TEMPE — Arizona State Men’s Basketball returned to Desert Financial Arena for one final time and in a familiar position: pinned against a ranked opponent at home with nothing to lose and a chip on its shoulder. It was against a team that ASU coach Bobby Hurley had found success against in the past — the No. 14 Kansas Jayhawks.
In his last game under his current contract at the school he has coached for the past 11 years, the perfect storm brewed for Hurley and his Sun Devils to give their head coach an emphatic swan song in possibly his last game at DFA. After 40 minutes, the storm ASU (16-14, 7-10) had conjured unleashed onto the court, painting it maroon and gold for the second time this season following a 70-60 win over Kansas (21-9, 11-6) on Senior Night.
Hurley’s created some signature moments against Kansas, beating the Jayhawks twice prior to Tuesday: once Lawrence in 2017, 95-85, and once his home court in 2018, 80-76. Hurley, once again, had the last laugh, moving to a 3-1 coaching record against Kansas.
“We (ASU) are not perfect,” Hurley said. “We’re far from perfect, and we do some crazy things sometimes, and we don’t get every rebound. But, they’re going to lay it all out on the line. I think that’s what sports is all about.”
An emotional graduate guard, Moe Odum, took the court in his last collegiate home game. As the first-year Sun Devil trotted to midcourt, family beside him, he was embraced by Hurley and gave his mentor another unforgettable performance.
Odum, although starting slow, finished the game with 23 points on a 5-for-12 shooting clip. Numerous barrages of 3-pointers and crisp passes to open teammates sent DFA into an uproar and put a smirk on Hurley’s face along the bench.
“He (Hurley) is the greatest coach that’s ever coached me,” Odum said. “I’m going to war with him anytime. If I had more eligibility, I wouldn’t go anywhere. So I feel like, without him, there is nothing.”
An energized and motivated ASU team came out hot to start the game. Freshman center Massamba Diop was at double-digit points nearly seven minutes into the first half, continuing his dominant stretch of recent games.
In his most recent outing against Utah on Saturday, Diop finished with 14 points, five rebounds and four blocks, showcasing his lockdown defense. The Senegal-native paraded again, this time on the offensive side, registering 19 points, eight rebounds and three blocks tonight
The major focus coming into the contest for the Maroon and Gold was bottling up top NBA draft prospect and freshman guard Darryn Peterson, as he had 24 points in his last game against No. 2 Arizona. The last time a major star on a ranked Big 12 team came to town, junior forward JT Toppin, ASU put together a shutdown effort to slow the Red Raiders’ offensive force.
This time around?
The Sun Devils put on another defensive clinic, holding the talented guard to 15 points on a 3-for-17 shooting clip.
“Overrated” chants reigned down from the student section, as Peterson couldn’t buy a point until a free throw opportunity 17 minutes into the game. His first field goal didn’t come until five minutes into the second half on a contested left-corner 3-pointer, then he made another spot-up triple.
“Peterson is a phenomenal prospect,” Hurley said. “I know there were a lot of NBA guys in the building, and they had to be looking at that guy.”
While Hurley has built up a reputation to garner technical fouls from officials, it was Kansas coach Bill Self who found himself waved off the court. After a charge called assessed to Peterson with six minutes left in the first, Self stormed from his sideline to midcourt, yelling in disbelief at the call.
The referees assessed Self with two technical fouls in a matter of seconds after pushing the limit. Soon after, the first-year and former Jayhawk legend assistant coach Jacque Vaughn took over. Yet, he also received a technical foul a few minutes later, as he disagreed with a call.
Although down on the scoreboard nearly the entire game, Kansas never let up in its crawl back, igniting an 11-0 run to start the second half. An emphatic alley-oop from Peterson to sophomore forward Flory Bidunga forced ASU into a timeout and stood as a stepping stone to a comeback.
At one point, the Jayhawks cut the lead to as little as two, but another Senior-Night honoree, guard Anthony “Pig” Johnson, drained a triple and finished a contested transition layup after a steal to put the Sun Devils back up even with three minutes left.
“I felt very confident in this team,” Hurley said. “I was very calm considering what was going on. All hell was breaking loose, and everything was unraveling. We all just said, ‘Let’s take a deep breath.'”
The catalyst of both buckets?
Once again, none other than Odum, whipping around passes to open teammates and serving as the offensive playmaker ASU needed down the stretch.
“I feel like we’re (Odum and Johnson) the best backcourt there is,” Johnson said. “It doesn’t matter if we’re playing Arizona, Texas Tech, Texas, or Duke; we’re the best backcourt. We just have to play like that every game.”
The sequence, the clincher of another signature victory for Hurley against Kansas, sent the crowd into a frenzy for one final time at DFA this season — and for potentially the final time with Hurley at the helm.
Up next, the Sun Devils will round out their season on the road against the No. 6 Iowa State Cyclones. Tip-off is set for Saturday, March 7, at noon MST.
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