Sun Devils advance in NCAA tournament

The ASU men's basketball team extended one of its best seasons in recent history moving into the second round of the NCAA tournament.

The No. 6 seeded Sun Devils defeated No. 11 seeded Temple 66-57 to advance into the tournament's second round. It is ASU's first tournament appearance since 2003.

The win puts ASU at 25-9 for the season, its first 25-win year since 1975. At 11-7 in the Pac-10, ASU tied for third, its best Pac-10 finish since 1994-1995. The team also finished for the the first time in the conference tournament title game.

Against Temple, the Sun Devils were led by a career best 22 points from junior point guard Derek Glasser, and 22 from senior forward Jeff Pendergraph. Sophomore guard James Harden, the Pac-10 player of the year, finished with nine point.

"I'm obviously very proud of our guys, a good team effort by our squad today," said ASU head coach Herb Sendek. "Different guys stepped up for us at different times, but most certainly Derek and Jeff had outstanding games for us and allowed us to come away with the win today. And then I thought James down the home stretch really made several big plays to get us over the hump."

ASU now advances to play No. 3 seeded Syracuse March 22, which beat Stephen F. Austin 59-44.

For more on ASU's trip into the NCAA tournament, visit thesundevils.com.