The Arizona State Sun Devils are a problem for USC. They clearly lead the Trojans in the battle for a possible third NCAA Tournament berth from the Pac-12.
Arizona State went into Eugene on Thursday and throttled the Oregon Ducks, 90-73. While the loss is devastating for Oregon, it vaults ASU into a much more favorable position for a possible NCAA Tournament bid.
“The Ducks once again put forth a lackluster display of effort and basketball shooting that would more quickly draw comparisons to a YMCA pick-up run rather than a D1 basketball game,” Ducks Wire’s Zachary Neel wrote. “Oregon finished the game shooting 42% from the field while allowing the Sun Devils to make 13 three-pointers, shooting 52% from the floor in total.
“It was another brutal loss for the Ducks on a season where there have been more than a few.”
Arizona State is currently the Pac-12’s best chance for a third NCAA bid after UCLA and Arizona, the top two teams in the conference. USC and Utah are jockeying for position below the Sun Devils. Utah got crushed by UCLA on Thursday night, while USC beat Colorado. If USC beats Utah on Saturday, the Trojans would improve their position relative to the Utes and could more fully set their sights on catching Arizona State.
Colorado and Oregon both took huge backward steps on Thursday, reinforcing the reality that the Pac-12 has only three teams with any realistic shot at an at-large bid outside of UCLA and Arizona: USC, Arizona State, and Utah. USC could move closer to Utah with a win on Saturday. The Trojans have a lot of work to do in order to catch ASU.
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