After falling to Stanford on Thursday in the Pac-10 Tournament Quarterfinals, the ASU men’s basketball team’s at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament hung by the slightest of threads.
There was no Selection Sunday miracle or invitation to the Big Dance, so ASU accepted an invitation to the National Invitation Tournament Sunday evening.
ASU is one of the tournament’s four No. 1 seeds and will host Jacksonville on Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena.
The Dolphins are regular season co-champions of the Atlantic Sun Conference and finished their season with a record of 19-12, but they were upset by Mercer in the semifinals of the conference tournament.
JU is led by senior guard Ben Smith, who averages 19.7 points per game and was selected to the All-Atlantic Sun First Team.
Senior forward Lehmon Colbert was elected to the All-Atlantic Sun Second Team and averages 12.2 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game.
No other Dolphin averages double-digit points, and their tallest starter stands at just 6-foot-7.
The Dolphins have an RPI of 144 and went 0-4 against RPI top-100 opponents during the regular season. The Sun Devils and JU have two common opponents, as the Dolphins fell to California 79-47 in Berkeley this season. JU also swept two games from conference foe USC Upstate, who ASU beat earlier this season.
If ASU is victorious on Tuesday, it will face either Texas Tech or Seton Hall in the second round on Friday, Saturday, Sunday or next Monday. Even though ASU is the higher seed, the second round matchup could be on the road because Wells Fargo Arena also will be hosting the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament and likely a WNIT game for the ASU women this week.
The other teams in ASU’s bracket are No. 2-seed Ole Miss, third-seeded Memphis, No. 4 Seton Hall, fifth-seeded Texas Tech, No. 6-seed St. John’s and seventh-seeded Troy.
The other three top seeds in the NIT are Illinois, Virginia Tech and Mississippi State.
The quarterfinals of the tournament will either be on March 23 or 24, while the semifinals and championship game will be at Madison Square Garden in New York City on March 30 and April 1.
Washington and California put just two teams in the NCAA Tournament, the fewest since 1988. ASU is the only team from the conference to get a bid to the NIT.
Reach the reporter at andrew.gruman@asu.edu
