- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,153,197
- Reaction score
- 59
You must be registered for see images attach
TUCSON, AZ - JANUARY 14: Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Bobby Hurley during a men's basketball game between the Arizona State Sun Devils and the Arizona Wildcats on January 14, 2026, at McKale Center in Tucson, AZ. (Photo by Christopher Hook/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
When Arizona hosted ASU a few weeks back, the Sun Devils had just snapped a losing streak and ended up giving the Wildcats a run for their money. The UA won 89-82, one of its closest games in a month.
Now comes the return game in Tempe, where Arizona has not lost under Tommy Lloyd. A win would set the school record for most consecutive wins to start a season.
To better understand what the Wildcats could be facing in this second go around, we reached out to Aiden Blanc for some insight and a prediction. Below are his friendly responses to our stern questions:
AZ Desert Swarm: ASU played Arizona much tougher than expected a few weeks ago, but since then the Sun Devils have dropped three of four including winnable games against West Virginia and UCF. Why weren’t they able to ‘bottle’ that performance in Tucson, as Bobby Hurley had hoped?
Aiden Blanc: “ASU left Tucson with tons of optimism despite the loss, but all that basically evaporated within minutes of tip off at Houston. Playing Arizona and the Cougars back-to-back is probably one of the most difficult two-game stretches any team in the country could play. Outside of the win against Cincinnati, the team hasn’t put four quarters together since. The Sun Devils had leads against both West Virginia and UCF, but in both cases did not have nearly enough to close out the game. It feels like the team lost its ability to play strong the last 20 minutes after Tucson, and that’s not exactly a new issue for them.”
Massamba Diop was incredibly impressive in that first meeting, yet he hasn’t had the same offensive impact against other teams since then. What has changed?
“His scoring has definitely dropped off, primarily because he hasn’t gotten enough looks. He was 7 of 11 from the field in Tucson but has only hit that number once since. His efficiency was better against UCF, even though he only had six attempts he did hit three. The good news is that his rebounding has remained dominant and he has eight blocks over his last two appearances, so even if he isn’t exactly lighting up the scoreboard he still makes his presence felt defensively.”
Moe Odum had a big game in Tucson and an even bigger one in the win over Cincinnati. With ASU’s struggles, has he just decided to take it upon himself to carry the load, and is this wise?
“Bobby Hurley has said a few times that he never really sought Odum out as a ‘leader’ for the team, but that he just took it upon himself. He was way down offensively against Houston, but since that game has put up 17, 33 and 18 along with some healthy assist numbers. Given that ASU is 5-2 when he scores 20+ and 2-0 when he drops 30+, it’s clear this team does better when he takes over.”
Tobe Awaka and Koa Peat dominated ASU last time, and the Sun Devils are allowing better than 55 percent shooting on 2-pointers. What can they do to neutralize the Wildcats’ interior game?
“Awaka and Peat combined for nearly 60 percent of Arizona’s scoring last time out, and obviously ASU cannot let that happen again. You mentioned the two-point percentage as a whole but ASU also got outscored 46-22 in the paint, so there needs to be a much better effort from Diop and the rest of the bigs. Like I mentioned earlier, Diop has eight blocks his last two times out, so using him as a vertical rim protector instead of dropping him out into coverage would be a smart move.”
Based on how this season has gone, do you see any way that Bobby Hurley will be back in 2026-27? Is there any chance ASU would fire him before the season ends?
“For a while after Maui ASU was firmly on the bubble, but it’s become clear again that they’ll need some monumental upsets or a Cinderella win in KC to make the big dance which is really the only way Hurley stays on. We’ve seen very promising leadership from Nick Irvin and the rest of the staff in the few cases that Hurley has been ejected, but given that this team is either right at or just above expectations (depending on who you ask) my guess is Graham Rossini waits for the offseason to make the move. The two most interesting things about the (likely) coming search will be how quickly the job is filled and who gets it. Both Molly Miller and Kenny Dillingham were hired almost immediately after their respective seasons ended, so look for some quick moves in early April.”
Prediction time. Does ASU hand Arizona its first loss, preventing the Wildcats from setting the school record for consecutive wins, or do the Wildcats keep rolling?
“DFA should be rocking as usual for a game like this, because of that I see ASU hanging tight for at least the first 20-30 minutes, but Arizona appears to have a team of destiny right now and it’s hard to see them dropping this game. It will be interesting, however, to see how the last 10 minutes play out on both benches given the extracurricular activities that occured in Tucson and last year in Tempe.”
Continue reading...
