Arizona State basketball finds golden ticket for NCAA Tournament, faces Syracuse in First Four

Shortly after returning home from last week's Pac-12 Tournament, Bobby Hurley got together with son Bobby and associate head coach Rashon Burno and the three made a list of teams.

Given Arizona State's Pac-12 struggles, Hurley knew his team was on the NCAA Tournament bubble, and he wanted to know everything about the Sun Devils' competition for a golden at-large bid.

"I had a feeling it was going to come down to the bitter end," Hurley said.

Looking over the list, which included RPI rankings, strength-of-schedule information and other analytics, Hurley thought the Sun Devils measured up well. He just didn't know what the selection committee would think.

Sunday, he found out.

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After a roller-coaster regular-season, ASU is going to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014. As dueling 11th seeds in the Midwest Region, the Sun Devils meet Syracuse on Wednesday in a First Four contest in Dayton, Ohio. The game will be broadcast on truTV at 6:10 p.m. Arizona time.

If the Sun Devils win, they'll face sixth-seeded Texas Christian (21-11) on Friday in Detroit.

"We started this journey this year and our goal or mission was to try and get into the NCAA Tournament," Hurley said. "We accomplished that and it's a tremendous feeling. I had the guys at my house today watching and to experience that, it's second to none. It's why you put all the work in."

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The Sun Devils were the second-to-last team in, No. 43 of 44 at-large bids. Only Syracuse ranked behind them. The Orange (20-13) finished 10th in the 15-team Atlantic Coast Conference. They are known for their 2-3 zone, a defense that has caused ASU problems all season.

Since last week's early exit from the Pac-12 Tournament, Hurley researched the tournament field. He described the past three days as "excruciating." He didn't sleep much. When Rhode Island – coached by his younger brother, Danny – lost in the Atlantic 10 Tournament championship on Sunday, shortening the NCAA bubble, Hurley thought the Sun Devils were out.

"You knew that you were in a conversation with a very select group of teams that were still being mentioned," Hurley said. "Even though it wasn't looking promising maybe an hour before, we still held out hope that our quality wins ... would pay off, and they did."

ASU was among the committee's most interesting cases. The Sun Devils (20-11) had a perfect non-conference season that included wins over No. 1 seeds Kansas and Xavier, but they stumbled in Pac-12 action, finishing eighth in a conference that captured just three NCAA Tournament bids.

When ASU was announced on the NCAA special, Hurley celebrated with his team. Then they all raced outside and jumped in his swimming pool in their clothes. Senior guard Tra Holder cried.

"It was crazy," Holder said. "I couldn't watch (the tournament special). I was kind of away from the team because I was afraid to see what was going to happen. But I was so excited I fell to the ground."

ASU won't have long to prepare. The Sun Devils leave Monday for Ohio.

"It's a single-game situation," Hurley said. "We'll get to work and start looking at Syracuse. But if you're in the tournament, that's all that matters. We're in Dayton. That means we have a chance to compete for a championship."

Contact Doug Haller at 602-444-4949 or at doug.haller@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/DougHaller.

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