ASU men's basketball to face Buffalo in NCAA Tournament with ailing Remy Martin

DAYTON, Ohio — Sophomore point guard Remy Martin sat on a chair in the Arizona State locker room while teammates around him celebrated Wednesday night. The Sun Devils had just disposed of St.John's 74-65 in a play-in game at the University of Dayton Arena for the school's first postseason win in a decade.

The unquestioned catalyst of the Sun Devils offense sustained a mild groin strain a week ago in ASU's Pac-12 semifinal overtime loss to Oregon in Las Vegas and was held out of practice until some run-throughs the day before the showdown against the Red Storm.

Now, the No. 11 seeded Sun Devils (23-10) are on to West Region play Friday in Tulsa, Okla. and Martin's heath is their biggest concern. ASU will be facing a well-rested team in Mid-American Conference champion University Buffalo (31-3), which enters the postseason riding a 12-game win streak.

It will make three games in three different time zones in eight days for the Sun Devils, who have won six of their last eight games.

If Martin was hurting, he wasn't telling.

"As long as I'm between the lines I'm 100 percent healthy," he said, trying to convince the media that surrounded him. "I'm fine."

Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley called Martin a "warrior." This isn't the first time he has had to play through ailments. Before the season started, Martin was hobbled by a bad ankle, yet he was in the starting lineup when the Sun Devils opened against Cal State Fullerton in November.

Martin aggravated the ankle injury early in a win over Utah State later in the month at an event in Las Vegas. He sat in an ice bath after that game with both ankles immersed.

"You never know when something is wrong with him because he won't tell you," teammate Zylan Cheatham said. "He just goes out there and plays. You can't keep him down."

Martin is averaging 13.1 points and 5.1 assists in 32 minutes per game through 31 games this season. He had a season-high 31 points to go with eight assists in a win against rival Arizona. His highest assist total (11) came in a road win at UCLA.

But he played just 23 minutes against the Red Storm, with Hurley admittedly trying to give him a few more breaks than is typical. 

Martin got downcourt quickly triggering a fast break that ended with a layup by Luguentz Dort late in the first half. But he was limping noticeably when he went back to the bench during a timeout early in the second.

While Martin said he was fine, statistics would seem to say otherwise. He had six points, four rebounds and three assists and a season-high six turnovers. He led the Pac-12 in assist-to-turnover ratio so that turnover total would seem to indicate he was not at full strength.

Yes, St John's is a solid defensive team, which proved a factor as well. But again, the Southern California native was not making excuses.

"I had too many turnovers. I have to do better," Martin said.

The Sun Devils led by as many as 18 points in the first half but had their lead cut to seven at three different points in the second half. When the Red Storm made their run, most times it came with Martin on the bench. The other ASU guards are not the playmakers Martin is so he will continue to do what he can, healthy or not.

"Remy is a warrior," Hurley said. "It's hard to keep him out of the lineup because he wants to be out there and sometimes you almost have to save him from himself."

The health of Martin won't be the only storyline the next time the Sun Devils take the floor.

The opponent will be the team Hurley coached before taking the ASU job and his successor at Buffalo is Nate Oats, whom Hurley hired as his lead assistant and recruiting coordinator. Oats has continued to build on the foundation Hurley established and takes his team into the tournament as a No. 6 seed.

Last season, Buffalo upended perennial title contender Arizona 89-68 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, striking a blow for the mid-majors. The Bulls were dismissed in the next round by Kentucky.

"It's going to be a little bit surreal playing them," Hurley said. "Ever since the bracket came out people have been talking about this matchup for the obvious reasons but I really tried not to think about it because I had another opponent ahead of me first."

Reach the reporter at Michelle.Gardner@Gannett.com or 602 444-4783.  Follow her on Twitter @MGardnerSports.

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