ASU enters AP poll as No. 20 team in college hoops

The Arizona State Sun Devils entered the newest Associated Press top-25 poll on Monday as the No. 20 team in the nation after improving to 7-0 with wins over Omaha and Texas Southern this past week.

ASU was 26th in last week’s AP college basketball rankings after wins over then-15th-ranked Mississippi State and Utah State.

The Sun Devils’ double-digit victories this past week came with well-rounded performances from their starting lineup, including Zylan Cheatham, who Saturday against Texas Southern recorded the second triple-double in school history just a game after missing the mark by an assist while facing Omaha.

Thus far, freshman guard Luguentz Dort has led ASU in scoring at 21.7 points per game, while Kimani Lawrence and Cheatham have also appeared in every game while averaging double-digit scoring.

With 20 consecutive non-conference victories and counting for head coach Bobby Hurley’s team dating back to last year, ASU’s schedule gets tougher. It will play the No. 6 Nevada Wolfpack on Friday at Staples Center in Los Angeles and then visit the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens, Ga. eight days later.

The rest of the non-conference schedule closes out the calendar year with a visit to Vanderbilt, a hosting of second-ranked Kansas and then another home game against Princeton before the Sun Devils open the Pac-12 slate against the Utah Utes.

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