ASU Men's Basketball Returning To NCAA Tournament

By Matt Kling
Published: Sunday, March 17, 2019 - 9:06pm

For the first time since 1981, Arizona State University's men's basketball team is making consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament. However, the Sun Devils will need to play an extra game in the Big Dance.

A 22-10 record and a second place finish in the Pac-12 Conference was good enough, barely, for ASU to crack the 68-team field for the second straight year under head coach Bobby Hurley.

ASU received one of the last four at-large berths to the tournament, so they'll head to Dayton, Ohio, for the second straight year to play in the First Four. Last year, ASU lost to Syracuse in the First Four.

This year, they'll face fellow 11 seed St. John's on Wednesday night at approximately 6:10 p.m. Arizona time. The game will be telecast on TruTV.

Should ASU win, they would play Buffalo this Friday in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Prior to joining Arizona State in 2015, Bobby Hurley was the head coach at Buffalo.

ASU's women's basketball team will learn its tournament fate Monday afternoon. The team went 20-10 this season and is seeking its sixth straight tournament appearance. 

The University of Arizona Wildcat men's basketball team is missing the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2012, after going 17-15 this season.