Scouting report: No. 22 Arizona Wildcats vs. ASU Sun Devils

The Star's Bruce Pascoe previews all of the game day essentials, from projected starting lineups to storylines and series history, ahead of the Arizona Wildcats' contest against Arizona State in Tempe. 

Game info

Who: No. 22 Arizona (13-5, 3-2) at ASU (11-7, 2-3)

Where: Desert Financial Arena, Tempe

When: 7:30 p.m.

TV: Pac-12 Networks

Radio: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM

Follow: @TheWildcaster on Twitter / TheWildcaster on Facebook

Probable starters: Arizona

G Nico Mannion (6-3 freshman)

G Dylan Smith (6-5 senior)

F Josh Green (6-6 freshman)

F Stone Gettings (6-9 senior)

C Zeke Nnaji (6-11 freshman)

Probable starters: ASU

G Remy Martin (6-0 junior)

G Rob Edwards (6-5 senior)

F Kimani Lawrence (6-8 junior)

F Taeshon Cherry (6-8 sophomore)

C Romello White (6-8 junior)

How they match up

The last time: Arizona shot 47.6% from the field and held ASU to just 30.5% in a 75-47 win on Jan. 4 at McKale Center in the Pac-12 opener for both teams. The Sun Devils also made just 8 of 19 free throws. Zeke Nnaji led a balanced UA attack with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Josh Green had 12 points and seven rebounds. Remy Martin led the Sun Devils with 20 points.

The last time at ASU: Justin Coleman hit a 25-footer with 24 seconds left in regulation to help force overtime, but the Wildcats went on to lose 95-88, their third straight loss in what became a seven-game losing streak. ASU shot 55.6% overall, including 9 of 19 3-pointers, and collected 10 of its 24 misses, a staggering offensive rebounding percentage of 41.7. Most important in the long run for the Wildcats was that Brandon Williams missed his first game of the season with a reoccurrence of knee pain related to the congenital condition that is also keeping him out all of this season.

Series history: The Wildcats also lost to ASU at McKale Center in the regular season finale last March but won six straight before last season. UA leads the series 153-84 overall and is 6-4 in Tempe in the Sean Miller era.

What’s new with the Sun Devils: A quirk in the Pac-12 schedule means the Sun Devils have played only four other games since meeting the Wildcats on Jan. 4. Over that time, ASU has wins at Oregon State and over Utah at home, but losses at Oregon and to Colorado at home.

But a lot has changed even in that short amount of time: Not only is center Romello White playing better after fully healing from an ankle injury that limited him at McKale but wing Kimani Lawrence has emerged to sometimes replaced shooting guard Alonzo Verge in the starting lineup. In addition, guard Rob Edwards’ shooting slump is over: Edwards is averaging 12.6 points in Pac-12 games, and has hit half of his 28 3-pointers.

Martin continues to be one of the Pac-12’s best guards, averaging 24.5 points in the four games since Jan. 4, becoming the only Pac-12 player since 1996-97 to open the first five games of conference play with 20 or more points. The Sun Devils still aren’t a great shooting team, making only 43.7% of two-point shots and 34.6% in conference games, but they continue to run the fastest tempo in the league. ASU keeps the ball for just 17.1 seconds on an average possession in conference play and continues to run an aggressive, if not overly effective, defense.

ASU is the seventh most efficient defense in conference play. Martin averages 1.83 steals per game and Jaelen House averages 1.6 off the bench but adjusted for tempo, the Sun Devils are recording steals on just 7.6% of opponent possessions, the seventh-best mark in the league. ASU primarily runs a man-to-man defense, occasionally picking up opponents with a man-to-man press that can prompt help defenders to jump switch on to a primary ballhandler when the occasion calls for it.

He said it

“Remy Martin is still the catalyst for them. Rob Edwards is playing really well right now. It was just a matter of time before he figured it out. We didn’t expect him to be in a slump all season. … Sliding Kimani Lawrence into the lineup allows them to be a lot bigger, a lot more physical. He’s playing well. He does a lot of the little things for them. He doesn’t need to have the ball in his hands to be productive. (Defensively), House and Martin are really good on- and off-ball defenders, and Lawrence gives them size at the three-spot.” — UA assistant coach Justin Gainey

Key player (ASU): Remy Martin 

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The Sun Devils’ floor leader isn’t just smiles, hustle and hair: He seriously produces on both ends of the floor, too. Martin’s 20 points against Arizona on Jan. 4 were actually below average in a sense, considering that he averaged 29 points while making 5 of 11 3s and taking 21 total trips to the line in two games last season.

Key player (Arizona): Nico Mannion

Mannion returns to the same floor where he led Pinnacle High School to the Arizona 6A title last season, but the circumstances are decidedly different. The Phoenix-area product will be trying to lead the Wildcats to their first road win of the season in front of a crowd that won’t be so friendly this time.

Sidelines

Sort-of homecomings

While ASU-UA basketball games typically generate more passion from fans than players, since most players on both sides traditionally are not from the state, Mannion and Green will be returning to their adopted hometown Saturday.

Mannion was born in Italy and spent his early years in Utah before moving to the Phoenix area, then played high school ball at Phoenix Pinnacle. Green moved from Sydney, Australia, to Phoenix in 2014, though he said playing at ASU wouldn’t really mean anything extra to him.

“I’m from Australia,” Green said. “My family lives in Phoenix, yeah, but at the same I’m just going to treat it just as any other road game, with same goal in mind and that’s to come out with a win.”

Mannion wasn’t available for comment this week but judging by the maturity he’s shown on and off the court this season (the freshman even referred last week to fifth-year senior Max Hazzard as a “kid”), the game’s location isn’t likely to faze him.

“It’s always a big game playing on the road in our conference, especially up there in Phoenix, but those two guys have been in a lot of big games,” Miller said of Green and Mannion.

“Now they enter that phase as a freshman where they’ve started 18 games, they’ve been at this since early October... they’re different types of freshmen in that they’ve been through a lot of experiences and in their case, they’ve been through a lot of experiences before they ever came here as well.”

Bobby’s playlist

Believe it or not, ASU coach Bobby Hurley does actually know how to manage his mood.

You can sometimes see it before games, when, like many college basketball players, Hurley will wear earbuds during warmups so he can listen to music.

All types of music.

“It spans decades, of music that has meant something to me for one reason or another,” he told reporters in Tempe on Thursday. “You mix in some more depressing music that might touch an emotion there or some more upbeat stuff, some rap from the 80s or 90s, and then my son has a little influence on me to get me in the current generation.”

Whatever it is, it works, the way Martin figures it.

“I don’t really know what he really listens to, but I’m sure it’s pretty cool,” Martin said. “You know how fiery he is – he can probably get anybody fired up. So I agree with his music choice.”

Romello rolling

Since going scoreless in 23 minutes against Arizona on Jan. 4 in his first game back from a sprained ankle, ASU center Romello White appears back to normal. He’s averaged 10.8 points and 8.0 rebounds in the four games since then.

“Anytime he’s going well and feeling great, you feel good about that,” Hurley said.

The Sun Devils run much of their offense through White, and Martin said his unselfishness makes it work.

“He’s been passing the ball out, kicking it out, and Mello as a player, I think he’s been ready,” Martin said.

Numbers game

13

Games Kenpom predicts Arizona win in the Pac-12 this season.

12

20-point games by Martin

39.8

Arizona’s 3-point percentage in Pac-12 games, second-best in the conference

50.6

Two-point percentage shot by ASU opponents in Pac-12 play, the third-worst mark in the league.