WBB Travels to Nashville for Music City Classic
THE GAMES: 2024 Music City Classic – Sun Devil WBB (3-2) vs. No. 14 Kentucky (5-0) and South Dakota (2-4)
WHEN: vs. Kentucky on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. MST and vs. South Dakota on Wednesday at 10 a.m. MST.
WHERE: Trojan Fieldhouse • Nashville, Tenn.
WATCH: BALLERtv (pay-per-view streaming platform)
RADIO: Tuesday on KDUS AM 1060 (pregame at 2 p.m. MST) and KAZG 1440 AM on Wednesday (pregame at 9:30 a.m. MST).
LIVE STATS: vs. Kentucky and vs. South Dakota
UP NEXT
The Sun Devil women's basketball team (3-2) begins what figures to be its most challenging stretch of the season when it travels to Nashville, Tenn., for the Coast 2 Coast Music City Classic where it will face No. 14 and unbeaten Kentucky (5-0) on Tuesday (3:30 p.m. CST/2:30 p.m. MST) and South Dakota on Wednesday (11 a.m. CST/10 a.m. MST).
For the Sun Devils, the game vs. Kentucky will be the first of seven consecutive in which it will be on the road for either a neutral site contest (three games) or as the away team in a true road game (four games). Eight days after Wednesday's game, the Sun Devils will be in Baltimore to take on Coppin State (Dec. 5) followed by a third neutral site game vs. Maryland Eastern Shore in the Coaches vs Racism Classic in Washington D.C. (Dec. 7).
After visits to Music City, Baltimore, Md., and the nation's capital, ASU will take an extended break for final exams before once again leaving the state of Arizona for road games at UC Davis (Dec. 15), at San Francisco (Dec. 17) and at Utah (Dec. 21). The contest at Utah will be ASU's first ever Big 12 Conference game.
The Sun Devils return to play in Tempe on Dec. 30 when they host Penn at Mullett Arena, Sun Devil Women's Basketball's inaugural appearance in SDA's newest on-campus Multi-Purpose Arena. Two days later, ASU will take on Texas Tech in its first ever home game as a member of the Big 12 Conference.
ASU is coming off consecutive wins over SMU (80-73 on Nov. 16) and former Pac-12 foe Oregon State (79-60 on Nov. 17) in the annual Briann January Classic.
WATCH/LISTEN
• This week's games can be seen BALLERtv (a pay-per-view service).
• Tuesday's game can be heard on KDUS AM 1060. Pregame coverage will begin at 2 p.m. On Wednesday, 1440 KAZG will be carrying the broadcast with pregame beginning at 9:30 a.m. Veteran broadcaster and the state of Arizona's 2010 & 2019 Broadcaster of the Year Jeff Munn is in his 21st season as the voice of ASU women's basketball.
SERIES NOTES
Kentucky: Each team won an overtime game on the opposition's home court in a home-and-home series in 2015-16. Kentucky claimed a 68-64 (OT) win in the 2015-16 season opener. The Sun Devils returned the favor – 73-71 (OT) – the following year in Lexington in a contest that was played in front of 13,225 at UK's legendary Rupp Arena.
South Dakota: Wednesday's contest will be the first ever meeting between the Sun Devils and Coyotes.
STATE OF PLAY
The Sun Devils (3-2), who have eight new players on this season's roster, have experienced the ups and downs that can sometimes go with combining the talents of several outstanding players in the early stages of the season.
ASU opened the 2024-25 campaign with a 74-66 win over Jacksonville State (Nov. 4). In her first game since the end of the 2022-23 season, Tyi Skinner, who missed the entire 2023-24 season due to injury, scored a career-high 30 points to go with a team-high five assists. Jalyn Brown just missed scoring in double figures with 9 points to go with 6 boards. Two of the newest members of the team – local product Kennedy Basham (8 points, game-high 10 rebounds, 4 blocks) and Nevaeh Parkinson (8 points) – combined for 16 points.
Despite scoring 96 points – the most scored by ASU during head coach Natasha Adair's time at ASU – the Sun Devils were edged in a 100-96 decision to Arkansas State (Nov. 8). Five players scored in double figure against the Red Wolves: Brown (24 points), Parkinson (18 points), Skinner (16 points), Basham (14 points) and Kennedy Fauntleroy (13 points).
The Sun Devils played three games in four days between Nov. 14-17. The stretch started with a 70-59 loss against Grand Canyon in the Hall of Fame Series played at Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix. ASU led by as many as 12 in the first half and went to the locker room with a nine-point advantage, 42-33. Unfortunately for ASU, it experienced a 180-degree turnaround on both ends of the floor as it was outscored 37-17 over the final 20 minutes.
