ESPN: Arizona State Sun Devils ‘worth keeping an eye on’ for NCAA Tournament field
Feb 21, 2015, 1:05 AM | Updated: 1:06 am
The Arizona State Sun Devils look like a completely different team from the one that lost at home to Lehigh on Dec. 20.
Their new look has translated into wins in six of their last nine games — and it’s cracked the door open to a possibility that seemed out of the question a few weeks ago: an NCAA Tournament bid.
With a 14-12 overall record and 6-7 mark in the Pac-12, the Devils still have plenty of work to do. But on Friday, ESPN.com’s Eamonn Brennan said the prospect of ASU playing itself into the tournament discussion isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
It’s worth keeping an eye on Arizona State. The Sun Devils have won three of their last four and six of their last nine, including a big upset win over Arizona on Feb. 7 and this week’s far-less-big home victory over UCLA. Despite all that, ASU is just 14-12 overall and 6-7 in the Pac-12, with an RPI in the mid-80s.
It may take a 5-0 finish in league play — which would include an almost impossible win at Utah — to get in the field. But if ASU keeps playing its best hoop of the season, it could at least get on the page in the next couple of weeks.
ASU’s improvement has been guided by sophomore forward Savon Goodman and junior guard Gerry Blakes. In their last four games, Goodman has averaged 15.5 points and 12 rebounds and has shot 75 percent (27-for-36) from the field, and Blakes is averaging 17 points and has shot 39.1 percent from 3-point range.
There’s definitely work left to be done — only one of 93 bracket projections at BracketMatrix.com has the Devils in the field as of Friday.
But with opportunities for quality wins ahead, including at Utah (21-4, 11-2) on Thursday and against Stanford (16-9, 7-6) at home on March 5, the Devils’ chances to earn an at-large tourney bid have improved from impossible to conceivable.
