Claudia Collins
The Arizona Wildcats are off to their second-consecutive Pac-12 Championship after taking down the Sun Devils, 78-59. The Cats will face No. 1 seed UCLA at 8:30 pm AZT on Saturday. Arizona will likely be a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament while the Sun Devils are left in limbo as they await their fate.
Cats punch their ticket to the title game! 🎟️
Bigs dominate as 2-seed @ArizonaMBB tops 6-seed ASU in semifinals of the #Pac12MBB Tourney. pic.twitter.com/RPON1TyYhv
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) March 11, 2023
If the Sun Devils punch a ticket to the NCAA Tournament Bobby Hurley will become the first ASU head coach in over 30 years to make it to the tournament three times. However, the 19-point loss to their rivals may be too big a margin for ASU to recover from.
Despite upsetting USC, the Sun Devils headed into the semi-finals rivalry matchup still projected to fall in the Last Four In. Many bubble teams also lost their Friday evening matchups making it even harder to predict ASU’s fate.
Cats can’t be stopped! 😼@ArizonaMBB surged past ASU 78-59 to advance to the #Pac12MBB title game. #BearDown | @Vegas pic.twitter.com/lZvEl80WgD
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) March 11, 2023
Meanwhile, it may feel like déjà vu for the Wildcats as they prepare to face UCLA in the Pac-12 Championship for the second year in a row. Last season, UCLA entered the championship as the No. 2 seed as Arizona boasted the No. 1 seed. The Wildcats defeated the Bruins 84-76 last year and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Bobby Hurley and the Sun Devils will likely await Selection Sunday with some nerves. The selection show begins at 3:00 pm AZT.
