TULSA, Okla. — Nick Perkins was not lamenting the loss of Cinderella status so much as simply laying out the facts.

“We didn’t sneak up on nobody no more,” Perkins was saying the day before Buffalo’s first-round matchup against Arizona State.

Instead, the Bulls rolled over the Sun Devils. And after a 91-74 victory, the rest of Perkins’ pregame thought seems pretty valid: “Everybody knows who Buffalo is.”

Everybody should. The Bulls’ No. 6 seed in the West Region — the highest seed by a MAC team since the field expanded to 64 in 1985 — was proof. After rolling to a 31-3 record and the MAC’s regular-season and tournament championships, they were at least slightly annoyed that it wasn’t a 5, or even a 4.

And if you’re looking for an off-brand possibility that could tear through the bracket, Friday’s result offered tantalizing possibility: a veteran lineup that already had a taste of NCAA Tournament success — Buffalo upset Arizona in last year’s first round, setting the stage for this season’s run — and is hungry for (and might be capable of) much more.

“Some people are picking us to the Final Four,” senior guard CJ Massinburg had said Thursday. “Some people picking us to get popped in the first round.”

They popped Arizona State. And after their 13th consecutive victory, with No. 3 Texas Tech looming on Sunday, here’s fair warning:

“We can play with anybody in the country,” senior guard Jeremy Harris said afterward. “It’s good to get a win but we’re not done yet.”

The Sun Devils certainly should have known Buffalo. Their coach Bobby Hurley laid the foundation for Buffalo’s current run; Buffalo’s Nate Oats was an assistant on Hurley’s staff before he was promoted to succeed him.

The teams occasionally ran similar plays and played a gritty style, but there didn’t appear to be much other crossover, schematically or emotionally. Only Perkins was recruited by Hurley. The remainder of the Bulls’ roster has turned over. And in four seasons as head coach, Oats has built the program into something even more formidable.

Hurley said he was impressed with “how hard they compete. And they’re an older team, a bunch of seniors who’ve been to the (NCAA) tournament. They expect to win. It’s no accident they’ve won 32 games.”

A year ago as a No. 13 seed, Buffalo pulled off a delightful first-round upset, beating No. 4 Arizona — and there was nothing flukish about it, they won by 21 points. The win Friday against Arizona State was as convincing, but not at all surprising. This squad, which averaged 89 points during the regular season, is deep and very potent, capable of running away from opponents with quick offensive flurries.

The Sun Devils (23-11), an inconsistent bunch in a mediocre Pac-12, received one of the last at-large berths, then had to win a First Four game against St. John’s just to advance to Tulsa and the first round; the Sun Devils flew to Tulsa from Dayton, Ohio, arriving in the early morning hours Thursday. But if fatigue was a factor, so was Buffalo’s unrelenting and exquisite offense, pass after pass after pass until something popped wide open.

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The Bulls took control midway through the first half with a 21-5 run. Arizona State missed all nine 3-pointers it tried in the first half and finished 3-for-22, but at least as important was Buffalo’s 42-26 rebounding edge despite a size disadvantage.

Perkins, a 6-foot-8, 250-pound senior, led four Buffalo players in double figures, scoring 21 points (including 12 in the first half) and pulling down 10 rebounds with a combination of power moves inside, mid-range jump shots and even a 3-pointer. When it dropped with 10:05 left, it pushed Buffalo up 72-49 and served as emphatic punctuation.

A few moments later, waiting for play to resume after a dead ball, leading by 25, Harris (who like Perkins scored 21 and had 10 rebounds) looked over at fellow senior Dontay Caruthers and said: “I didn’t know we were gonna do it like this.”

But maybe they should have known. Maybe we all should have. And maybe we should expect more.

The Bulls’ 2018 fun ended in the second round with a 95-75 loss to Kentucky. Next up this time is Texas Tech, which handled Northern Kentucky, 72-57, earlier Friday and features a grinding style powered by one of the nation’s best defenses. It’s the antithesis of undisciplined Arizona State and will provide a stark contrast to Buffalo’s high-flying, fast-paced offense. It’ll also mean a return to underdog status for the Bulls — which seems fine with them.

“There is still more (of a) statement to be made, just to prove we belong with anybody in the country,” said Massinburg, who scored 18 points. “There were some people that picked us to lose this game. They were thinking we’ve been (over-) hyped all year. I think we can play with anybody in the country, and we’re gonna try to make it a deeper run.”

Follow USA TODAY Sports' George Schroeder on Twitter @GeorgeSchroeder.