Hurley's ASU upsets Kansas in possible send-off

Fans spilled out of the stands onto the court, jumping and shouting in celebration of Arizona State‘s massive upset.

As the chaos swirled around him, Bobby Hurley, a coach known for his fiery sideline demeanor, calmly walked along the scorer’s table to shake hands with Kansas‘ coaches and players before heading up the ramp.

No fist pumps, no shouts of joy, even if may have been his final home game. Just a coach proud of the way his team fought through adversity — just as he did throughout his career.

“I don’t think it’s me, I really don’t,” Hurley told reporters after Arizona State’s 70-60 victory over No. 14 Kansas on Tuesday night. “I know it could be a nice, little storyline or something, but I really believe this is who they are. We lost our way for a few weeks and had a hard time winning some games in a very difficult league, but we picked ourselves off the mat and I think we’re playing as good as we were at any point in the season because of our defense.

“I think these kids just want to win and players like Moe Odum still believes there’s hope, and I do as well until someone tells us otherwise and someone outplays us and puts an end to what we’re doing right now.”

Through 11 years of ups and downs, Hurley entered the final season of his contract likely needing an NCAA tournament berth to keep his job. The Sun Devils (16-14, 7-10 Big 12) have fallen well short, leaving them needing a miracle run at the Big 12 tournament or bust.

Odum, who had 23 points against Kansas, called Hurley “the greatest coach that’s ever coached me” and said he has been acting like Hurley would remain at Arizona State.

“So it wasn’t like, ‘Oh no, this is coach’s last home game,'” Odum told reporters. “Like no. I want to keep winning so coach don’t go nowhere ’cause that’s my coach.”

Hurley’s role as the ultimate underdog was part of what made his hiring 12 years ago such a big splash.

An undersized point guard, he won two national championships at Duke and is still the NCAA’s career assists leader. He played five seasons in the NBA before a car accident cut his career short.

Hurley won almost immediately after becoming a head coach, taking Buffalo to the NCAA tournament for the first time in his second season.

He also won at Arizona State, just not enough, missing the NCAA tournament four of the past five seasons.

Hurley said the focus has been on this team and this season, but if Tuesday night was his final home game, it was quite a way to go out.

The Sun Devils won at Allen Fieldhouse in 2017 against the second-ranked Jayhawks, part of a 12-0 start that propelled them to No. 3 in the AP Top 25, matching the highest ranking in program history. The Sun Devils did it again the following season in Tempe, taking down Kansas for their only home win over a No. 1 team.

On Tuesday, the Sun Devils came out with the same fire their coach has on the sideline, smothering the Jayhawks while building a 20-point lead. A coach was ejected, and it wasn’t Hurley; Bill Self was tossed for arguing an offensive call on Jayhawks star freshman Darryn Peterson.

Kansas stormed back, pulling with four then back to two after Arizona State again stretched the lead to double digits.

Unlike some of the games they couldn’t find a way to finish, the Sun Devils pushed back, shoving the Jayhawks out the door and Hurley to a win in what could be his final game at Desert Financial Arena.

“No one thought we could win any games basically, and they’ve, I think, proven a lot of people wrong,” Hurley told reporters. “… We’re not perfect. We’re far from perfect and we do some some crazy things sometimes and we don’t always get every rebound, but they’re going to lay it all out on the line and I think that’s what sports is about.”

Competitive to the end, just like their coach.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.