The Sun Devils bounced back with consecutive wins over SMU (80-73 on Nov. 16) and former Pac-12 foe Oregon State (79-60 on Nov. 17). Against SMU, Skinner (26 points) and Brown (25 points) both came through with marquee performances as the duo combined for 51 points. In its win over Oregon State the following day, ASU recorded opponent season lows for points (60), field goals (19), 3-point field goals (3) and 3-point field goal percentage (13.4) and had season highs in shot blocks (eight), turnovers forced (19) and points scored off turnovers (26) in what added up to ASU's largest margin of victory this season. Skinner scored 20 or more points for the third time this season (21 points/8-11 FGs, 4-4 FTs), Brown had 12 points (5-8 FGs) and Basham and Jazion Jackson had identical double-doubles (10 points, 10 rebounds) in the win.
DYNAMIC DUO DEBUT
The 2023-24 Sun Devils were dealt a serious blow when it was announced a month before the start of the season that superstar guard Tyi Skinner would miss the entire season due to a knee injury.
Skinner, who played her first two seasons at Delaware, joined Natasha Adair in Tempe after Adair was named ASU's head coach. In 2022-23, Skinner (2023 All-Pac-12 honorable mention) scored 20 or more points 15 times, including a career-high 29 points twice. A starter in all 28 games, Skinner averaged 19.3 ppg, the most by a Sun Devil since the 1988-89 season. She concluded her first campaign in the Maroon and Gold among the leaders in the Pac-12 in points per game (19.3/2nd/27th in the nation), 3-pointers per game (2.43 per game/2nd), minutes per game (36.59/3rd/29th in the nation), FTs made (79/3rd) and attempted (91/4th), steals per game (1.71/5th), 3-point FG percentage (34.7/6th) and FT percentage (78.1/8th).
The 2023-24 Sun Devils were left pondering, 'what might have been,' had Skinner been able to share the court with Louisville transfer Jalyn Brown. Much like Skinner did in 2022-23, Brown would emerge as one of the top performers in the Pac-12. In league games, Brown finished 3rd in the Pac-12 in scoring (19.6 ppg), 9th in FT percent (80.6) and tied for 14th in 3-pointers per game (1.56). She scored in double figures 26 times (12 20-point games) including a pair of outings in which she had the two highest-scoring games by a Sun Devil since 2000: 35 vs. Colorado (Jan. 7, 2024) and 34 points at Washington (Jan. 21).
Brown, who earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention honors from the league's coaches and All-Pac-12 recognition from media who cover the league, went on to lead the team in scoring (17.3 ppg) and 3-pointers per game (1.4), was 2nd in FT pct. (76.9), 3-pointers (1.3 per game), minutes (35.54 mpg) and FTs made (103) and attempted (134), 3rd in assists (1.6 apg), tied for 3rd in steals (0.9 spg) and 4th in O-rebounds (1.1 rpg).
With Skinner recovered from her injury, Adair is excited to see what the Sun Devils are capable of with both Skinner and Brown on the court.
"It's poetry in motion; those two have known each other even prior to coming here from the Washington, DC area so they know each other's game, and more importantly it's about every other piece in addition to them," Adair said. I'm excited for our fans to see our size inside, it's going be hard to guard (us because) who are you going to sag off on and who are you going to double?
"Watching us work on that every day you can see it coming together. I'm excited about every piece because as much as they are talented there are so many other players and parts. I want to know how opponents are going to stop us."
In her first game since the end of the 2022-23 season, Skinner scored a career-high 30 points – the 17th time she scored 20 or more points in a Sun Devil uniform – in ASU's 74-66 win over Jacksonville State on Nov. 4. Brown led ASU in scoring (24 points) in vs. Arkansas State (Nov. 8). Combined with Skinner's 16 points, the duo combines for 40 points in the game. Skinner had a team-high 15 points in ASU's contest vs. Grand Canyon (Nov. 14).
In ASU's 80-73 win over SMU (Nov. 16), Skinner (26 points) and Brown (25 points) both came combined for 51 points. In addition to their high point totals, both Skinner (8-16 FGs, 5-10 3FGs) and Brown (10-18 FGs, 3-7 3FGs) were efficient with their opportunities as they teamed up to shoot 53 percent (18-34 FGs) from the field, including 47 percent (8-17) from long range. Brown also led the team with five assists.
DEVILS BRINGING THE 'D'
Although it is the first month of the season, ASU has already proven an ability to adjust and improve. After giving up an average of 83.0 points in its first two games, ASU has only allowed 67.7 points in its last three games.
But for an atypical offensive performance in the final 20 minutes against Grand Canyon – scored 17 points in the second half after accounting for 42 in the first half – the Sun Devils could easily be 4-1 and riding a three-game winning streak coming into Tuesday's game.
EVERY POINT COUNTS
ASU comes into Tuesday's game 15th in the nation and first in the Big 12 in FT pct. (79.8). Tyi Skinner leads the team in FT pct. (88.9/4th in the Big 12) and FTs made (24/6th in the Big 12) and attempted (27/12th in the Big 12).