From The Vault: Lu Dort In The NCAA Tournament In Tulsa

Sometimes you just get lucky covering things.

I'm continuing to run through the News On 6 sports archives, and this one made me smile. The last time Tulsa hosted the NCAA Tournament was in 2019. On the practice day at the BOK Center, I made it a point to stay and shoot video of all 8 teams. 1 of those teams was Arizona State. And lo and behold, I got video of future OKC Thunder star Lu Dort, who was just a freshman at Arizona State. 

The 2018-19 Season

Dort earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, second-team All-Pac-12 and All-Defense team for the Arizona State Sun Devils in the 2018-19 season. Dort scored 53 points in his first two games at ASU (28 vs. CSF and 25 vs. McNeese State), and those 53 points were the third-most by a Pac-12 freshman in his first two career games since 1996-97.

Dort had 9 20-point games as a freshman at Arizona State:

33 vs. Utah State @Las Vegas, Nov. 21, 2018

28 vs. Cal State Fullerton, Nov. 6, 2018

25 vs. McNeese State, Nov. 9, 2018

24 vs. #6 Nevada, Dec. 7, 2018

22 vs. California, Feb. 24, 2019

22 vs. Washington State, Feb. 7, 2019

21 vs. St. John's (NCAA Tournament), 3/20/19

21 at Colorado, Feb. 13, 2019

20 at Oregon State, Mar. 3, 2019

The NCAA Tournament

The Sun Devils would play 2 games in the NCAA Tournament in 2019. One in Dayton, and one at the BOK Center in Tulsa.

In ASU's First Four win over St. John's in Dayton, the Sun Devils never trailed in their 74-65 victory. Lu Dort had 21 points and 4 rebounds in the victory.

Arizona State would face Buffalo at the BOK Center on March 22nd. Dort finished with 12 points and 3 rebounds, but the Sun Devils' season would come to an end with a 91-74 loss to the Bulls.

Following the loss, Dort would declare for the NBA Draft. After going undrafted, he would sign a two-way contract with the Thunder. He made his NBA debut with OKC on December 6th, 2019, against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He played 7 minutes and grabbed one rebound in an overtime win.