Arizona State Men’s Basketball Coach Bobby Hurley
Opening Statement:
“It always hurts to lose to Arizona for sure and give credit to them. They were really good in the first half and we struggled to make shots. I think some of it, certainly they get credit for how they were defending us, taking things away and what not. That contributed to some of our failures there, but I think there’s always a little to carry over from the way we lost last week and into that first half to get our confidence back. Appreciate it how we fought back into the game and defended and got stops and started playing like we’d been playing a lot during the season, so hopefully this is something to build on moving forward.”
On how defense was coming out of the half:
“I thought they were doing a good job defensively taking some things away and they were expending tremendous energy in the first half guarding us. I felt like maybe we were a step quicker at times in the second half to take things away and to create some turnovers and get back in the game. Just proud of the guys that we got it to where it was a manageable game and a game we had a chance to win if we’d hit some shots. I mean it’s crazy, they’re a top-5 team in the country and beating some really good teams and we lost by nine and went 3-for-27 from three. So hopefully the guys who are normally hitting the shots and making those shots will connect a little better as we move forward. I think the other thing that hurt us was their size and how big they are around the basket was the free throw differential. Minus 17 at the free throw line and made free throws, it’s hard to overcome that. We made five more shots in the game from the field than they did.”
On challenges to get the ball under the post:
“They were switching some things and jump switching some guys, we got Frankie off the back cut right away to start the second half and we were encouraging our guys in the adjustments to look to negate the overplays with some cutting of the ball and I think that was helpful. They’ve had a week to prepare, so they’ve watched us and they took some things away and we have to be able to counter them sooner and a little bit better.”
On freshman forward Duke Brennan getting more minutes:
“I loved the way Duke played and that was the one area of the game we won in the first half was the hustle game. I think we had nine offensive rebounds at halftime and he had six and six, so for a freshman to play that way when things were not going well just says a lot about him. He puts his head down and plays hard and really happy for him as a freshman in a rivalry game to play that well, especially early in the game.”
On how he felt about the flow of the offense and shot direction:
“I thought there were a lot of guys who had open looks and of course, down the stretch there were a couple of shaky, contested ones. But we were trying to get from six to three and couldn’t quite nail one of those threes to make it a one possession game under four minutes. The other thing is we didn’t do a great job at times in transition in the second half, it was stuck on 59-52 forever and we had a few opportunities in the open court and we just threw some suspect passes. We just have to make sure we make good decisions when playing a team like this, we can’t afford to do those things.”
On foul trouble in the second half:
“Frankie’s foul on the baseline down there, that’s his fourth foul and two of my primary guys, Frankie and Desmond, Frankie has four fouls. It impacts what we’re doing, so I would've loved to see a more physical foul whistled there and it particularly would be Frankie’s fourth foul.”
On if fatigue after the comeback played a factor in shooting:
“You never know, it’s hard to judge that. I think that there were some contested ones and some others that were fairly or reasonably open and against a good team, against a team that was playing defense. You’re not going to get a million open shots but when you do get those, you got to try and take advantage of them. I don’t know how many of the 27 were contested, maybe more than half or 18 of them but if there’s eight or nine that are open, then you got to hit four or five more.”
Arizona State Men’s Basketball Guard Frankie Collins
On the high energy coming out into the second half and forcing turnovers:
“I think it’s easier to come out of halftime. You have to adjust, talk to the coaches, everyone talk to each other. Come out and say this is what we have to do and just make adjustments and make it happen.”
On the difference in the second half:
“I think the difference is our energy and our aggressiveness on the defensive end.”
On if there was anything different that took away the three-ball for ASU:
“I think they were really hard on close outs. They made us take some tough three’s but I feel like we got a lot of good shots and we just didn’t make them. They defended the three-point line pretty well for the most part.”
Arizona State Men’s Basketball Forward Warren Washington
On if playing against Arizona’s bigs gives him confidence moving forward:
“Of course it does. They’re really good bigs and going against them, I knew it was going to be a war and I knew they were going to come at me so I felt like I just had to be physical and match their energy so it gives me confidence for sure when I play against those guys because they’re really good and it has a big effect on college basketball.”
On the crowd and the atmosphere:
“It’s everything to have Sun Devil Nation support us and fill up the arena. Today it was beautiful for me since it was my first chance to play against Arizona. I just like to say we appreciate y’all for the support and all that.”
On the adjustment to the offense in the second half after Arizona’s defense in the first half:
“I feel like they played the same kind of. But I feel like we just got the ball to the paint more. The second half we were creating offense more in general instead of being stagnant and quick shots. I feel like that was the biggest difference. We had a lot more motion and flow.”
