Arizona State 2023-24 season comes to an embarrassing end in first-round of the Pac-12 tournament
LAS VEGAS, Nv. — Arizona State (14-18, 8-12 Pac-12) ended its season in an embarrassing 90-57 loss at the hands of Utah, on Thursday night. The Sun Devils tied a record in the final game as members of the Pac-12, marking the largest margin of defeat in the men’s conference tournament history.
ASU failed to gain any momentum while the absence of guard Jose Perez was glaring. The Sun Devils faced a 46-18 hole in the first half.
ASU shot 22-for-70 (31%) on field goals and 3-for-19 (16%) from 3-point range. Junior guard Frankie Collins led the team with 20 points, with sophomore guard Kamari Lands joining him as the only players in double figures.
“This is not acceptable for what my vision is for our basketball program,” head coach Bobby Hurley said. “We’re not in a good place right now, and it’s a terrible way to end it.”
From the opening tip, the Sun Devils’ intensity failed to show; a quality that the team showed flashes of throughout the season. But considering the timing, the unfortunate effort displayed on the court led to ASU’s first loss to the Utes in over two years.
Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
In their final game, the dejected maroon and gold realized their fate.
“You have a vision for something better,” Hurley said. “That that’s going to be the lasting memory of us playing in the Pac-12? Wow, I mean that’s a terrible memory. Nine years of being in this league and coaching in this league and it’s going to be gone and that’s how we chose to go out. It doesn’t feel good.”
Utah shot an uncanny 19-for-27 (70%) on field goals in the first half, a number that went down to a more believable 13-for-27 (48%). Graduate student Cole Bajema had 22 points on the night as the Utes had four players reach double-digit points.
Hurley spoke about his intentions moving forward as a program as perhaps the water became murky this season for Hurley’s future in Tempe. According to Chris Karpman of SunDevilSource.com, Hurley has not signed the contract for his 3-year extension offered by ASU, only his term sheet.
Bobby Hurley hasn’t signed the contract extension he agreed to last year. He did sign the term sheet. The contract had a lot of Pac-12 language with the bonus structuring, which caused the holdup after Anderson departed. He’s expected to sign an updated version soon per sources.
— Chris Karpman (@ChrisKarpman) March 13, 2024
Hurley spoke about the revamping of the roster that needs to take place, especially with the move into a different athletic conference. As it stands, according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, the Big 12 has nine teams projected in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, the most by any conference.
“It’s for men,” Hurley said. “Grown-ass men in that league, so we have to make some changes.”
In the end, Hurley put the blame on himself for the season’s shortcomings and said he felt bad for players like senior center Alonzo Gaffney who has been in the program for three seasons and helped the Sun Devils reach the NCAA Tournament in 2023.
“I feel like you can say a lot of things about me as a coach,” Hurley said. “You can be critical of a lot of areas and different things that you may not like about my coaching style. My offense, my philosophies on defense, my in-game decisions, my rotations, I mean there’s a lot that goes into being a coach but I don’t think you would say he’s (Hurley) not going to fight or battle or get his team ready to compete or fight or battle.”
As far as motivation, Hurley said he failed to do his job Thursday night when the program needed him most.
“I failed miserably in that regard,” Hurley said. “This is not a reflection of my belief system in terms of just effort and will and knowing what it feels like when your season’s on the line and you have to play for your season and that’s the effort that you get? That’s my responsibility and I failed miserably.”