March 16, 2000
Tues., Mar. 21 - 7 p.m. ET/5 p.m.
MT Sports and Entertainment Arena
NIT 2nd Round at NC State (18-12)
KGME 550 AM/ESPN - Raleigh, N.C.
ASU AT NC STATE IN NIT: The Arizona State men's basketball team (19-12), winners of seven of its past 10, travels to Raleigh to play the NC State Wolfpack (18-12) in the second round of the National Invitational Tournament on Tues., March 21 at 7 p.m. ET. The game is a rematch of the Jan. 29 game when NCSU beat ASU 79-68 in Raleigh. All ASU games are carried on the Sun Devil Radio Network with Tim Healey (play-by-play) and Vic Cegles (color) on KGME 550 AM in Phoenix, while ESPN will televise the game. ASU came back from a 17-point second-half deficit to defeat New Mexico State 83-77 on March 15 in the first round of the NIT. ASU was picked to finish eighth in the Pac-10 preseason media poll but finished in a tie for fourth with NCAA-bound UCLA (a team ASU beat 104-75 on Feb. 17) at 10-8.
DEJA VU: The NCSU game was ASU's first road trip to an ACC site. The loss was ASU's fourth straight, but since that game the Sun Devils have gone 8-4, including a 3-2 mark on the road. ASU's only losses in the past 12 games were to NCAA-bound Oregon (twice) and to NCAA No. 1 seeds Arizona (on the road) and Stanford. Eddie House had 31 points on 11-of-24 shooting in the NC State game, but ASU had a season-low 30 rebounds and shot a season-low 10 free throws. ASU led 40-37 at the half, but the Wolfpack shot 17-of-25 (.680) in the second half and held ASU to just 10-of-31 (.323). NC State was whistled for just 14 fouls in the game, an ASU opponent's season-low.
ASU is 2-6 all-time against the ACC. The last time ASU beat an ACC team was in the 1994 Maui Invitational Championship, when Mario Bennett led ASU over seventh-ranked Maryland, led by Joe Smith, 97-90. North Carolina State beat ASU 89-69 in January of 1996 at Veterans Coliseum in Phoenix.
SOME THINGS TO BUILD ON: The young ASU team, with six true freshmen seeing significant playing time and just one senior, has posted 19 wins, just the fourth time in the past 17 seasons ASU has notched a 19-win season. ASU also posted a Pac-10 road sweep for the first time since 1996 to begin the second half at WSU/Washington and notched a home sweep of the LA schools for the first time since 1986 a week later. It was ASU's first four-game Pac-10 win streak since 1995. ASU also is 3-1 in overtime, all Pac-10 road contests, after going just 1-3 last year in OT. ASU's three Pac-10 road OT wins is the most since the 1980-81 team won four. ASU also is 3-2 in games decided by three points or less after going 1-5 last year. Also, in 1998-99, ASU was 4-10 in games decided by six points or less, while this year's squad is 4-4.
NIT HISTORY: ASU is making its seventh appearance in the postseason National Invitational Tournament and has a 3-6 mark. Overall, ASU is 20-26 (.435) in postseason play.
