Arizona State's season ends in Big 12 Tournament loss to Kansas State
Arizona State's disastrous 2024-25 season mercifully came to an end Tuesday with a 71-66 loss to Kansas State in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament.
Because of behavior and injury issues, head coach Bobby Hurley had trouble fielding a competitive team over the final six weeks of the season. Starting with ASU's 71-70 loss to Kansas State on Feb. 4, Hurley was forced to narrow his rotation to six — and sometimes five — players.
Arizona State (13-19) played the last five games without five-star freshman Jayden Quaintance, who injured his knee against Kansas State on Feb. 23. Quaintance, the youngest player in college basketball, played in 24 of ASU's 32 games this season.
The Sun Devils entered Tuesday's game already without senior guard BJ Freeman, who was kicked off the team late last month for an accumulation of conduct detrimental to the team. Freeman was ASU's leading scorer at 13.7 points per game.
Senior guard Adam Miller has been battling a variety of injuries, and was limited to just 22 minutes against Kansas State. It all added up to ASU's 11th loss in the last 12 games and its worst record since the 2011-12 season.
Alston Mason led the Sun Devils with 17 points against Kansas State. Joson Sanon and Basheer Jihad scored 13 apiece. Arizona State shot just 23-of-60 from the field and 7-of-26 from the 3-point line.
Coleman Hawkins led Kansas State (16-16) with 26 points and 8 rebounds. The Wildcats will play Baylor on Wednesday in the second round.
Bobby Hurley's job status
Shortly before the game tipped off, multiple media outlets reported that Hurley will return for the 2025-26 season, which is the final season of his contract. Rumors had been swirling around Hurley's job status since his team fell apart in January.
After running out to a 10-3 record that included wins over New Mexico and Saint Mary's, the Sun Devils crumbled in their first season in the Big 12, finishing 4-16 in conference.
Hurley, 53, is 168-150 in 10 seasons at Arizona State, with three NCAA Tournament berths. All three berths were in the First Four. Hurley has a career NCAA Tournament record of 2-4 and has never advanced past the round of 64. When asked about making the NCAA Tournament on the Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo show last month, Arizona State athletic director Graham Rossini said "it’s an expectation, it’s not a goal."
Hurley signed a two-year contract extension in 2023 and will make approximately $3 million in the final year of his deal.
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-66e6aeb5014b4c4eeac84ca997f034c9.jpg "Ben Sherman")
Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his 27-year journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. A basketball junkie, March Madness is his favorite time of the year.