Deserved or not, Devils will have their moment in Sun

DUKE or Kentucky need to somehow end up in Dayton one year, so we can find out if there are any circumstances in which the First Four will actually feel like it’s part of the NCAA Tournament. Arizona State (-1½) over Syracuse: Neither team enters with any momentum. Arizona State, which started the season 12-0, has lost five of its past six games. Syracuse has lost four of its past six.

But it doesn’t matter if neither team deserves to be here. The Orange could have easily been left out two years ago, and ended up making a ridiculous run to the Final Four as a 10-seed.

However, Jim Boeheim’s team went just 3-8 this season against NCAA Tournament teams from power conferences, and their solid defense isn’t enough to make up for having just t hree pl ayers averaging more than six points per game, against deeper, and more talented teams.

Despite the Sun Devils’ recent struggles, they’ve shown their ceiling in wins over No. 1 seeds Kansas and Xavier. They also rank 20th in the nation in fewest turnovers committed, and won’t give scoring-challenged Syracuse many easy opportunities to take advantage of.

Led by Tra Holder, Arizona State’s strong perimeter shooting will give the 2-3 zone several issues. The

Orange’s 41.8 percent teamwide shooting will be an even bigger problem. Texa s Sout her n (- 5 )

over N.C. Central: The Tigers started the season 0-13 — playing non-conference games at Gonzaga, Ohio State, Syracuse, Kansas, Clemson, Oregon, Baylor, TCU, BYU and Washington State — and didn’t play their first home game until Jan. 1, but they have clearly benefitted from the early agony. Led by former Indiana coach Mike Davis, Texas Southern has won seven straight games, and plays one of the fastest tempos in the country. N.C. Cent ra l’ s 302 nd-ranked offense — in efficiency — simply won’t be able to keep pace. This season: 14-13-1 2011-17 record: 199-155-8

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