| Year | Score(s) | Site | |
| 1999-00 | ASU 83, New Mexico State 77 | Tempe | |
| 1997-98 | Hawaii 90, ASU 73 | Honolulu | |
| 1993-94 | BYU 74, ASU 67 | Provo | |
| 1992-93 | Georgetown 78, ASU 68 | Tempe | |
| 1991-92 | Utah 60, ASU 58 (second round) | Tempe | |
| 1991-92 | ASU 71, Cal-Santa Barbara 58 (first round) | Santa Barbara | |
| 1989-90 | Long Bearch State 86, ASU 71 | Tempe | |
| 1982-83 | Texas Christian 78, ASU 76 (second round) | Tempe | |
| 1982-83 | ASU 87, Cal State Fullerton 83 (first round) | Tempe |
Arizona State Sun Devils 1999-2000 Roster
| Pos. | # | Name | Yr | Ht./Wt. | PPG | RPG | Notes |
| G | 1 | Alton Mason | Jr. | 6-1/180 | 6.2 | 2.6* | Career-high 18 points at Arizona on 2-26 and at OSU on 3-4 |
| G | 5 | Eddie House | Sr. | 6-1/180 | 22.7 | 5.4 | 7 30-point games/ASU 14-2 when he scores 20 or more |
| F | 11 | Awvee Storey | So. | 6-6/215 | 9.5 | 7.8 | 14 boards vs. NMSU on 3-15/3 20-point games on the road |
| F | 42 | Shawn Redhage | Fr. | 6-7/210 | 8.5 | 3.8 | 32-36 (.889) FTs Pac-10/16 pts., 6 rebs. and 7 assts. vs. WSU on 1/15 |
| C | 52 | Chad Prewitt | So. | 6-9/235 | 9.2 | 4.4 | 18 points and 10 boards at #1 Stanford on 1-8/10.2 ppg. in Pac-10 games |
Off The Bench
| Pos. | # | Name | Yr | Ht./Wt. | PPG | RPG | Notes |
| G | 3 | Kyle Dodd | Fr. | 6-0/160 | 4.2 | 2.4* | 49 assists and just 15 TOs in Pac-10 play/GW 3-pter at WSU |
| F | 2 | Donnell Knight | Fr. | 6-7/200 | 4.6 | 2.7 | 16 points vs. Oregon on 2-5 and vs. California on 3-8 |
| F | 4 | Tommy Smith | Fr. | 6-9/199 | 5.0 | 3.1 | 6 blocks vs. Oregon State on 2/3 most by a Sun Devil since Dec. of 1997 |
| F | 14 | DeWy DeWitt | Fr. | 6-8/210 | -- | -- | Walk-on freshman from Show Low, Ariz./on full academic scholarship |
| G | 15 | Tanner Shell | Fr. | 6-6/210 | 7.2 | 2.9 | Averaged 9.1 pts. and 21.6 minutes Pac-10 games/24 points at USC |
| G | 20 | Brad Nahra | So. | 6-4/212 | 0.8 | 0.5 | Walk-on from Lexington, Ky., who has been given a scholarship this year |
| C | 22 | Tyson Johnston | So. | 6-11/230 | -- | -- | Transfer from Utah who will sit this year and then have three years to play |
| F | 24 | Justin Allen | Fr. | 6-7/216 | 3.0 | 1.2 | 25 minutes, 6 points, 3 rebounds on 3-4 at OSU/7 pts. vs. OSU on 2/3 |
| F | 44 | Todd Heap | So. | 6-5/225 | 0.2 | 1.2 | All-American tight end joined team on Jan. 24/55 receptions in ?99 |
* - denotes assists per game.
EDDIE: Under second-year coach Rob Evans, ASU has just one senior, Pac-10 Player of the Year Eddie House (the first Sun Devil to earn the honor). With his 40 points vs. UCLA on Feb. 17, House became the first Pac-10 player to notch four 40-point games in one season. He has already posted seven games of 30+ points games on the year, as he went crazy at Cal on Jan. 8 with 61 points, which tied the Pac-10 record held by Lew Alcindor. He also had 46 vs. San Diego State (Dec. 18), 42 vs. Penn State (Dec. 29) and the 40 vs. UCLA (Feb. 17). He has 16 games of at least 20 points this year and ASU is 14-2 in those contests (9-0 at home). House also is averaging 7.0 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.3 steals in his past seven games. House is ASU's career leading scorer as he now has 2,012 points. He is also just the second Pac-10 player to notch 2,000 career points and 250 steals (253). Oregon State's Gary Payton is the other.
