Arizona State's men's basketball team will play in the first four for the second consecutive year after being slated No. 11 in the West region to play St. John’s.
ASU's 79-75 OT loss to Oregon in the Pac-12 tournament put their NCAA tournament hopes up in the air. If they had won versus Oregon, the team would have virtually guaranteed themselves a bid.
However, Oregon winning versus Washington in the tournament championship might have helped the Devils. The loss did not look as bad when the Huskies, the best team in the conference, lost to the Ducks 68-48.
After the Devils won 83-72 versus UCLA in the quarterfinals, head coach Bobby Hurley thought the team had earned themselves a bid.
"I'm just going to start by saying, after this game, what uncertainty?" Hurley asked after their win versus UCLA.
Their 22-10 season was the best season since the 2013-2014 season when Herb Sendek led a team consisting of players such as Jahii Carson, Jermaine Marshall and Jordan Bachynski to a 21-12 record.
This will be the first time in nearly 40 years that the Devils made the tournament in consecutive seasons. Former coach Ned Wulk led the team to back-to-back appearances in 1979-1981.
Arizona State will play on Wednesday at 7:10 PM MST in Dayton, Ohio.
Reach the reporter at jhorst2@asu.edu and follow @HorseySeven on Twitter.
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Jeffrey Horst is the digital editor-in-chief of The State Press. He previously served as the publication's sports editor and worked at Cronkite News and ArizonaSports.com.
