ARIZONA STATE BASKETBALL

ASU men’s hoops firmly on bubble of making NCAA Tournament

Feb 28, 2023, 9:21 PM | Updated: 9:41 pm
Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley calls a play in a 77-69 loss to USC at Desert Financial Arena...
Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley calls a play in a 77-69 loss to USC at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe, Ariz., on Jan. 21, 2023. (Arizona Sports/Jeremy Schnell)
(Arizona Sports/Jeremy Schnell)

Arizona State men’s basketball finds itself firmly on the bubble heading into the regular season’s last weekend ahead of next week’s Pac-12 Conference Tournament.

ASU is coming off without a doubt its best performance of the year, an 89-88 upset of then-No. 7 Arizona on a half-court buzzer-beater from Desmond Cambridge Jr. at the McKale Center in Tucson.

And with the Sun Devils’ record now at 20-9 (11-7 Pac-12), head coach Bobby Hurley and Co. have two more Quad 1 games on the road against the L.A. schools to close out the season.

ASU will visit the No. 4 UCLA Bruins on Thursday at 7 p.m. and USC Trojans (NET ranking No. 46) on Saturday at 9 p.m., with both contests being broadcast on 98.7, the Arizona Sports app and ArizonaSports.com.

Meanwhile, the Wildcats (24-5, 13-5) are coming off the aforementioned loss, which only saw head coach Tommy Lloyd’s side drop one spot in the AP Top 25 rankings to No. 8.

As things stand, a little over half of all bracketologists around the country have ASU making the big dance, while all have Arizona as a top-3 seed.

With the help of BracketMatrix.com and the NCAA’s website, here’s a look at the NCAA Tournament résumés for both the Sun Devils and Wildcats ASU, and where they are being projected heading into a road set against the Washington schools this week.

Arizona State NCAA Tournament résumé

Overall record: 20-9

# of brackets included in BracketMatrix.com (out of 110): 60

BracketMatrix.com composite seed (average seeding): 11 (11.08)

Highest seed: 11

NET ranking: 61st

Quadrant 1 record: 4-3

Quadrant 2 record: 5-5

Quadrant 3 record: 4-0

Quadrant 4 record: 7-1

Arizona NCAA Tournament résumé

Overall record: 24-5

# of brackets included in BracketMatrix.com (out of 110): 110

BracketMatrix.com composite seeding (average seeding): 2 (2.31)

Highest seed: 2

NET ranking: 11th

Quadrant 1 record: 7-2

Quadrant 2 record: 6-3

Quadrant 3 record: 3-0

Quadrant 4 record: 8-0

Arizona State Basketball

San Diego State guard Lamont Butler drives up court against Florida Atlantic during the first half ...
Associated Press

San Diego State hits buzzer-beater to advance past FAU in Final Four

Lamont Butler hit a jump shot at the buzzer to send San Diego State to the National Championship with a 72-71 win over FAU in the Final Four.
20 hours ago
Frankie Collins #10 of the Arizona State Sun Devils dunks the ball against Chuck O'Bannon Jr. #5 of...
Arizona Sports

ASU basketball’s Frankie Collins declares for NBA Draft, keeps college eligibility

Arizona State sophomore guard Frankie Collins announced on Friday night that he is entering the 2023 NBA Draft.
20 hours ago
Arizona State guard Malachi Davis. (Instagram Photo/@malachiidavis)...
Jake Anderson

Arizona State picks up JUCO guard Malachi Davis in transfer portal

Arizona State men's basketball coach Bobby Hurley got his first domino to fall in the transfer portal on Thursday in JUCO guard Malachi Davis.
3 days ago
Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley, right, and guard Frankie Collins pause near the team bench during...
Jake Anderson

After contract extension, ASU’s Bobby Hurley wasting no time building toward future

ASU men's basketball coach Bobby Hurley has had very little time to celebrate his two-year contract extension through the 2025-26 season.
4 days ago
Arizona State's Austin Nunez (2) pushes away from UCLA's Jaylen Clark (0) during the second half of...
Arizona Sports

ASU freshman Austin Nunez entering transfer portal

Arizona State guard Austin Nunez will enter the transfer portal after playing a reserve role as a freshman for the Sun Devils.
5 days ago
Miles Byrd #21, Demarshay Johnson Jr. #11 and Elijah Saunders #25 of the San Diego State Aztecs run...
Associated Press

San Diego State holds off Creighton to advance to Final Four

SDSU muscled its way into its first Final Four, grinding out a 57-56 victory over Creighton on Sunday in the Elite Eight.
7 days ago
ASU men’s hoops firmly on bubble of making NCAA Tournament