CAROLINA ON ITS MIND: ASU has contact with three North Carolina schools in the next 12 months. ASU plays at NC State Tuesday, will play in the NABC Classic next November and North Carolina-Charlotte is one of three teams in ASU's annual holiday tournament next December. ASU will play in the National Association of Basketball Coaches Classic on Nov. 10-11, 2000, in Chapel Hill. ASU is scheduled to meet Tulsa while North Carolina will take on Winthrop. The winners/losers will meet the next day.
THREE-DOT DATA: ASU has held nine of its past 10 opponents to under 50% shooting?Alton Mason is averaging 13.8 points in his past six games and played a season-high 38 minutes at Oregon State?ASU won the OSU game in OT with three players fouled out (Awvee Storey, Tanner Shell and Tommy Smith) and Chad Prewitt playing only three minutes before spraining his ankle?Donnell Knight posted a season-high 29 minutes vs. Cal on March 8 and matched a season-high with 16 points?Kyle Dodd has 56 assists and just 16 turnovers in the past 23 games (451 minutes). Dodd had a career-high 10 assists vs. UCLA. He does not have a turnover in the past five games (47 minutes)?ASU is 14-3 when leading at the half compared to 10-9 a year ago?Chad Prewitt averaged 10.2 points in Pac-10 play and is the only Sun Devil to start in all 31 games?Shawn Redhage has made 32-of-his-past-35 (.914) FTs?Awvee Storey leads the league in offensive boards with 105...ASU went 6-3 in the second half of Pac-10 play after going just 2-7 last year.
JUSTIN TIME: Freshman Justin Allen came off the bench on March 4 at OSU and posted six points and three boards, including two three-pointers, and played a season-high 26 minutes. Entering the OSU game, Allen was averaging 8.5 minutes per game but with Chad Prewitt suffering an ankle sprain three minutes into the game and Awvee Storey, Tommy Smith and Tanner Shell all in foul trouble, Allen stepped up. Allen is averaging 13.3 minutes in his past four games.
MASON SOLID: Point guard Alton Mason's play in the past few weeks has been superb. It started at Washington on Feb. 12 when he posted eight points in 12 minutes off the bench, all in the second half, as ASU came back to beat the Huskies. Mason made all six FTs in that game. In the past six games, the junior is averaging 13.8 points, is shooting 46 percent from the field (27-of-59) and is 19-of-22 (.864) from the FT line. On the season, he is shooting 80.4 percent from the FT line (45-of-56) after shooting just 59.5 percent (47-of-79) last year. He also has 13 steals in his past seven games.
EDDIE AND THE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Eddie House won his fourth Pac-10 Player of the Week Award this year on Feb. 21, joining Ed O'Bannon (UCLA in 1994-95), Chris Mills (Arizona in 1992-93) and Gary Payton (Oregon State in 1989-90) as the only Pac-10 players to have won the award four times in a year. House had a stranglehold on the Pac-10 Player of the Week, as he won it three straight weeks at the beginning of the year (Dec. 20, Jan. 2, Jan. 10), the first time any Pac-10 Player has won the award in one season in three straight weeks (Gary Payton won it three straight over the course of two seasons). He earned the honor five times in his career.
