STU FEINER
Stu's 100 Dime CBB West Coast Blowout (SF1)
Arizona State at San Diego State (+3') - 11 p.m. EST
San Diego State, a veteran team gunning for its fourth consecutive 20-win season, has Arizona State in a good spot tonight. No, the Aztecs top player, the suspended Lorenzo Wade will not play as he was at a court hearing today stemming from his September arrest for felony burglary. But his absence, coupled with SDSU uninspiring 59-40 over Division-II Tritons last week, will give this nationally-ranked Sun Devils outfit a false sense of security. They better watch out. SDSU is more than Wade, who was one of five returning starters for Steve Fisher’s club. Swingman Kyle Spain took over in the second half last week and he’s capable of picking up the slack in Wade’s absence. Forward Billy White can play and Ryan Amoroso, who missed the opener with a back injury, will offer added support inside tonight for the first time. This team plays well at home (26-5 SU, 14-10 ATS the last three years) and has upset the last two ranked teams to visit Cox Arena. ASU made a big leap last year and they have some talent coming back this year, but this will be a very difficult first road game of the year. This is a Sun Devil program that has had one winning season on the highway in the last 19 years (4-6 last season) and lost by 15 in their season-opener last year at Nebraska. ASU has two solid players in sophomore James Harden and senior forward Jeff Pendergraph, but this team does not have much size overall and was beaten repeatedly on the boards in their lackluster season-opening 80-64 win over visiting Mississippi Valley State. They also gave up an alarming amount of points to a Delta Devils’ team that really struggles to score. The Aztecs encountered a disciplined, well-schooled Tritons team that frustrated SDSU and challenged the Aztecs to play defense 35 seconds each time down the court. It was a wake-up call for a San Diego State team that started very slow, but rallied together as a team. Lesson learned. San Diego State football is the pits, so the school is rallying behind what promises to be a good hoops season, especially if Wade returns, which is possible. So tonight, with a Pac-10 foe in Cox Arena, the San Diego State team and its supporters will bring their A game in this compelling upset home win.
Stu's 100 Dime CBB West Coast Blowout (SF1)
Arizona State at San Diego State (+3') - 11 p.m. EST
San Diego State, a veteran team gunning for its fourth consecutive 20-win season, has Arizona State in a good spot tonight. No, the Aztecs top player, the suspended Lorenzo Wade will not play as he was at a court hearing today stemming from his September arrest for felony burglary. But his absence, coupled with SDSU uninspiring 59-40 over Division-II Tritons last week, will give this nationally-ranked Sun Devils outfit a false sense of security. They better watch out. SDSU is more than Wade, who was one of five returning starters for Steve Fisher’s club. Swingman Kyle Spain took over in the second half last week and he’s capable of picking up the slack in Wade’s absence. Forward Billy White can play and Ryan Amoroso, who missed the opener with a back injury, will offer added support inside tonight for the first time. This team plays well at home (26-5 SU, 14-10 ATS the last three years) and has upset the last two ranked teams to visit Cox Arena. ASU made a big leap last year and they have some talent coming back this year, but this will be a very difficult first road game of the year. This is a Sun Devil program that has had one winning season on the highway in the last 19 years (4-6 last season) and lost by 15 in their season-opener last year at Nebraska. ASU has two solid players in sophomore James Harden and senior forward Jeff Pendergraph, but this team does not have much size overall and was beaten repeatedly on the boards in their lackluster season-opening 80-64 win over visiting Mississippi Valley State. They also gave up an alarming amount of points to a Delta Devils’ team that really struggles to score. The Aztecs encountered a disciplined, well-schooled Tritons team that frustrated SDSU and challenged the Aztecs to play defense 35 seconds each time down the court. It was a wake-up call for a San Diego State team that started very slow, but rallied together as a team. Lesson learned. San Diego State football is the pits, so the school is rallying behind what promises to be a good hoops season, especially if Wade returns, which is possible. So tonight, with a Pac-10 foe in Cox Arena, the San Diego State team and its supporters will bring their A game in this compelling upset home win.
