Bobby Gets Honest About Current State of ASU Basketball Team

The Sun Devils are in a fair spot, but have much growth to do before Big 12 play begins.

Nov 26, 2025; Lahaina, HI, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils center Massamba Diop (35) and forward Santiago Trouet (1) block the shot of USC Trojans forward Jacob Cofie (6) during the second half in the championship match at Lahaina Civic Center. Mandatory Credit: Marco Garcia-Imagn Images | Marco Garcia-Imagn Images

TEMPE -- In many ways, the 6-2 Arizona State basketball team has shown marked growth since its season-opening victory over Southern Utah.

Bobby Hurley's team has shown fight against top-25 caliber squads in Gonzaga and USC, while also securing a win over a potential tournament team in Texas.

Now, the Sun Devils have three more opportunities to pick up a quality victory in non-conference play - starting with the Oklahoma Sooners later today.

ASU Sun Devils guard Moe Odum (5) shoots the ball past Georgia State Panthers guard Micah Tucker (0) at Desert Financial Arena on Nov. 17, 2025, in Tempe, Arizona. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Head coach Bobby Hurley has done an exceptional job to start the season, but the 11th-year leader of the program is unsatisfied with the results he has seen and was quite open surrounding his feelings of where the team is in media availability on Friday.

“I think we grew in some areas and regressed in some others. So it was kind of like the balance is tilted, you know, more towards the offensive end. We put points up against Hawaii and, you know, and Texas, and then 100 points against Washington State, but, but our defense kind of dipped, and we need, we, we need to do better at that end of the floor.

So that's been really something we've talked a lot about this week. Can't let a team score shoot 76% from the field like Texas did in the second half and expect to win those games, or 60% in each of the other two games, and win in Maui. So we have to get better defensively.” 

While the Arizona State offense was more than proficient during the prolonged trip to Hawaii, the defense suffered inversely during the same period. Texas had its way virtually the entire 35 minutes before the Moe Odum takeover occurred, while Washington State had a season-best offensive output, and USC won around the margins in virtually every meaningful offensive stat.

There's little doubt where the Sun Devils need to improve - they must limit offensive rebounds/second chance scoring opportunities, tighten up defensive rotations to prevent quality looks from behind the arc, and continue to be opportunistic when it comes to generating fast-break chances off of turnovers.

Nov 26, 2025; Lahaina, HI, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils forward Santiago Trouet (1) shoots over USC Trojans center Gabe Dynes (45) during the first half of the championship match at Lahaina Civic Center. Mandatory Credit: Marco Garcia-Imagn Images | Marco Garcia-Imagn Images

Arizona State has a month until their second campaign in the ever-challenging Big 12 comes about and nearly three months until the conference tournament - while there is much time to work out glaring kinks from within the roster on the surface, it would certainly be ideal to work them out over the final five non-conference matches.

Read more on why the Arizona State men's basketball team will exceed expectations in the 2025-26 season here, and on why the bright future of the football program isn’t dimmed by the loss to Arizona here.

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