Arizona State men's basketball 1 of 4 teams looking for first-round bye at Pac-12 tourney
Just how close are the Pac-12 men's basketball standings heading into the final day of play? Well, the Arizona State Sun Devils could finish as high as fourth or as low as seventh. The finish is important because the top four seeds get a bye for the first round of the conference tournament which begins Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
ASU (20-10, 11-8) heads into the final game tied for fourth with Oregon (17-13, 11-8). Then it's Washington State (16-15, 11-9) and Utah (17-13, 10-9).
The top three spots have already been locked down with UCLA (26-4, 17-2) first, having secured its first conference title in a decade. The Bruins are followed by Arizona (25-5, 14-5) and USC (21-9, 13-6).
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ASU rounds out the regular season with a 9 p.m. (Arizona time) game at USC on Saturday at the Galen Center. The game will be televised on FS1. When the teams played on Jan. 21 in Tempe, USC prevailed 77-69.
As for other games, Washington State has finished its season, with a 93-84 win over rival Washington for its sixth straight win. Oregon is at home against Stanford (13-17, 7-12) while Utah plays at Colorado (15-15, 7-12). Both those games are early so ASU will know its situation before its game tips off.
In the case of a two-team tie, the first tiebreaker is the head-to-head record. The second tiebreaker would be the team's record against the No. 1 team, then the No. 2 and on down until decided.
The same tiebreaker rules go for multiple team ties.
ASU has split with both Oregon and Washington State this season. The Sun Devils played Utah only once, winning that game in Tempe.
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Perhaps no team in the country has had a tougher final three games than the Sun Devils. Last Saturday, they defeated No. 7 Arizona 89-88 at McKale Center, the difference being a half-court shot by Desmond Cambridge Jr. as time expired.
Then it was on to Los Angeles for the final pair of games, which began with a 79-61 loss to No. 4 UCLA at Pauley Pavilion on Thursday.
“We have got to circle the wagons, we looked at the three-game stretch, let's see what we can get done," ASU coach Bobby Hurley said. "They're all high-level games starting at Arizona, then coming here, and then USC on Saturday. There's no team in the country that would probably have a harder finish than we've had in the last three games. So we just got to get back to the drawing board and get ready to go all in on Saturday.”
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Not only will the game decide seeding for the conference tournament, but it will also be integral to the NCAA postseason hopes for both USC and ASU as both are considered bubble teams. As of now, USC is considered a "last four in" in most projections with ASU a "first four out." So this outcome could reverse those projections, particularly if one team wins convincingly.
ASU is going to face a significant challenge in USC, which has not been a favorable matchup of late. The Sun Devils were outrebounded by UCLA on Thursday by a whopping 47-23. And going into that game UCLA only ranked fifth in the conference in that department as USC boasts one of the taller teams in the country. In the earlier meeting between the teams, USC won the battle on the boards 39-33.
It would seem a lot is on the line in this one, but senior forward Warren Washington says he has viewed every game the same.
"I feel like every game has pressure. I feel like every game you should put the same type of pressure on yourself because every game is a must-win game in my opinion. But yeah, if you look at the stats and all that stuff, you could say that, but honestly, I think of that every game,” he said.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona State men's basketball looking for bye in Pac-12 tournament
