TEMPE – Arizona State’s freshman phenom center Massamba Diop set the tone early, knocking down three early looks, including a ferocious slam dunk, to put the Sun Devils up 11-4 with under five minutes played and forcing West Virginia to burn a timeout.
Diop goes up, hammer goes DOWN.
— Brennan Bucher (@BrennanBucher) January 22, 2026
ASU leads 11-4, 15:38 remain in half 1. TO WVU. @InfernoIntel pic.twitter.com/axugBTvPjs
That early start turned sour, and what once was a 13-point lead was abrogated by a determined Mountaineers squad. For ASU coach Bobby Hurley, who’s in the final year of his contract in Tempe, it was another frustrating loss in a long line of them over the past two seasons, leaving Hurley to feel a familiar feeling: demoralization.
“Yeah, it is,” Hurley said when asked if this was the most demoralized he has felt. “The light at the end of the tunnel, it is hard to see a lot of light.”
Bobby Hurley didn't mince words in his postgame presser.
— Justin LaCertosa (@LaCertosaSports) January 22, 2026
"We failed. I'm failing. I can't get through to the team. I don't know what else I can say."@DevilsDigest pic.twitter.com/YjtrVaHtPa
The Arizona State Sun Devils (10-9, 1-5 Big 12) fell to the West Virginia Mountaineers (13-6, 4-2 Big 12) 75-63, Wednesday night, in Desert Financial Arena. Familiar issues haunted the Sun Devils against the Mountaineers, including their struggles at home.
“We have not played well here in years,” a broken Hurley said. “Like, since before COVID. We had this place cooking before COVID, but now it is just a sterile environment. We do not win here. It is not home court advantage.”
Out of every concern for the Sun Devils, none weighs a bigger burden than the lack of a reception to Hurley’s message.
“There is no commitment to listening, and we lack discipline in terms of listening to some of the things that I am trying to get across to the team,” Hurley said. “My voice is not working with this group, and that is a great example of it.”
When asked if he felt his players had lost touch and had become unresponsive to his coaching, Hurley said, “I think, to a degree, that is an accurate statement.”
The Sun Devils played an imperturbable game early on in Wednesday night’s contest before West Virginia slowed the pace of play and sent Hurley’s squad into a world of hurt.
After a first half that saw ASU leading by two and capitalizing on three-pointers, going 5-for-10, the Sun Devils failed to convert a single three-point attempt in the second half, going 0-for-5 and shooting under 39% from the field in the second half.
On the flip side, the ASU defense was left helpless in its efforts to stop the visitors’ perimeter shooting, with a big turning point happening towards the back-end of the first half, when West Virginia’s senior forward Treysen Eaglestaff, who made three straight from downtown to cut the deficit to four, 30-26. West Virginia went 11-for-24 from three in Wednesday’s win.
ASU had no answer for Eaglestaff, who finished the night with 23 points and went 6-for-9 from three.
The Mountaineers slowed the pace of play, suffocating the Sun Devils fast-paced offense to a season-low 63 possessions throughout Wednesday night’s contest.
ASU struggled in the turnover department, surrendering 13 turnovers, culminating into 12 points on the other end. Free-throw shooting, another weakness for Hurley-led teams in the past few years, continued to be a shortcoming.
Arizona State will assess the film of Wednesday’s loss as they look to snap the three-game losing skid when they welcome the Cincinnati Bearcats to Desert Financial Arena on Saturday, Jan. 24, at 8 p.m. MST.
“I love this group, though, Hurley said. “This group is far different from some other teams I have had that, at times, might have made me sick to my stomach. This group is very willing to try and give what they have, so I am not overly disappointed in that regard.”
Leave a Reply