EDDIE'S HOUSES: Eddie House has posted 11 games of at least 30 points in his career in seven arenas and in six states (California, Arizona, Texas, Oregon, Hawaii and North Carolina) and has four 40-point games. A look at House's 25+ point games, and note that 10 of the 19 have been away from Tempe:
| Date | Pts. | Opp. | Site | |
| 1/8/00 | 61 | California | Haas Pavilion (Berkeley, Calif.) | |
| 12/18/99 | 46 | San Diego State | Wells Fargo Arena (Tempe) | |
| 12/29/99 | 42 | Penn State | Wells Fargo Arena (Tempe) | |
| 2/17/00 | 40 | UCLA | Wells Fargo Arena (Tempe) | |
| 12/5/98 | 39 | UNLV | America West Arena (Phoenix) | |
| 12/19/98 | 34 | Texas A & M | Reed Arena (College Station) | |
| 1/23/99 | 34 | Oregon | McArthur Court (Eugene, Ore.) | |
| 3/15/00 | 32 | New Mexico State | Wells Fargo Arena (Tempe) | |
| 1/29/00 | 31 | #21 NC State | Sports Arena (Raleigh, N.C.) | |
| 12/28/99 | 31 | Bucknell | Wells Fargo Arena (Tempe) | |
| 11/24/98 | 31 | Kansas State | Lahaina Civic Center (Maui) | |
| 2/12/00 | 29 | Washington | KeyArena (Seattle) | |
| 1/13/00 | 29 | Washington | Wells Fargo Arena (Tempe) | |
| 2/19/00 | 28 | USC | Wells Fargo Arena (Tempe) | |
| 2/10/00 | 27 | Washington State | Friel Court (Pullman,Wash.) | |
| 2/27/99 | 26 | California | Oakland Arena (Oakland) | |
| 11/25/98 | 26 | Chaminade | Lahaina Civic Center (Maui) | |
| 1/15/00 | 25 | Washington State | Wells Fargo Arena (Tempe) | |
| 1/30/99 | 25 | #3 Stanford | Wells Fargo Arena (Tempe) |
AWVEE STOREY: Looking at sophomore Awvee Storey's numbers and height, one would have to call him one of the toughest players in the Pac-10. Storey, listed at 6-6, is averaging 7.8 rebounds (105 total on offense). He has led ASU in rebounding in 18 of 31 games and also has been a solid scorer (9.5 ppg.). Storey had 21 points at UCLA on Jan. 22 to go with eight rebounds, including 7-of-8 (.875) from the FT line. He averaged 8.6 points and 7.3 boards in Pac-10 play. Storey also has three 20-point games, all on the road (22 at BYU, 23 at USC and 21 at UCLA).
NOT SHELL-SHOCKED: Freshman Tanner Shell has been a big part of ASU's success. Shell was 10-of-13 (.769) from the field, 4-of-5 (.800) from the line and made all four free throws in the sweep of UCLA and USC on Feb. 17-19. He had 17 points, 14 of them in the second half, vs. USC and had 12 vs. UCLA. He also posted 24 points at USC on Jan. 20 and also had 13 at UCLA on Jan. 22. Shell was 8-of-16 (.500) from the floor and 3-of-6 (.500) from the three-point stripe and had 17 points in the second half at USC. In that weekend, he was 12-of-24 (.500) from the field, 6-of-12 (.500) from the three-point stripe and 7-of-9 (.777) from the FT line and averaged 18.5 points (24 at USC and 13 at UCLA). He also did not make a turnover in 50 minutes. Shell is averaging 9.1 points and 22.0 minutes in the past 15 games.
He also delivered the quote of the day after the UCLA loss. Said Shell: ?I hate losing. Losing is worse than death pretty much. You have to live with it.?
WORTH A LOOK: Shell's 24-point freshman game at USC ranks as one of the best in recent ASU history. It is the most points by an ASU freshmen on the road since Jamal Faulkner had 27 at Oregon on Feb. 28, 1991, and matched Eddie House's 24 points vs. UCLA in 1997.
