Maybe for the last time Saturday, Arizona basketball fans can see ASU coach Bobby Hurley roaming up and down the sidelines, raising his arms in frustration, shouting, scowling and generally living, as always, with his heart on his sleeve during another intrastate rivalry game against the Wildcats.
Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley has some words with one of the game officials after a series of calls during the first half of their Big 12 game against Arizona, Jan. 14, 2026, in Tucson.
But if UA fans outnumber or at least out-vocalize ASU fans inside Desert Financial Arena, he might not have any reaction at all.
Hurley has already given up on the home-court thing.
“We have not played well here in years, like since before COVID,” Hurley said after ASU lost 75-63 to West Virginia at Tempe’s Desert Financial Arena on Jan. 21. “We had this place cooking before COVID. Now it’s just a sterile environment.
“We don’t win here. We don’t give our fans any reason to show up with enthusiasm, to think that we’re going to win a basketball game. We have been dreadful at home for years.”
People are also reading…
Later telling Arizona Sports that the Sun Devils “haven’t done our part of the bargain,” and saying he appreciated ASU fans for how they supported him, Hurley said the homecourt doldrums even counted the Sun Devils’ 2022-23 NCAA Tournament season.
That season, the Sun Devils won 23 games, including a 25-point win over Nevada in the NCAA Tournament First Four. Notably, they were arguably tougher on the road, going 9-5 at home and 7-6 away from Tempe – including when Desmond Cambridge hit a half-court buzzer-beater to beat the Wildcats 89-88 at McKale Center.
That season, ‘I don’t think we were great here,’ Hurley said. “I think we were better frickin’ on the road, somewhere. Anywhere. This has been going on for a while. It’s not a home court advantage. We can’t win here.”
Hurley has reason to be dispirited. Not only is he in the last year of his contract, usually a dead-man-walking situation in college basketball, but the Sun Devils had shown moments of promise, that they might be able to save something, somehow.
With a roster led by mid-major transfers and the emerging talent of Senegalese freshman 7-footer Massamba Diop, ASU beat Texas and Washington State to reach the Maui Invitational final in November and carried a 9-2 record into mid-December.
Arizona center Motiejus Krivas (13) shoots over Arizona State forward Santiago Trouet (1) and center Massamba Diop during the first half, Jan. 14, 2026, in Tucson.
Then, after losing four straight against UCLA, Oregon State, Colorado and BYU, the Sun Devils beat Kansas State and gave Arizona its toughest game yet this season at McKale.
“If we could bottle some of what we did,” Hurley said at McKale, “and try and do that game in and game out, we have a chance to win some games.”
They did bottle some of that in the four games since they appeared at McKale, but often not enough. They were up 13 over West Virginia in the first half on Jan. 21 and lost 75-63, prompting Hurley’s postgame concerns.
They beat Cincinnati 82-68 on Jan. 24 in a response Hurley praised, but in a game at UCF on Tuesday, ASU was up by 12 with just over six minutes to play and lost 79-76.
Hurley said the UCF loss came about in part because of offensive rebounds the Knights were able to collect, that the Sun Devils have struggled to get key rebounds and 50-50 balls all season.
He appeared more broken after the Sun Devils’ home loss to West Virginia, complaining about missed rebounding opportunities but also about a long 3-pointer that fell in for the Mountaineers just before the shot-clock melted away.
“There’s things like that happening that bring the word ‘doomed’ into my mind,” Hurley said. “That’s the word. When I see a shot like that go in — like, doomed, right?”
Barring a couple of wins over UA and/or an NCAA Tournament run, Hurley might have been doomed anyway. High-major coaches almost never coach during the final year of their contract, usually either getting fired, leaving for another job, or earning a contract extension before it comes to that.
Last summer, while telling reporters how the Sun Devils had a lot of players who only have a year left, saying they “gottta make it work” he then raised his eyebrows and added “myself included.”
He didn’t shy away from the topic later in the summer in an interview with Blue Ribbon Yearbook.
“I’m not delusional,” he said. “It’s pretty unique. Not many coaches in our business would operate on a one-year deal. … my back’s against the wall.”
During the Wildcats’ 89-82 win over ASU at McKale on Jan. 14, some UA fans may have reminded him of that.
Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley during the first half against Arizona, Jan. 14, 2026, at McKale Center.
If so, UA coach Tommy Lloyd wasn’t happy about it.
“These are hard jobs, and that’s a great guy. He’s an iconic basketball player and coach in our culture,” Lloyd said of Hurley. “If guys like him can go through tough times, any of us can. So I have empathy for him.
“I know fans have these signs and things like that, there’s this rivalry deal, and everyone gets excited and wants to make a joke at someone else’s expense. I understand that’s part of culture and whatever. I don’t get bothered by it but I just told him he doesn’t deserve any of it. And I hope he knows that I don’t think that way. It’s that simple.”
Asked if he felt ASU was a tough place to build a winner at, Lloyd stuck to talking about Hurley.
“I have no comments on Arizona State basketball with what they’re doing with Bobby Hurley, but Bobby Hurley is a good human being,” Lloyd said. “I have empathy for him and maybe what he’s going through. He and I don’t have conversations about it, but if it is hard on him, I feel bad for him.”
It’s not all bad, Hurley said. After the West Virginia loss, he praised his team’s effort and spirit, at least.
“Bottom line, the light and the tunnel, it’s … it’s hard to see a lot of light. I love the group, though,” Hurley said. “This group is far different than some other teams I’ve had that, at times, might have made me sick to my stomach.
“This group of people is very willing to try and give what they have, so I am not overly disappointed in that regard. It’s just more of the hope.”
Up next
What: No. 1 Arizona (21-0, 8-0) vs. ASU (11-10, 2-6)
When: noon Saturday
Where: Desert Financial Arena; Tempe
Watch: TNT
Listen: 1290-AM
Contact sports reporter Bruce Pascoe at [email protected]. On X(Twitter): @brucepascoe
Be the first to know
Get local news delivered to your inbox!
