 23 points, the most by an Arizona State freshman in his first game, and freshman Christian Polk added 22. It marked just the second time in ASU history that two freshmen each scored 20 points in a game, as Sylvester Seay and Jeff Pendergraph each scored 21 against Oregon last year.
The Lumberjacks led 69-63 when Shipp hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 38 seconds to go. But Bazy hit four free throws and Ruben Boykin added two in the final 30 seconds to clinch the win for NAU.
Along with the two freshmen, Sendek started three sophomores - point guard Antwi Atuahene, forward Jeff Pendergraph and forward Sylvester Seay.
The young Devils struggled against an experienced Lumberjack team that started three seniors and a junior. NAU is the defending Big Sky Conference regular-season champions and won 21 games last year.
Arizona State led 14-5 after seven minutes, but NAU responded with a 9-0 run to tie the game at 14-14 midway through the first half.
The Lumberjacks took a 26-25 lead on Ryan McCurdy's fastbreak dunk with six minutes to go in the first half.
NAU closed the first half on a 22-10 run to take a 39-33 lead into intermission.
The Sun Devils hit six of their first eight shots from the floor but then went cold. They made only nine of their next 26 shots to end the first half.
SUN DEVILS START TWO FRESHMEN: Jerren Shipp and Christian Polk became just the fourth ASU freshmen duo in the past 20 years to both start in a season opener. In the past 20 seasons, only 11 freshmen have started the season opener for ASU.
SUN DEVIL OPENING DAY FRESHMEN STARTERS (1987-88 TO PRESENT) 1990-1991: Jamal Faulkner, Stevin Smith 1991-1992: Mario Bennett, Tony Ronaldson 1992-1993: Ron Riley 1999-2000: Donnell Knight 2002-2003: Ike Diogu 2003-2004: Tron Smith, Keith Wooden 2006-2007: Christian Polk, Jerren Shipp
GREAT DEBUTS: Jerren Shipp (23) and Christian Polk (22) both scored more points than any Sun Devil freshmen in their first game on Monday night vs. Northern Arizona. Prior to Shipp and Polk's outputs on Monday, the best opening night by a Sun Devil freshmen was 18 by Jamal Faulkner on Nov. 23, 1990. Here is a look at the top Sun Devil openers by ASU freshmen in history, along with a list of other freshmen notables and how they scored in their first time on the court.
First Game in Freshman Year, ASU Notables Pts. Player, opponent and date 23 Jerren Shipp vs. Northern Arizona, Nov. 13, 2006 22 Christian Polk vs. Northern Arizona, Nov. 13, 2006 18 Jamal Faulkner vs. Kansas, Nov. 23, 1990 17 Eddie House vs. Jacksonville, Nov. 22, 1996 16 Ron Riley vs. BYU, Dec. 1, 1992 15 Tommy Smith vs. Portland State, Nov. 20, 1999 14 Byron Scott at Houston, Dec. 3, 1979 14 Tony Zeno vs. Whittier, Dec. 3, 1976 13 Steve Beck vs. U.S. International, Nov. 29, 1983 11 Ian Dale vs. Rice in Maui, Nov. 25, 1991 10 Ike Diogu vs. Morehead State, Nov. 22, 2002 7 Tim Pierce vs. Jackson State, Nov. 21, 2004 7 Jeremy Veal vs. Texas A & M in Maui, Nov. 21, 1994 6 Keith Wooden vs. Arkansas-Little Rock, Nov. 22, 2003 6 Tron Smith vs. vs. Arkansas-Little Rock, Nov. 22, 2003 6 Chad Prewitt vs. San Jose State, Nov. 13, 1998 5 Sylvester Seay vs. Southern Utah, Nov. 23, 2005 4 Paul Williams at Houston, Dec. 3, 1979 2 Mario Bennett vs. Rice in Maui, Nov. 25, 1991
NAU Coach Mike Adras: "Let me say that I'm happy to win this ballgame. It helped that we had guys with maturity...they know how to win games. We stepped up and converted free throws, which you need to do to win games. There was a lot of excitement; it was a tough environment to play in."
ASU Coach Herb Sendek: "The crowd was a good first step for the program and we are grateful to the students for standing the whole game and wearing gold. If only I could quantify the players will and hard work...it is more than I could describe. They wanted to win this game. Tonight was a great learning experience for our men."