TOP ASU FRESHMAN SCORING GAMES SINCE 1989-90
| Name | Date | Opponent | Points |
| Mario Bennett | Feb. 20, 1992 | Arizona | 35 |
| Jamal Faulkner | March 17, 1991 | Arkansas (NCAA) | 29 |
| Jamal Faulkner | Feb. 28, 1991 | at Oregon | 27 |
| Mario Bennett | Feb. 1, 1992 | Oregon | 26 |
| Ron Riley | Dec. 21, 1992 | Northern Arizona | 25 |
| Jamal Faulkner | Feb. 9, 1991 | at USC | 25 |
| Jamal Faulkner | Jan. 13, 1991 | USC | 25 |
| Stevin Smith | Nov. 29, 1990 | Northern Arizona | 25 |
| Tanner Shell | Jan. 20, 2000 | at USC | 24 |
| Eddie House | Feb. 15, 1997 | UCLA | 24 |
| Mario Bennett | March 24, 1992 | Utah | 24 |
RED-UDGE: Freshman Shawn Redhage (Lincoln, Neb.) has made a solid impact, averaging 8.5 points and is shooting 52% from the field. He is shooting 83.1% from the FT line, including 32-of-36 (.889) in the Pac-10. He is fourth on the team in assists (63) and leads the team with 24 blocks. Redhage had two of the best all-around games of the year with 16 points, six rebounds and seven assists vs. WSU on Jan. 15 and had 14 points, seven boards and five assists vs. USC on Feb. 19. He has been in double-digits in scoring in 13 games.
CHAD PREWITT: Last year Chad Prewitt averaged 4.1 points per game in his initial season and had three double-digit scoring games. This year, Prewitt is averaging 9.2 ppg. Prewitt had his best game at No. 1 Stanford, posting 18 points and 10 rebounds (six offensive) and also had another double-double with 12 points and 10 boards vs. USC on Feb. 19. He has posted double-figure scoring games in 14 of the past 21 games and has 17 on the year. Prewitt averaged 10.2 points per game in Pac-10 play after averaging just 2.1 last year.
HEAP: All-American tight end Todd Heap (6-5, 225) joined the team on Jan. 24. Heap caught 55 passes for 832 yards (15.1 ypc), had three TDs and was first-team All-Pac-10 in addition to earning numerous All-America honors. Heap prepped at Mountain View, along with Tanner Shell, and was a starter on a basketball state championship in 1998. He has played 50 minutes in 10 games in 2000, and posted four rebounds in 14 minutes vs. New Mexico State on March 15.
61!: House outscored 55 Division I TEAMS on Jan. 8...the last major college player to score more was Kansas State's Askia Jones, who had 62 vs. Fresno State on March 24, 1994...the 19th player to notch a 60-point game against a D-I team (24 occasions)...it is only the fifth time since 1978 that a player had more than 60 in a game involving two D-I teams...was just 11 points shy of NCAA record (two D-I teams), as Kevin Bradshaw of U.S. International had 72 in 1991 vs. Loyola Marymount, but Bradshaw was 23-of-59 while House was 18-of-30...House's 18 FTs (19 attempts) is a school record.
MORE THREE-DOT DATA: ASU swept Oregon State for the first time since 1996 and swept Washington and California for the first time since 1995...Tommy Smith had six blocks vs. Oregon State on Feb. 3, the most by a Sun Devil since Bobby Lazor had six vs. Texas A & M on Dec. 19, 1997 (72 games)...the Feb. 10 WSU game was the first time three freshmen started for ASU (Kyle Dodd, Tommy Smith and Shawn Redhage) since Feb. 6, 1992...ASU held Santa Clara on Dec. 21 to just 18-of-57 from the field (.316), the lowest field goal percentage by an opponent since Jan. 6, 1997, when ASU held Chaminade to 19-of-64 (.297), a span of 87 games...ASU held Santa Clara (Dec. 21) and Bucknell (Dec. 28) to 55 points each. It marked the first time since the 1994-95 season, a span of 149 games, that ASU has held two straight opponents to under 60 points. ASU beat Arizona 53-52 on Jan. 5, 1995, and Old Dominion 71-52 on Jan. 7 in that year...ASU's rebounding margin of +21 (46-25) vs. Bucknell is tied for the fifth-biggest margin by a Rob Evans-team, while the 27 forced turnovers is tied for the fourth-most by an Evans team...ASU forced 34 turnovers vs. Morgan State, the most forced by any Rob Evans-coached team and the most forced by the Sun Devils since Jan. 2, 1993, when ASU forced 35 vs. Alaska-Anchorage...ASU's 20 steals vs. Morgan State was the most by ASU since ASU had 22 vs. Cal Poly SLO on Dec. 20, 1994...Awvee Storey is the oldest player on the team. Storey was born on April 18, 1977...Justin Allen is the youngest player on the team, as he was born July 30, 1981...the last ASU opponent to score 100 points in Tempe was UA on Feb. 27, 1988 (101-73). The current streak of an ASU opponent not scoring 100 points in Tempe stands at 204 games.
