Arizona State Men’s Basketball Head Coach Bobby Hurley
Opening Statement…
“We were just clicking on offense. Desmond (Cambridge Jr.) hit some shots early, and we were spreading the wealth to different guys. We were making shots and making plays and assisted baskets. And it was coming in the half court and in transition. Our defense was rock solid again and it has to be on the road obviously. We just had a little bit of a poor stretch at the end of the first half and they switched to a 1-3-1 and it took us a little bit of time to adjust to that because we haven’t seen much of that this year.”
On comparing tonight’s win to win versus Michigan:
“It felt a little bit like that in terms of score and the way multiple guys were making shots. But even our bench came in and Luther Muhammad hit shots, Austin Nunez made plays, especially in the first half had seven points in like six minutes. So like, we were getting it from a lot of different areas."
On the team’s focus coming into tonight:
“This was a big game. I mean, we're playing Oregon and we're having a great season. And so that just takes it up a notch when you're able to come in here and play the way we did, I think it's kind of sends a message about what we're about.”
On being able to get ahead in the game early:
“They've shown me on other occasions that we have this potential to spurt. And because we're getting multiple stops, and because of our activity on defense that gets us deflections, gets us blocks that we’re able to get in transition. And then we could run off like 10 points, like really fast. That's how we're built.”
On ASU’s defensive effect on games:
“I think it's managed to keep us in games when we're not playing our best and on nights like this when we're really going on offense, we're really tough to deal with. But certainly, when you defend with the energy like we do, and our athleticism, and our depth, I think all those things help us become a really good defensive team.”
On mindset coming out of halftime with big lead:
“It's the old coaching mindset ‘it’s 0-0, fellas’ and I kind of challenged him a little bit because we didn't finish the last four minutes of the first half the way we should have. And so we’ve got to make up for it here to start the first four. And we don't want to give them any more momentum. And I thought our starters did a nice job again, no lead back into the 20’s.”
Arizona State Men’s Basketball Guard Desmond Cambridge Jr.
On taking the crowd out of this game…
“I feel like the goal is, coming into an away game, just because the crowd is a huge factor and I feel like that’s why road games are so important. Obviously, they practice here. We came out of the gate, and Coach Hurley really wanted to emphasize playing well in the first four minutes so I think we did that, so they never really had a chance to get into the game.”
On hitting shots early…
“We were kind of worried about their length and athleticism but when we’re shooting that good, we can be really good.”
On not taking the ball into the paint…
“DJ [Horne] and I, we’re shooters first. When you see it go in a couple times, you’re trying to just ride that wave and momentum until you miss a couple. We were getting out in transition… that’s my brother [Devan, who walked by and proclaimed Desmond for President], he actually dunk tipped one of my missed threes. Everything was going our way.”
On thinking far ahead…
“Yeah, for sure. Me, being a senior, for our NCAA chances, I’ve never played in that. At the end of the day, if you win, that’s all you have to do.”
On feeding off Devan when having so much success…
Yeah, absolutely. You can’t even describe it. When I play well, I feel like we both ave energy.
On this feeling like the Michigan game…
“I don’t know, it felt like a good game. We were hitting on all cylinders. We were guarding, we were scoring. It was just a fun experience out there, especially out there. The court is cool. When I saw their coach, I was a little starstruck because he’s a legend in my eyes and I’ve only seen him on TV. It was a fun experience.”
On if this is how he pictured playing with Devan…
“Oh, yea. He’s a high flyer and he wants to do a dunk for me. For me, it's about having a connection and knowing who your teammates are. What their strengths are and what their weaknesses are.”