National Basketball Association
Arizona State 74, St. John's 65
When: 9:10 PM ET, Wednesday, March 20, 2019
Where: University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio
Officials:
# Chance Moore, # AJ Desai, # Michael Greenstein
Attendance:
11827
By Field Level Media
Arizona State guard Luguentz Dort scored 21 points, and Zylan Cheatham had a double-double as the Sun Devils held off St. John's 74-65 Wednesday night in a First Four game at Dayton, Ohio.
By earning its first NCAA Tournament victory in 10 years, Arizona State (23-10) advances as the 11th seed in the West Region, heading to play sixth-seeded Buffalo in Tulsa, Okla., on Friday.
Cheatham, a senior forward, had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
St. John's (21-13) was led by guard Shamorie Ponds, who scored 25 points. LJ Figueroa posted 19 points and 10 rebounds.
The Red Storm trailed by as many as 18 in the first half but were within 64-57 when St. John's guard Justin Simon missed two free throws with 2:10 to go. Arizona State responded with a Romello White dunk.
The Sun Devils made 8 of 10 free throws after that to secure the win.
Arizona State never trailed and used its size, length and a 2-3 zone defense to stymie a smaller St. John's team that shot 31.9 percent from the field and 25.8 percent from 3-point range. The Johnnies didn't help themselves at the line, making 13 of 23.
Dort, the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, took a nasty fall with 19:39 to go when he jumped for a loose ball, was undercut by Mustapha Heron and dropped about 6 feet to the court, landing hard on his side. Officials assessed a flagrant-1 foul to Heron.
Trainers worked on Dort's right leg on the bench, and the guard returned to the court after a few minutes of game time.
Heron, averaging 14.9 points per game, shot 1 of 12 from the field and finished with six points.
The Sun Devils' first-round matchup will have extra intrigue. Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley coached the Bulls for two seasons -- when current Buffalo head coach Nate Oats was his assistant -- before moving on to Tempe after the 2014-15 season.
Arizona State went on an 11-0 run in the first half to take a 24-10 lead. Hurley received a technical foul for questioning an offensive foul with 25.3 seconds left, and the Sun Devils led 38-25 at halftime. The 25 points marked the Red Storm's lowest point total in a half this season.
St. John's hasn't won an NCAA Tournament game since 2000.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| St. John's |
|
Arizona State |
|
Shamorie Ponds 25 |
Scoring |
Luguentz Dort 21 |
|
Shamorie Ponds 4 |
Assists |
Kimani Lawrence 3 |
|
LJ Figueroa 10 |
Rebounds |
Zylan Cheatham 10 |
|
Shamorie Ponds 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Luguentz Dort 8 |
|
Shamorie Ponds 3 |
Steals |
Zylan Cheatham 2 |
|
Justin Simon 1 |
Blocks |
Zylan Cheatham 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| St. John's
|
65 |
31.9 |
8-31 |
13-23 |
9 |
35 |
1 |
11 |
16 |
| Arizona State
|
74 |
44.9 |
5-12 |
25-33 |
12 |
39 |
2 |
5 |
21 |
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