STARTING FROM THE GROUND UP: ASU has six true freshmen this year, tied for the most in ASU history as the 1983-84 squad also had six. The six freshmen hail from four states (three players from Arizona as well as one each from California, Nebraska and Illinois) and are joined by sophomore Awvee Storey, who was a newcomer in terms of games this year as he joined the team last year but had to sit after transferring from Illlinois. In addition to Eddie House, also returning were sophomore Chad Prewitt and junior Alton Mason. Evans made a point to go the prep route as he rebuilds, as ASU has just one J.C. transfer. The last time ASU had just one J.C. player was in 1984-85. The other time ASU had six true freshmen was in 1983-84.
ROB EVANS: Rob Evans (119-109/.522) is in his second season (eighth overall) as the head basketball coach at Arizona State after being hired on April 7, 1998. The 1997 SEC Coach of the Year spent six seasons at Ole Miss, compiling an 86-81 (.515) record. He led the Rebels to a 42-16 record in his final two seasons, winning two SEC West titles, and led Ole Miss to back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 1937-38. The 53-year old Evans is a 1968 graduate of New Mexico State, where he captained two NCAA Tournament teams, is a 1989 inductee of the NMSU Athletic Hall of Fame and was named to the school's All-Time Basketball team. He is 33-28 (.541) in his second year at ASU. Evans' Ole Miss squads were known as a tough man-to-man teams which ranked 13th in the nation and second in the SEC in 1997-98 in rebounding at +6.6, despite the fact that no player was in the top 30 in rebounding. Ole Miss held opponents to just 30 percent from the three-point stripe, best in the SEC, and to just 40.6 percent from the field. He is 75-44 (.630) in the past four seasons.
PAC-10 MEDIA: ASU was picked to finish eighth by the Pac-10 Media in a preseason poll, announced on Nov. 4. The results, with first-place votes in parentheses: 1. Arizona (32), 2. UCLA (3), 3. Stanford (1), 4. Oregon, 5. Oregon State, 6. California, 7. USC, 8. Arizona State, 9. Washington, 10. Washington State.
ON A MISSION: Kenny Crandall, who was a freshman on last year's team and started in 23 games, went on a two-year Mormon Mission to Eugene, Ore., and will return to the Sun Devils in 2001-2002. Crandall, a native of Mesa, Ariz., who prepped at Mountain View High School, averaged 5.9 points and 28.4 minutes per game last year.
NABC CLASSIC IN 2000: ASU will play in the National Association Basketball Coaches Classic on Nov. 10-11, 2000, at the Dean Dome in Chapel Hill, N.C., along with three 2000 NCAA Tournament teams. ASU is scheduled to meet Tulsa while North Carolina will take on Winthrop. The winners/losers will meet the next day.
PRACTICE PLAYERS: ASU has two players on its roster who practice but do not dress. John Bray (#34 in practice) is a native of Charleston, S.C., and a graduate of James Island Christian High School. Brandon Goldman is a native of Northbrook, Ill., and a graduate of Glennbrook North High School. Bray has a 4.00 grade point average.
A VOTER: Evans is also one of 31 coaches on the USA Today/ESPN Board which selects the Top 25 Coaches' poll. Evans is the only Pac-10 coach, and is joined by westerners Steve Aggers (Eastern Washington), Dick Davey (Santa Clara) and Bob Thomason (Pacific).