It’s been a rough stretch of basketball for Bobby Hurley and Arizona State.
The 54-year-old Sun Devils head coach wasn’t making excuses following a 75-63 home loss to West Virginia on Wednesday in Tempe, Arizona. ASU has dropped three games in a row and is 1-6 through its last seven.
“We failed, I’m failing,” Hurley said. “I can’t get through to the team, I don’t know what else I can say.”
Treysen Eaglestaff led the Mountaineers (13-6, 4-2 Big 12) with 23 points, including six triples, to pound out the Sun Devils on their home floor. Maurice Odum led ASU (10-9, 1-5 Big 12) with 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting and a 3-of-7 night at the charity stripe.
ASU won the rebound battle 30-29, but matched the Mountaineers with 13 turnovers after leading by as much as 13 in the first half. Honor Huff pulled WVU back within a possession with a 30-footer at the half.
That type of basket, Hurley said, has sucked the life out of Desert Financial Arena for years.
“When I see a shot like that go in – like doomed,” Hurley said. “We have not played well here in years, like since before Covid. Like, we had this place cooking before Covid, now it’s a sterile environment. We don’t win here.”
ASU has certainly pinballed around its six-game conference start in poor fashion, and two of those games saw opposing teams, BYU and Houston, crack 100-plus against their defense. WVU beat the Sun Devils on the defensive glass 23-22 and tallied seven different steals.
Hurley and ASU hit the road for three of their next four games, but return from a UCF road trip next Tuesday, Jan. 27, to test Hurley’s all-too-doubtful home advantage against No. 1 Arizona in their series finale on Saturday, Jan. 31.
