By Craig Degel
Arizona Daily Wildcat
January 15, 1998

UA to host deceptive ASU squad

Dan Hoffman Arizona Daily Wildcat Senior forward Michael Dickerson (left) and sophomore forward Eugene Edgerson reach for a rebound against James Madison last month at McKale Center. Edgerson and the Wildcats are hoping for an enthusiastic crowd at tonight's game against ASU.

Early in the season, the Arizona State men's basketball team upset Cincinnati and took No. 2 Kansas into overtime.

That all but takes away the element of the surprise in tonight's 6:37 game with Arizona at McKale Center.

Picked to finish last in the Pacific 10 Conference, ASU should have been a team that had to surprise a lot of conference foes.

And it has.

Who would have thought ASU and UCLA would be tied with just over five minutes remaining in a game played earlier this month?

After all, the Sun Devils are a team with just seven scholarship players. When ASU head coach Don Newman replaced Bill Frieder in September, he inherited a squad that lost its last 11 games.

However, they enter McKale at 12-5 overall and own a 2-2 conference record that includes their first Pac-10 road win dating back to Feb. 15, 1996.

Now they have another difficult assignment - end a four-game string of losses to Arizona (13-3, 4-0).

"I think they've done an outstanding job," Arizona head coach Lute Olson said. "They're shallow in terms of depth but it doesn't show in the course of the game."

That's due mostly to the fact that the Sun Devils play as a unit as well as any team in the country. Four of five starters average in double figures and they are led by guard Jeremy Veal, the conference's leading scorer at 19.9 points per game.

In tonight's game, four of the top seven scorers in the Pac-10 will be on the floor. Besides Veal, Michael Dickerson is fourth (18.8), Simon is sixth (18.0) and Bobby Lazor of the Sun Devils is seventh (17.7).

"You've got basically both teams doing a fine job," Newman said. "Obviously, the Sun Devils are playing the national champions. You'll have everybody in this state interested, one way or the other, either tuning in on the radio, seeing it live or giving a peek at it the next day in the newspaper."

"I really like the team. They have great balance and exceptional quickness," Olson said. "They might get the ball down the court quicker than we do. You better get back down court in a hurry and be ready to defend the first pass because if they see an opening they don't wait around."

And that is where ASU may run into some problems.

Arizona has made no bones about its penchant for an up tempo game but they have the bench strength to go with it. And now, with Donnell Harris back after a seven week absence, the Wildcats get even deeper off the bench.

What won't be present for Arizona is that rivalry feeling that exists between these teams in football. There is almost a hatred on the gridiron. For two Wildcats, tonight's contest is just another game.

"I don't look at it any differently," Dickerson said. "Maybe Mike (Bibby) does because he is from Phoenix."

Not really, Bibby said.

"I didn't watch ASU play," he said. "I usually watched pro games. It's just a regular game."

"They are not a bottom team like people picked them to be," Dickerson said. "They have played good teams and played them well."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Men's Pac-10 Conference Basketball Standings

		CONFERENCE  OVERALL

TEAM            W   L   PCT.  W    L   PCT.

ARIZONA		4   0  1.000  13   3   .813
STANFORD        3   0  1.000  14   0  1.000
UCLA            3   1   .750  12   2   .857
WASHINGTON    	2   1   .667   9   3   .750
ARIZONA ST      2   2   .500  12   5   .706
USC             2   2   .500   6   8   .429
CALIFORNIA      1   2   .333   5   6   .455
OREGON          1   3   .250   6   7   .462
WASHINGTON ST	0   3   .000   7   7   .500
OREGON ST       0   4   .000   9   6   .600

Upcoming Schedule 
Thursday, January 15th 
WASHINGTON at OREGON       8:05P 
WASHINGTON ST at OREGON ST 8:05P 
UCLA at CALIFORNIA         8:30P 
USC at STANFORD            8:30P

How the top 25 teams in The Associated Press' college basketball poll fared Wednesday:

1. North Carolina (17-1) lost to Maryland 89-83. Next: vs. Appalachian State, Saturday. 
2. Duke (15-1) beat Wake Forest 88-52. Next: vs. Clemson, Saturday.  
3. Kansas (20-2) beat Texas A&M 83-65. Next: vs. Kansas State, Saturday. 
4. Utah (13-0) did not play. Next: vs. Colorado State, Thursday.
5. Arizona (13-3) did not play. Next: vs. Arizona State, Thursday. 
6. Kentucky (15-2) did not play. Next: vs. No. 22 Arkansas, Saturday. 
7. Stanford (14-0) did not play. Next: vs. Southern California, Thursday. 
8. UCLA (12-2) did not play. Next: at California, Thursday. 
9. Purdue (15-3) did not play. Next: at Indiana, Sunday. 
10. Connecticut (15-2) did not play. Next: vs. Georgetown, Saturday. 
11. Mississippi (12-1) did not play. Next: at Tennessee, Saturday. 
12. Princeton (13-1) did not play. Next: vs. College of New Jersey, Monday, Jan. 26. 
13. Iowa (14-2) beat Ohio State 61-46. Next: at Minnesota, Sunday. 
14. South Carolina (10-3) did not play. Next: at Georgia, Sunday. 
15. New Mexico (12-2) did not play. Next: vs. UNLV, Thursday. 
(tie) Syracuse (14-2) did not play. Next: vs. Miami, Sunday. 
17. Florida State (12-5) did not play. Next: at Georgia Tech, Sunday. 
18. Xavier (10-4) lost to George Washington 78-73, OT. Next: vs. Virginia Tech, Saturday. 
19. Michigan (13-4) did not play. Next: at Ohio State, Saturday. 
20. Rhode Island (11-2) did not play. Next: vs. Tulane, Thursday. 
21. West Virginia (14-2) did not play. Next: vs. Notre Dame, Thursday. 
22. Arkansas (14-2) beat Florida 89-84. Next: at No. 6 Kentucky, Saturday. 
23. Marquette (10-3) did not play. Next: vs. Boston College, Saturday. 
24. Hawaii (11-2) did not play. Next: vs. Southern Methodist, Saturday. 
25. Oklahoma State (12-2) lost to Missouri 70-64. Next: at Baylor, Saturday.