Saturday, December 20
Tempe, Ariz.
9:00 pm
Lehigh University
at
Arizona State
Mountain Hawks travel to Arizona State to face the Sun Devils on Saturday
12/19/2014 10:47:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh men's basketball team will look to bounce back from a tough loss at Quinnipiac when the Mountain Hawks travel to Arizona to face the Arizona State Sun Devils on Saturday. Opening tipoff is set for 9 p.m. ET (7 p.m. locally) on the Pac-12 Network. Arizona State marks Lehigh's second reigning NCAA Tournament team (also Villanova). Saturday marks a homecoming for sophomore Tim Kempton, who is a Scottsdale, Arizona native.
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Quinnipiac broke open a close game early and wound up beating the Mountain Hawks 80-65 on Thursday evening on the day after final exams ended at Lehigh. The Bobcats made the most of a 53-30 rebounding edge which led to 18 more field goal attempts. Quinnipiac entered the game fourth nationally in rebound margin (+13.9). Lehigh senior Corey Schaefer led the Mountain Hawks in scoring with 11 points while freshman Kahron Ross reached double-figure points for a second straight game, scoring ten on 4-of-6 shooting while dishing five assists. Lehigh turned the ball over just nine times on Thursday.
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Junior Justin Goldsborough made his second straight start and scored eight points (six in the first half). He also blocked two shots. Kempton scored seven points (all in the first half) while adding five rebounds and a career-high tying three assists. Sophomores Georgios Pilitsis and John Ross Glover each scored five points in limited minutes late; the point total was a career high for Pilitsis. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak against the Bobcats as the Mountain Hawks fell to 0-3 against the MAAC this season (also falling to Canisius and Rider).
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Arizona State is also coming off a loss at Marquette on Tuesday. The Sun Devils are 6-4 on the season, but have been tough at home, winners of 14 straight home games for the first time since the 1974-76 teams which won 20 straight to open the building. Arizona State is 40-5 at home in its past 45 games at Wells Fargo Arena.
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The Sun Devils are the Mountain Hawks' third BCS Conference opponent so far this season. Lehigh is 1-1 over the first two games, falling to Villanova and beating DePaul, both out of the Big East.
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Arizona State is in the midst of an up and down season, entering with a 6-4 record. The Sun Devils won their first three games of the season, over Chicago State, Bethune-Cookman and LMU. Arizona State has lost two of its last three games, falling to Texas A&M and Marquette. The Sun Devils are a perfect 6-0 at home and 0-4 away from home, and have won 14 straight games at home overall. Gerry Blakes leads the team in scoring with 13.0 points and 5.1 rebounds while Eric Jacobsen leads the team in boards (8.2 average) to go with 11.3 points per contest. Shaquielle McKissic is next in scoring with 9.9 points per game while Jonathan Gilling averages 9.2. Arizona State is shooting .468 from the field and .406 from three-point range.
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Arizona State defeated Lehigh 81-64 in the first-ever meeting between the sides on Dec. 7, 1984.
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After the upcoming holiday, the Mountain Hawks return to action on Sunday (Dec. 28) at UMBC. Opening tipoff is set for 5 p.m.
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh men's basketball team will look to bounce back from a tough loss at Quinnipiac when the Mountain Hawks travel to Arizona to face the Arizona State Sun Devils on Saturday. Opening tipoff is set for 9 p.m. ET (7 p.m. locally) on the Pac-12 Network. Arizona State marks Lehigh's second reigning NCAA Tournament team (also Villanova). Saturday marks a homecoming for sophomore Tim Kempton, who is a Scottsdale, Arizona native.
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Quinnipiac broke open a close game early and wound up beating the Mountain Hawks 80-65 on Thursday evening on the day after final exams ended at Lehigh. The Bobcats made the most of a 53-30 rebounding edge which led to 18 more field goal attempts. Quinnipiac entered the game fourth nationally in rebound margin (+13.9). Lehigh senior Corey Schaefer led the Mountain Hawks in scoring with 11 points while freshman Kahron Ross reached double-figure points for a second straight game, scoring ten on 4-of-6 shooting while dishing five assists. Lehigh turned the ball over just nine times on Thursday.
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Junior Justin Goldsborough made his second straight start and scored eight points (six in the first half). He also blocked two shots. Kempton scored seven points (all in the first half) while adding five rebounds and a career-high tying three assists. Sophomores Georgios Pilitsis and John Ross Glover each scored five points in limited minutes late; the point total was a career high for Pilitsis. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak against the Bobcats as the Mountain Hawks fell to 0-3 against the MAAC this season (also falling to Canisius and Rider).
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Arizona State is also coming off a loss at Marquette on Tuesday. The Sun Devils are 6-4 on the season, but have been tough at home, winners of 14 straight home games for the first time since the 1974-76 teams which won 20 straight to open the building. Arizona State is 40-5 at home in its past 45 games at Wells Fargo Arena.
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The Sun Devils are the Mountain Hawks' third BCS Conference opponent so far this season. Lehigh is 1-1 over the first two games, falling to Villanova and beating DePaul, both out of the Big East.
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Arizona State is in the midst of an up and down season, entering with a 6-4 record. The Sun Devils won their first three games of the season, over Chicago State, Bethune-Cookman and LMU. Arizona State has lost two of its last three games, falling to Texas A&M and Marquette. The Sun Devils are a perfect 6-0 at home and 0-4 away from home, and have won 14 straight games at home overall. Gerry Blakes leads the team in scoring with 13.0 points and 5.1 rebounds while Eric Jacobsen leads the team in boards (8.2 average) to go with 11.3 points per contest. Shaquielle McKissic is next in scoring with 9.9 points per game while Jonathan Gilling averages 9.2. Arizona State is shooting .468 from the field and .406 from three-point range.
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Arizona State defeated Lehigh 81-64 in the first-ever meeting between the sides on Dec. 7, 1984.
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After the upcoming holiday, the Mountain Hawks return to action on Sunday (Dec. 28) at UMBC. Opening tipoff is set for 5 p.m.
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| Date: | December 20, 2014 |
| Opponent: | Arizona State Sun Devils |
| Tip-off: | 9:00 PM ET |
| Arena/Capacity: | Wells Fargo Arena/10,754 |
| Location: | Tempe, Ariz. |
| Lehigh's Record: | 4-5, 0-0 Patriot League  |
| Arizona State's Record: | 6-4, 0-0 Pac-12 |
| Series: | Arizona State leads, 1-0 |
| Radio: | Live on ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 AM and Lehighsports.com with Tom Fallon. Pregame coverage gets underway at 8:30 PM ET |
| Television: | Pac-12 Network |
| Internet Video: | Through the Pac-12 Networks |
| Behind Enemy Lines: | Arizona State Official Website |
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