Arizona State loses 'rock fight' and a chance for an upset against Arizona

TUCSON — As Bobby Hurley met with reporters Saturday afternoon in a narrow hall outside the visitors’ locker room at McKale Center, sweat trickled down his forehead and beaded above his upper lip.

He needed a towel. And a couple players who could create offensively and score. Neither appeared Saturday.

The Sun Devils lost to third-ranked Arizona, 67-56, for pretty much the same reason they lost 11 other games this season: scoring does not come easy for them.

For long, deadly minutes, their side of the scoreboard doesn’t change. Saturday, it cost ASU a chance at an upset, because the Wildcats were vulnerable.

It’s not often Arizona will shoot 32.8 percent from the field, including 3-of-23 from three-point range. But the Sun Devils matched them clang-for-clang, making just 8-of-34 in the second half.

Arizona Coach Tommy Lloyd thought his team was a little tired. Maybe that played a part in Arizona making just 7-of 29 shots (24.1 percent) in the first half, including 0-for-13 from three-point range (0 percent).

Or maybe ASU’s defense played a role, because while the Sun Devils can’t shot, they can defend.

Whatever the reason, the Wildcats couldn’t have purchased a basket in the first half even if they had borrowed money from the McKale concession stand, where a soda is $8.

ASU led by as many as eight points in the first half, and the game was tied at 32 at halftime.

Then, it was the Sun Devils’ turn to grow cold. After making a three-pointer to start the half, they missed eight consecutive shots. Later, they had a streak of 10 consecutive misses.

The Wildcats’ shots began to fall, and they continued to get to the free-throw line about twice as often as Arizona State.

The ball game was over.

“Obviously, this game was a rock fight,” Lloyd said. “We both shot 32 percent. I hadn’t been a part of any games like that.”

It’s not Lloyd’s style. He came to Arizona from Gonzaga, and imported the ‘Zags up-tempo style. Few teams in the country play as fast as the Wildcats, or as efficiently.

Hurley prefers his teams to play that way, too. He built a reputation at ASU for giving players immense freedom, and the Sun Devils led the country in “no, no, yes!” shots.

But this Sun Devils team isn’t built for that. It needs quality shots more than most, and Hurley appears to be calling more offensive sets and plays than ever before. Guard U has become Grind U.

“You’re staring at that play sheet and hoping,” Hurley said. “I’m trying to call it a number of different ways, get the ball to a number of different guys and get an advantage somewhere.”

There has been improvement, but it’s still a struggle and will be for the rest of the season. The Sun Devils are headed for their second consecutive losing season, and that’s led to speculation that Hurley’s job is jeopardy. It shouldn’t be.

He’s still the same coach who led ASU to consecutive NCAA tournament berths. There would have been a third had the 2020 NCAA Tournament not been canceled.

Hurley hasn’t been perfect. Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff suspended Hurley for one game and fined him $20,000 for inappropriate conduct toward the officiating crew at Stanford a week ago.

That probably didn't sit well with ASU President Michael Crow and Athletic Director Ray Anderson, who a couple years ago asked Hurley to be less demonstrative on the sideline.

Hurley tried for a while and didn't like it much. He's never going to be someone who leaves us guessing about his mood.

Hurley’s contract doesn’t expire until 2024, and he was paid a $1 million retention bonus on Jan. 1. So, it’s doubtful he’s going anywhere.

But work must be done. A year ago, Hurley couldn’t get a roster sprinkled with highly rated recruits to work together. And now, he has a team that seems to like each other, plays hard but is constipated offensively.

It’s late January, so it’s too late to expect drastic improvement. As Hurley noted in the hallway Saturday, it’s not a great time of year to speak of moral victories. But with games against USC, UCLA and Arizona in the next nine days, it might be the only kind of victory the Sun Devils earn for a while.

Reach Kent Somers at Kent.Somers@gannett.com. Follow him on twitter @kentsomers.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Once known as Guard U, ASU basketball team is now Grind U