Well-traveled Arizona State's next stop is New York vs. No. 18 Purdue

Arizona State continues its crisscrossing journey when it takes on No. 18 Purdue in the first game of the Jimmy V Classic on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.

The Sun Devils (5-3) traveled 4,300 miles from Phoenix to New York on Sunday, part of a road schedule that has taken them to Orlando and the Bahamas since Nov. 17. By the time Arizona State meets San Diego State on Dec. 10, they will have flown 12,900 miles and slept in hotels 11 of 25 nights.

The road warriors could be feeling the effects of the extended travel. Going into Saturday's win over UNLV, Arizona State's defensive two-point field goal percentage of 56.4 was last among the Power Five conference teams.

The Sun Devils gave up 115 points in a loss to Kentucky and 100 in a 17-point win over The Citadel.

Tra Holder, Torian Graham and Shannon Evans II are all averaging 17 points and at least 31 minutes for the Sun Devils, who are coached by Bobby Hurley, the 1992 Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA Tournament out of Duke. Hurley's father, Bob, is the Hall of Fame coach at St. Anthony's in Jersey City.

"We have to have more energy," Hurley told AZ Central. "The things that I talked about early in the season -- we have to be scrappy and feisty and use our quickness. I think we allowed our inability to play efficiently on offense to affect our mood and how we defended (against Kentucky).

"We have to move past that. If we miss a bad shot or if we turn the ball over, we have to be able to flip the switch and aggressively play that end of the floor at all times."

Arizona State made a team-record 18 3-pointers against UNLV, but its perimeter defenders will be tested by Boilermakers shooters that have made 62 3-pointers in the last five games and ranks 13th nationally in 3-pointers per game (10.5). Purdue (6-2) is shooting 43.3 percent from long distance, good for fifth nationally and first in the Big Ten.

The Boilermakers committed a season-low nine turnovers in a 90-56 win over Morehead State on Saturday and had a season-high 27 assists. Purdue ranks seventh nationally in assists per game (19.8) and has had at least 20 in five of its eight games.

"We got into a flow because we made shots, we moved the ball, we had good inside-outside balance," Painter told the Lafayette Journal and Courier after the Morehead State win. "But it all looks better when it goes in. I mean, it just does."

Purdue is led by Caleb Swanigan, one of the premier big men in the country. The 6-foot-9 sophomore forward is 10th in the country in rebounding (11.5) and is one of two players nationally to average 17.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. (Dedric Lawson of Memphis is the other).

Since 1993-94, just six players in NCAA history have averaged 17.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game in a season.

Purdue and Arizona State last met in Las Vegas on Dec. 21, 2002, when the Sun Devils won 70-53 in route to a 2003 NCAA Tournament appearance.

The teams have met five times, with Arizona State winning twice. The other Sun Devils win was 85-80 on Dec. 21, 1968, in Tempe when the Boilermakers were ranked 12th.