They wanted the program to have a style.
They screamed for better games in November and December (like that Kansas road game that was so much fun on Twitter. Go back in time here.)
Ray Anderson sent out a note to the Sun Devil nation in early April of 2015 saying he had hired Bobby Hurley as the next men's basketball coach. Hurley promised a fast and fun style that gave his team freedom. He promised to play a harder schedule. He wanted to fire up the fan base.
Five years later mission accomplished.
The best story in college basketball is @SunDevilHoops. I talked to @BobbyHurley11 this week about the program's turnaround, the freedom he's giving his guards and his coaching influences: https://t.co/9eutUKV5we
— CJ Moore (@CJMooreHoops) December 15, 2017
The past five seasons have brought on high scoring teams, big-time wins, great schedules and great moments. Let's take a look at some of them here.
THE COMEBACKS
On Nov. 29, 2015, ASU trailed UCSB 29-27 at the half in Bobby Hurley's sixth game at ASU. Senior Eric Jacobsen would get eight points in the second half and Kodi Justice pitched in six in the second half off the bench, and the comeback was complete. It was the first of 26 halftime comeback deficits under Bobbh Hurley at ASU, the most in the Pac-12 in his era. Two road comebacks happened next -- Creighton (as Doug Haller of then azcentral.com documented) and UNLV -- and the final one of the year was his first win over a ranked team at ASU when the Sun Devils topped No. 23 USC. No less than 22 have followed since, with one of them being probably the best in school history, the sweet win over Arizona in 2019-20 that included being down 22 in the first half (37-15) and 13 at the half (43-30) before winning 66-65.
We've got highlights?? We've got a lot of highlights?? pic.twitter.com/tfZtFbwubP
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) December 10, 2017
THE CROWDS
The current fans wanted big games. The couch fans wanted to attend big games. Big games were schedule. Normal games became big games. As a coach once said, every game became a five-star match up because we were in it, home and on the road. Intense Bobby Hurley was coaching a team that was playing fast, hard and intense. So what happened? People happened. The two top average attendance happened.
BEST ASU AVERAGE SEASON ATTENDANCE MARKS (HEAD COACH)
2017-18: 10,603 (Bobby Hurley)
2018-19: 10,538 (Bobby Hurley)
1995-96: 9,514 (Bill Frieder)
2008-09: 9,354 (Herb Sendek)
1994-95: 9,333 (Bill Frieder)
2019-20: 9,251 (Bobby Hurley)
Our Shining Moments.
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) March 18, 2020
No one we'd rather share them with than our #SunDevilFamily. ???? pic.twitter.com/hltDeP4MpC
THOSE NON-CONFERENCE WINS
Those two Kansas wins are what everyone remembers, but how about dropping 73 points in the final 23 minutes over an eventual NCAA 1 seed in the Las Vegas to get us back in the rankings for the first time in a decade? How about starting 12-0 and being the last undefeated team in the nation in 2017-18? That was fun. That was when ASU stood for...AND STILL UNDEFEATED.
?12-0?
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) December 22, 2017
And
Still
Undefeated pic.twitter.com/EVgOhOHv03
MAKING TRADITION
Only three times in school history has a Sun Devil program posted three straight 20-win seasons as ASU has done, and that has been done while playing a tough schedule and not being afraid to challenge the team early. While the creation of exempt tournaments and more games has given teams a better chance to reach 20 wins, we won't take it for granted. Coming off records in of 23-11 in 2018-19 and 20-12 in 2017-18, ASU has notched its third straight 20-win season, something it has done just twice. In James Harden's two seasons ASU went 21-13 (2007-08) and 25-10 (2008-09) and then went 22-11 in 2009-10. You have to go back to 1960-63 for the only other time in ASU history for it to happen, as ASU went 23-6 in 1960-61, 23-4 in 1961-62 and 26-3 in 1962-63, led by another Olympic gold medalist, Jumpin' Joe Caldwell.
For the 3??rd time in program history. pic.twitter.com/t8LZyqf4Ih
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) March 27, 2020
THOSE AWESOME BIG WINS (AND SOME GREAT COACHING IN THE SECOND HALF)
ASU has defeated eight ranked teams in Bobby Hurley's five seasons, but it trailed at the half in five of the wins, including both wins over Kansas.
ASU WINS VS. RANKED TEAMS UNDER BOBBY HURLEY (ASU DEFICIT AT HALF)
ASU 77, #14 Oregon 72 (Feb. 20, 2020)
ASU 66, #22 Arizona 65 (Jan. 25, 2020)--Arizona 43, ASU 30
#18 ASU 80, #1 Kansas 76 (Dec. 22, 2018)--Kansas 39, #18 ASU 31
ASU 72, #15 Mississippi State 67 (Nov. 19, 2018/Las Vegas)
#16 ASU 95, at #2 Kansas 85 (Dec. 10, 2017)--Kansas 40, #16 ASU 37
ASU 102, #15 Xavier 86 (Nov. 24, 2017/Las Vegas)-- Xavier 46, ASU 44
ASU 74, #23 USC 67 (Feb. 12, 2016)-- USC 30, ASU 27
ASU 67, #18 Texas A&M 54 (Dec. 5, 2015)
DONT BE AFRAID TO PLAY...AND WIN...ON THE ROAD
Want to grab someone's attention early in the year? Win a road game. Heck, play a road game, which some major conference teams don't. ASU won at Princeton (67-65/Nov. 26) and San Francisco (71-67/Dec. 3) this past year as it is 7-2 (.778) in out of conference road games under Bobby Hurley, after going 8-22 (.267) in its previous 30 efforts.
ASU OUT OF CONFERENCE ROADIES UNDER BOBBY HURLEY (7-2)
ASU 71, San Francisco 67 (Dec. 3, 2019)
ASU 67, Princeton 65 (Nov. 26, 2019)
Vanderbilt 81, ASU 65 (Dec. 17, 2018)
#20 ASU 76, Georgia 74 (Dec. 15, 2018)
#16 ASU 95, #2 Kansas 85 (Dec. 10, 2017)
ASU 74, San Diego State 63 (Dec. 10, 2016)
ASU 66, UNLV 56 (Dec. 16, 2015)
#5 Kentucky 72, ASU 58 (Dec. 5, 2015)
ASU 79, Creighton 77 (Dec. 2, 2015)