ASU gets No. 8 seed in Pac-12 tourney, will face Washington State
Mar 6, 2021, 5:24 PM | Updated: Mar 8, 2021, 7:53 am
Arizona State forward Jalen Graham (24) drives between Washington State guard T.J. Bamba (5) and center Volodymyr Markovetskyy (15) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
The Arizona State Sun Devils’ 2020-21 regular season is officially in the books.
And after a year off in 2020 when the coronavirus led to a March shutdown before ASU’s postseason appearance was about to begin, the Sun Devils will be playing in Las Vegas for the Pac-12 Tournament.
Arizona State finished the regular season with a 10-13 record (7-10 in conference) following Saturday’s 98-59 loss to Utah.
As a result, ASU will be the No. 8 seed and is set to tip off against Washington State on Wednesday at 2 p.m. The game will air on the Pac-12 Network and ESPN 620 AM.
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The Sun Devils last played the Cougars on Feb. 27 in what was a 77-74 OT ASU win thanks to a Remy Martin game-winning three-pointer.
Arizona State and Washington State were scheduled to play once more on March 1, but the game was canceled due to COVID-19 issues within WSU’s program.
The winner of Wednesday’s matchup will then play the No. 1 seed in the tournament on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network.
However, the Pac-12 regular-season champ won’t be crowned until after Sunday’s conference finale between Oregon and Oregon State.
If the Ducks (18-5; 13-4 Pac-12) win, they will be the conference’s regular-season champions.
However, if the Beavers pull off the upset, then the USC Trojans (21-6; 15-5 Pac-12) will claim the No. 1 seed due to the tiebreaker being conference winning percentage. An Oregon win would result in a 14-4 conference record (.778%), which would best USC’s .750.
Should the Sun Devils advance, they would play the first semifinal on Friday at 6:30 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network.
If ASU’s cinderella run makes it all the way to the title game, that contest would be played on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN.
The 2021 Pac-12 Tournament will only feature 11 teams, as Arizona’s self-imposed postseason ban prevents the Wildcats from participating.
Plain and simple: Arizona State has to win the conference tourney in order to get a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
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