(Photo: Marlee Smith/WCSN)
For the second consecutive year, the Arizona State men’s basketball team will head to Dayton for one of the NCAA Tournament First Four games.
After coming up short against Syracuse last year, head coach Bobby Hurley’s squad will have another chance to make the field of 64 this year.
“We’re very excited,” Hurley said. “It’s an honor to play in the NCAA Tournament.”
Coming off a hard-fought overtime loss to the eventual Pac-12 Tournament champion Oregon Ducks, Hurley said that this year’s squad boasts more length and athleticism than last season’s.
“We’re more athletic and have more ability to score in the paint than we could last year,” Hurley said. “The guards were terrific and we just couldn’t get the balance we now have at both ends of the floor, being bigger and more athletic.”
A key storyline to keep an eye on heading into this matchup is the health of sophomore guard Remy Martin. Martin suffered a groin strain in the matchup against Oregon, but Hurley said he expects his veteran guard to be available on Wednesday.
“I don’t think he’ll do anything live until the game,” Hurley said. “We talked yesterday at the house and again today about how he’s feeling and I have great confidence that when the ball gets thrown up on Wednesday night, he’ll be very close to 100 percent.”
Hurley described the Red Storm as an “explosive offensive” team with capable shooting on the perimeter, something that has given the Sun Devils trouble defensively at this season.
“They’ve got an elite player in Shamorie Ponds and Justin Simon is a great defensive player and Marvin Clark is tough” he said. “They’ve got a lot of tough kids and they can really go off the dribble. So our defense is going to have our hands full dealing with those guys.”
“They have a really good backcourt,” senior center Zylan Cheatham said. “We’re going to have our work cut out.”
Making the tournament marks the first time Cheatham with play in the NCAA Tournament, something he isn’t taking for granted.
“Obviously making history in my home city is unbelievable,” he said.
To add to that history, ASU’s appearance in the tournament this season will be the first time the school has made it in back-to-back seasons since the 1980 and 1981 seasons.
“That says something about the way in which this program is going,” Cheatham said. “It’s unbelievable, to be honest.”
“I’m just proud that we did something that hadn’t been done here in a long time, going to back-to-back tournaments,” Hurley said. “It’s great for your program when you have multiple years in a row because then every new group of players that come in (think), ‘Hey, this is what we do here. This is what we expect to do.’
“That’s what we strive for. The culture of winning and valuing winning and getting to the tournament. Hopefully, that’s starting to build and develop in our program.”
A Sun Devil victory would pit Hurley against his former team in the University of Buffalo. He said, however, he isn’t trying to overlook the matchup right in front of him.
“Everyone come to Dayton or if we’re lucky enough to get through, then follow me to Tulsa and I’ll be happy to talk about that,” Hurley said. “But I’m really going to let that one go until we see what happens on Wednesday night.”
The Sun Devils take on the Red Storm at 6:10 p.m. MT on TRUTV on Wednesday.
