It’s been a tough stretch for Arizona State basketball, and head coach Bobby Hurley isn’t sugarcoating any of it.
Following a 75-63 home loss to West Virginia in Tempe, Hurley was candid, emotional, and clearly searching for answers. The Sun Devils have now dropped three straight and are just 1-6 over their last seven games. For a team that came into the season hoping to build momentum in the Big 12, the wheels have come off-and Hurley knows it.
“We failed, I’m failing,” he said postgame. “I can’t get through to the team, I don’t know what else I can say.”
That frustration poured out in a press conference that felt more like a therapy session. Hurley didn’t hold back when talking about the state of his program, especially when it comes to playing at home.
“We haven’t played well [at home] in years. Like, since before COVID,” Hurley said.
“It’s a sterile environment. We don’t win here.
It’s not a home-court advantage… It’s hard to see a lot of light at the end of the tunnel.”
That’s a sobering admission for any coach, but especially one as fiery and passionate as Hurley. His teams have always been built on energy and edge, but that edge seems dulled right now-particularly in Tempe, where Desert Financial Arena has lost its bite.
The latest blow came courtesy of Treysen Eaglestaff, who poured in 23 points for the Mountaineers, including six threes that helped West Virginia flip the game after trailing by as much as 13 in the first half. ASU’s Maurice Odum led the Sun Devils with 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting, but it wasn’t enough to stop the slide.
Arizona State actually won the rebounding battle 30-29, but turnovers told the story. Both teams coughed it up 13 times, but it was the timing of those giveaways-and the energy shift that followed-that hurt ASU the most.
One of the biggest momentum swings came right before halftime, when WVU’s Honor Huff buried a 30-footer to cut the deficit to a single possession. It was the kind of backbreaker that Hurley said has become all too familiar in Tempe.
“When I see a shot like that go in - like doomed,” he said.
It’s hard to argue with him. The Sun Devils have struggled to establish any kind of home-court dominance in recent years, and this season has only magnified the issue.
The energy just hasn’t been there, and the results reflect it. ASU has already been on the receiving end of two 100-plus point beatdowns in conference play-against BYU and Houston-and now they’ve let another winnable game slip away.
West Virginia outmuscled ASU on the defensive glass (23-22) and came away with seven steals, forcing the Sun Devils into bad decisions and rushed possessions. ASU looked like a team searching for confidence-and not finding it.
Now, things don’t get any easier. Three of their next four games are on the road, and when they do return home, it’s not exactly a soft landing: No.
1 Arizona comes to town on Jan. 31 in what will be the series finale. That’s a brutal test for a team trying to rediscover its identity-and for a coach openly questioning whether home-court advantage even exists anymore in Tempe.
For Hurley, this isn’t just about X’s and O’s. It’s about belief-his players’, the fans’, and maybe even his own.
The Sun Devils are at a crossroads, and the next few weeks could determine whether this season spirals further or finds some kind of footing. Either way, Hurley’s message is clear: something has to change.