Opening Statement:
“It always hurts to lose to Arizona for sure and give credit to them. They were really good in the first half and we struggled to make shots. I think some of it, certainly they get credit for how they were defending us, taking things away and what not. That contributed to some of our failures there, but I think there’s always a little to carry over from the way we lost last week and into that first half to get our confidence back. Appreciate it how we fought back into the game and defended and got stops and started playing like we’d been playing a lot during the season, so hopefully this is something to build on moving forward.”
On how defense was coming out of the half:
“I thought they were doing a good job defensively taking some things away and they were expending tremendous energy in the first half guarding us. I felt like maybe we were a step quicker at times in the second half to take things away and to create some turnovers and get back in the game. Just proud of the guys that we got it to where it was a manageable game and a game we had a chance to win if we’d hit some shots. I mean it’s crazy, they’re a top-5 team in the country and beating some really good teams and we lost by nine and went 3-for-27 from three. So hopefully the guys who are normally hitting the shots and making those shots will connect a little better as we move forward. I think the other thing that hurt us was their size and how big they are around the basket was the free throw differential. Minus 17 at the free throw line and made free throws, it’s hard to overcome that. We made five more shots in the game from the field than they did.”
On challenges to get the ball under the post:
“They were switching some things and jump switching some guys, we got Frankie off the back cut right away to start the second half and we were encouraging our guys in the adjustments to look to negate the overplays with some cutting of the ball and I think that was helpful. They’ve had a week to prepare, so they’ve watched us and they took some things away and we have to be able to counter them sooner and a little bit better.”
On freshman forward Duke Brennan getting more minutes:
“I loved the way Duke played and that was the one area of the game we won in the first half was the hustle game. I think we had nine offensive rebounds at halftime and he had six and six, so for a freshman to play that way when things were not going well just says a lot about him. He puts his head down and plays hard and really happy for him as a freshman in a rivalry game to play that well, especially early in the game.”
On how he felt about the flow of the offense and shot direction:
“I thought there were a lot of guys who had open looks and of course, down the stretch there were a couple of shaky, contested ones. But we were trying to get from six to three and couldn’t quite nail one of those threes to make it a one possession game under four minutes. The other thing is we didn’t do a great job at times in transition in the second half, it was stuck on 59-52 forever and we had a few opportunities in the open court and we just threw some suspect passes. We just have to make sure we make good decisions when playing a team like this, we can’t afford to do those things.”
On foul trouble in the second half:
“Frankie’s foul on the baseline down there, that’s his fourth foul and two of my primary guys, Frankie and Desmond, Frankie has four fouls. It impacts what we’re doing, so I would've loved to see a more physical foul whistled there and it particularly would be Frankie’s fourth foul.”
On if fatigue after the comeback played a factor in shooting:
“You never know, it’s hard to judge that. I think that there were some contested ones and some others that were fairly or reasonably open and against a good team, against a team that was playing defense. You’re not going to get a million open shots but when you do get those, you got to try and take advantage of them. I don’t know how many of the 27 were contested, maybe more than half or 18 of them but if there’s eight or nine that are open, then you got to hit four or five more.”
Arizona State Men’s Basketball Guard Frankie Collins
On the high energy coming out into the second half and forcing turnovers:
“I think it’s easier to come out of halftime. You have to adjust, talk to the coaches, everyone talk to each other. Come out and say this is what we have to do and just make adjustments and make it happen.”
On the difference in the second half:
“I think the difference is our energy and our aggressiveness on the defensive end.”
On if there was anything different that took away the three-ball for ASU:
“I think they were really hard on close outs. They made us take some tough three’s but I feel like we got a lot of good shots and we just didn’t make them. They defended the three-point line pretty well for the most part.”
Arizona State Men’s Basketball Forward Warren Washington
On if playing against Arizona’s bigs gives him confidence moving forward:
“Of course it does. They’re really good bigs and going against them, I knew it was going to be a war and I knew they were going to come at me so I felt like I just had to be physical and match their energy so it gives me confidence for sure when I play against those guys because they’re really good and it has a big effect on college basketball.”
On the crowd and the atmosphere:
“It’s everything to have Sun Devil Nation support us and fill up the arena. Today it was beautiful for me since it was my first chance to play against Arizona. I just like to say we appreciate y’all for the support and all that.”
On the adjustment to the offense in the second half after Arizona’s defense in the first half:
“I feel like they played the same kind of. But I feel like we just got the ball to the paint more. The second half we were creating offense more in general instead of being stagnant and quick shots. I feel like that was the biggest difference. We had a lot more motion and flow.”