Iowa State sends Arizona State, Hurley home in Big 12 blowout

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Seventh-ranked Iowa State trounced turnover-prone Arizona State 91-42 on Wednesday in the second round of the Big 12 tournament in what might have been the Sun Devils’ final game with coach Bobby Hurley on the bench.

Iowa State’s 49-point win was the largest in Big 12 tournament history, topping Texas‘ 43-point win over Colorado in 2000, according to ESPN Research. It was also the second-largest loss in Arizona State history behind a 50-point defeat to Texas Tech in 1956.

Every indication has been that Arizona State is ready to move on from Hurley, who fell to 185-167 in his 11th season.

“I’m not sure what’s going to happen. I don’t know. I have not spoken about my future next year,” Hurley said. “But I don’t have any regrets. I laid it out all on the line to the best that I could every night. And I did it until the last buzzer sounded.”

Milan Momcilovic scored 21 points, Joshua Jefferson had 20 points and 12 rebounds for the fifth-seeded Cyclones (26-6), who beat the Sun Devils (17-16) for the second time in less than a week while advancing to play No. 16 Texas Tech in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

It’s unclear whether Arizona State would accept an invitation to a lesser postseason tournament, such as the NIT or the College Basketball Crown, where the Sun Devils played last year. Equally unclear is whether Hurley would coach them again.

If it was up to his players, there would be no question.

“He changed my life,” senior Allen Mukeba said. “It’s a blessing for me, just a blessing to be a part of this team, everything we went through, the way coach was coaching. It was just an amazing year. I got nothing else to say about that.”

Hurley reiterated that he had no regrets over his more than a decade in the desert.

He led the Sun Devils to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances, a first for the program since the 1980-81 seasons. At one point, he had Arizona State ranked third in the nation, and he recruited several players that have gone on to play professionally.

Then there are the memories that Hurley made away from the court.

“I grew up in a basketball household,” he said. “My dad impacted kids, and I watched it happen growing up and throughout my whole life. So the biggest thing is regardless of winning championships and all this other stuff, it’s about the relationships and the players I can coach. That means the most to me. But as far as wins and losses, like, my wife is going to be supporting me after this. My daughters love me. I have a granddaughter. My son was on staff with me; I got to share a whole season with him.

“That,” Hurley said, “it what means the most to me.”

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.