TEMPE, Ariz. — For most of the first half, Arizona State looked as if it deserved to be in the NCAA tournament.

The rest of the night was ugly, but the Sun Devils still beat Alabama State 64-53 in a first-round NIT matchup Tuesday.

James Harden, who had 25 points and a season-best 13 rebounds for the Sun Devils, credited the quick start to the NCAA snub.

“The first half we came out with a little chip on our shoulder. We want to prove people wrong,” he said. “The second half we got too comfortable.”

Harden’s fellow freshman Ty Abbott added 15 points on five first-half 3-pointers.

The Sun Devils (20-12) reached the 20-win mark for just the fourth time in 27 years. They will play at home against Southern Illinois in a second-round matchup Thursday night.

“It’s a good number,” coach Herb Sendek said. “It’s an earmark that we’ve made some progress, but that’s not where our attention is right now.”

Eric Boateng had eight points and a career-best 10 rebounds for Arizona State in front of a homecourt crowd of 4,358.

Andrew Hayles scored 12 and Brandon Brooks 10 for the Hornets (20-11), the SWAC regular season champions who shot just 32 percent (19-of-59). Arizona State shot only 41 percent overall, 32 percent (7-of-22) in the second half.

“We obviously started the game playing very well,” Sendek said, “most certainly aided by the fact we were making shots, especially Ty. ... Unfortunately we did not maintain that level of concentration and focus during the second 20 minutes.

Arizona State blew open early leads of 18-3 and 30-9 against the cold-shooting Hornets and were up 43-21 early in the second half.

But Alabama State rallied with a 15-4 run that cut the lead to 47-36 on Brandon Brooks’ three free throws with 14:09 to play.

Harden’s fallaway 3-pointer made it 59-44 but the Hornets scored the next seven to make it 59-51 after Richard Lott’s rebound basket with 3:06 left. Harden followed with a driving layup, and Alabama State never got it to single digits again.

Syracuse 97, Robert Morris 81

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Freshman forward Donte Greene scored a season-high 27 points, and undermanned Syracuse survived 16 3-pointers by Robert Morris in an 87-81 victory on Tuesday night in the first round of the NIT.

Paul Harris had 19 points and 10 rebounds for Syracuse (20-13).

Robert Morris (26-8) ended its first NIT appearance with a second straight loss after 14 wins in a row. A.J. Jackson led the Colonials with 19 points.

Ohio St. 84, UNC-Asheville 66

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Jamar Butler scored 21 points and added 10 assists to lead Ohio State. During one span in the second half, the senior point guard scored or assisted on 15 consecutive points for the Buckeyes (20-13), who were passed over by the NCAA tournament a year after reaching the title game.

Reid Augst had 20 points, Bryan Smithson 17 and K.J. Garland 10 for the Bulldogs (23-10).

Massachusetts 80, Stephen F. Austin 60.

AMHERST, Mass. — Dante Milligan had a career-high 24 points to go with nine rebounds and seven blocked shots to lead Massachusetts.

Gary Forbes scored 19 points, while Ricky Harris added 16 for the Minutemen (22-10).

Josh Alexander had 21 points and seven rebounds for the Lumberjacks (26-6), and Matt Kingsley and Eddie Williams each scored 10 points.

Maryland 68, Minnesota 58

MINNEAPOLIS — Greivis Vasquez had 16 points and six rebounds and made sure Maryland didn’t lose another big lead.

Bambale Osby added 14 points and six rebounds for the fifth-seeded Terrapins (19-14), who advance to play top-seeded Syracuse at the Carrier Dome in the second round.

Damian Johnson had 14 points and 12 rebounds for fourth-seeded Minnesota (20-14).

S. Illinois 69, Oklahoma St. 53

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Matt Shaw scored 21 points and nine rebounds to lead Southern Illinois.

The Salukis (18-14) advanced to the second round behind an active defense that held the Cowboys (17-16) to 35 percent shooting, including just 4-of-25 on 3-pointers.

Terrel Harris scored 20 points and James Anderson added 13 for Oklahoma State.

Akron 65, Florida State 60, OT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Nick Dials scored 13 of his 21 points in overtime, including three consecutive 3-pointers, to lead Akron.

The Zips (24-10) got first win over an Atlantic Coast Conference team despite being decisively outrebounded and making only 10 of 19 free throws. It was Akron’s second postseason victory in school history.

Uche Echefu had 20 points and 10 rebounds for his sixth double double of the season for Florida State (19-15), which was in the NIT for the third straight year.

Akron was unable to protect a 51-47 lead in the final 1:30 of regulation, missing a dunk shot and three free throws to go along with a costly turnover.

Creighton 74, Rhode Island 73

OMAHA, Neb. — Cavel Witter hit a 3-pointer with 3.2 seconds left to cap Creighton’s comeback from a 17-point deficit in the second half.

P’Allen Stinnett and Booker Woodfox each had 22 points for the Bluejays (22-10), with Stinnett scoring 18 in the second half. Creighton will face either San Diego State or Florida in the second round.

Will Daniels led Rhode Island (21-12) with 16 points.

Jimmy Baron added 13 and Lamonte Ulmer 12. The Rams lost eight of their final nine games.

Creighton trailed 70-58 with 3:14 left, but the Rams didn’t score another field goal.

 Stinnett hit a 3 and then made a steal and layup and Woodfox made back-to-back 3s to pull the Bluejays to 72-69 with a minute left. Witter’s two free throws made it a one-point game.

Marquis Jones made one of two free throws with 11.5 seconds left to put the Rams up by two points.