Devils in Detail
Fansided

ASU Basketball: Hurley, players discuss Pac-12 Tournament, all-conference honorees

By Trevor Booth

TEMPE, AZ - JANUARY 03: Head coach Bobby Hurley of the Arizona State Sun Devils watches the action during the first half of the college basketball game at Wells Fargo Arena on January 3, 2016 in Tempe, Arizona. The Arizona Wildcats beat the Arizona State Sun Devils 94-82. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
TEMPE, AZ - JANUARY 03: Head coach Bobby Hurley of the Arizona State Sun Devils watches the action during the first half of the college basketball game at Wells Fargo Arena on January 3, 2016 in Tempe, Arizona. The Arizona Wildcats beat the Arizona State Sun Devils 94-82. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – NOVEMBER 21: Luguentz Dort #0 of the Arizona State Sun Devils reacts after dunking the ball against the Utah State Aggies during the second half of the championship game of the MGM Resorts Main Event basketball tournament at T-Mobile Arena on November 21, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Arizona State won 87-82. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – NOVEMBER 21: Luguentz Dort #0 of the Arizona State Sun Devils reacts after dunking the ball against the Utah State Aggies during the second half of the championship game of the MGM Resorts Main Event basketball tournament at T-Mobile Arena on November 21, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Arizona State won 87-82. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) /

Gearing Up for the Postseason

For the latter half of last season, ASU was trying to recapture the magic from its 12-0 non-conference start. But for every inch the Sun Devils made, a big step back followed, losing six of their final seven games to close the year.

While Hurley wouldn’t admit it then, he feels that team wasn’t built for tournament success.

“I thought last year, we might have peaked earlier in the year,” he said. “We weren’t winning games. (Now), we’ve won five out of six, and that’s a great sign for the Pac-12 Tournament.”

In ASU’s last six contests, the Sun Devils have executed in multiple ways. They won two games scoring 80 or more points (Utah, Stanford) and three games by scoring 74 or less.

ASU also had three different leading scorers in the five wins. It’s that kind of versatility that is keeping Hurley and his players confident leading into this week’s tournament.

“Depending on how our opponent plays, we can adapt pretty well,” Hurley said. “And then our defense has been strong, especially late in games. This time of year, you got to be able to depend on that, and we’ve been guarding and rebounding at a pretty good level.”

“I think we’re playing our best basketball right now,” Dort added. “We play as a team. Remy and Zylan are really leading the team right now on the court, and I just feel like we have a good chemistry right now.”

Coming in, ASU’s postseason standing is much different than years past. The Sun Devils are above .500 in Pac-12 play for the first time since 2013-14, and their NCAA Tournament bubble has grown thanks to Saturday’s win at Arizona.

While this is ASU’s best chance to win the conference tournament in some time, having that security blanket is taking some of the worries away from previous years.

“I think we have a clear mind going into this tournament,” Hurley said. “Just trying to focus on winning that and not having the pressure or stress of wondering whether we’re going to make the NCAA Tournament. I think we’re in solid position.”

“We’re resilient,” Cheatham said. “We’re staying with it, we’re getting better every day and we’re believing in each other. As long as we continue to do that, we’re going to win a lot more games.”

To win multiple games, the Sun Devils will have to utilize all their weapons, something that became more possible thanks to another piece of news.

Home/ASU Basketball