NCAAB Game Preview - Kansas at Arizona State

Sat Dec 22, 2018 9:00 PM EST

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Arizona State announced its arrival on the national stage with a high-powered victory over Kansas last December at Allen Field House.

The No. 1 Jayhawks will attempt to exact some revenge when the teams meet Saturday in Tempe, Ariz., in what Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley is calling "a spotlight game."

"It toughens you up more, you hope, putting yourself in difficult spots," Hurley said.

"Big-time atmosphere. Lots of pressure."

No. 18 Arizona State seemed immune to any pressure last year. The Sun Devils shot 50.8 percent from the field and made a season-high 14 3-pointers, including some from ridiculous range, to stun the then-No. 2 Jayhawks 95-85 on Dec. 10.

That victory was the ninth of Arizona State's season-opening 12 straight wins in a school-record start as it became the last undefeated team in Division I.

Kansas (10-0) is one of seven unbeatens in Division I this season while playing a rigorous scheduled that has included victories over No. 3 Tennessee, No. 10 Michigan State and No. 20 Marquette. Villanova was No. 17 before falling out of the rankings after a loss to the Jayhawks last Saturday.

Neither team plays again until after Christmas Day.

"You'll have a good Christmas no matter what -- you'll be with family," Kansas coach Bill Self told reporters.

"For everybody to have the best Christmas is to win your last game before Christmas ... to play well against Arizona State."

Both teams have reloaded with talented transfers and freshmen since their meeting 53 weeks ago, and Arizona State has changed its approach from a perimeter-oriented group to one that attacks from the inside out.

The Sun Devils (8-2) have lost two of their last three games. Poor shooting doomed them to an 81-65 loss at Vanderbilt in their last game on Monday. Arizona State suffered its first loss of the season against No. 6 Nevada on Dec. 7 in Los Angeles before beating Georgia 76-74 last Saturday.

Hurley believes scheduling good teams is an evaluation tool.

"We're going to know a lot more about what we're good at, what we have to work on, where we stand," Hurley told reporters before the game against Kansas.

"You have to be able to find ways to measure yourself. You've got to put yourself out there and be willing to open yourself up to finding the truth. I don't know what that truth is on Saturday."

Kansas won its 10th straight in an 89-53 blowout of South Dakota on Tuesday, when Memphis transfer Dedric Lawson had 16 points and 14 rebounds in his seventh double-double of the season and California transfer guard Charlie Moore scored a season-high 18 points on six 3-pointers.

Kansas has played well in tight situations, beating Michigan State by five points in the season opener, surviving in overtime against Tennessee and Stanford, and winning three-point games against New Mexico State and Villanova.

The 6-foot-9 Lawson is averaging 19.7 points and 11.1 rebounds and long-range specialist Lagerald Vick is averaging 17.1 points while making 34 of 63 3-point attempts. Moore had only three 3s until the game against South Dakota.

"That's what we thought all along, that (Moore) was going to be our marksman," Self told reporters after the game against South Dakota.

Kansas center Udoka Azubuike has missed the last three games after suffering a sprained ankle against Wofford, and Self said he'is doubtful for the game against Arizona Sate. Silvio De Sousa, a 6-9 sophomore forward, has not played this season pending an NCAA eligibility review.

The Jayhawks doubled up the Coyotes in the second half, outscoring South Dakota 52-26.

Arizona State used a big second half to beat Kansas last season, scoring 58 points in the final 20 minutes, but it did not shoot well on a two-game SEC trip to Georgia and Vanderbilt.

The Sun Devils shot a season-low 32.3 percent from the field and made only 7 of 24 3s against Vanderbilt, which ended the first half on an 18-3 run and never trailed in the second half.

Freshman Luguentz Dort, who entered the week as the fourth-leading freshman scorer, had 22 points in the previous two games while going 5 of 23 from the field.

Sophomore guard Remy Martin had a career-high 21 points and five steals against Kansas last season and matched that with 21 points against Georgia. He has been nursing a high ankle sprain since fall practice.