Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley makes bold statement about Big 12 Tournament
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Hurley says winning five straight Big 12 games is harder than capturing a national title.
- ASU beats Baylor, now faces Iowa State; Texas Tech and other top teams would be up next.
- Hurley is coaching amid reports he'll be let go once the team loses its next/final game.
Bobby Hurley won a pair of national championships as a player for Duke.
He will try to accomplish something that he considers to be even more difficult than that this week as he concludes his tenure as the head men’s basketball coach at Arizona State.
The challenging task at hand: Winning a Big 12 Tournament at T-Mobile Center.
“There’s no basketball conference like this,” Hurley said Tuesday in Kansas City. “Like, what we’re trying to do is win five games in a row. It is harder to do what we’re going to try to do than maybe win a national championship.”
Hurley and Arizona State took their first step toward an unlikely Big 12 Tournament championship on Tuesday, defeating Baylor 83-79 in the opening game of the event.
Up next is a Wednesday clash with Iowa State. If Arizona State prevails in that matchup, the Sun Devils will play Texas Tech on Thursday. ASU would have to win two more games after that, with Arizona, Kansas and Houston looming in the later rounds.
Winning five straight games against that type of competition is as unlikely as it is difficult.
“We’re going to play a team tomorrow that potentially could be an Elite Eight or a Final Four team,” Hurley said. “And that’s in our second game. Then we have other heavy hitters waiting beyond that if we continue to advance.”
Arizona State will have one advantage during its remaining time at the Big 12 Tournament. The Sun Devils have nothing to lose.
ASU will reportedly part ways with Hurley after the team’s next loss.
“I’m just doing my job and coaching this team,” he said, “and enjoying these moments with this group right now.”
No bad Big 12 wins
Utah finished last in the 16-team Big 12, so it came as no surprise that the Utes were eliminated from the Big 12 tournament by ninth-seeded Cincinnati 73-66.
But Bearcats coach Wes Miller suggested the Big 12 is the nation’s best conference precisely because of Utah.
“I don’t think there’s a league in America that can say the bottom of their league is that good,” Miller said. “Obviously the top of our league is incredible, but it’s all the way through. ... Every single win in the Big 12 is a big-time win.”
Cincinnati improved to 18-14 but probably remains on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble. But a couple more victories, starting with Wednesday’s 2 p.m. game against No. 8 seed UCF, could change the conversation.
The Cincy-UCF winner will take on Arizona, the top seed, on Thursday.
AJ Dybantsa erupts for 40 points
Finally, someone stopped AJ Dybantsa. He didn’t play for K-State
The best defense played against BYU freshman star Dybantsa in the Cougars’ 105-91 victory over Kansas State was turned in by ... postgame news conference moderator Alfred White.
As Dybantsa was sipping a Red Bull, White paused the session and asked Dybantsa to remove the can. Red Bull is not an official sponsor of the Big 12.
But it is of Dybantsa, who has a deal with the energy drink.
Dybantsa complied with the request, put the can in a Gatorade cup and placed it below the table. Later, he was jokingly asked about his postgame beverage preference.
“Definitely,” Dybantsa said. “Red Bull. It gives you wings.”
Other than that, he was nearly unstoppable.
The player projected to be a top-three pick in this summer’s NBA Draft scored in a variety of ways. He knocked in a pair of 3-pointers, finished at the rim and hit short jumpers. He went 15-of-21 from the floor as the Cougars piled up the points.
Dybantsa’s total was the second-highest in Big 12 Tournament history. The record of 43, set by Texas Tech’s Mike Singletary in 2009, was in reach when coach Kevin Young subbed him with 2:46 remaining. The record didn’t matter, Dybantsa said.
“I’m just trying to win games,” Dybantsa said. “That’s the main goal, trying to get to a championship. If I have score 43 for that, yeah. But I’m not going for the record.”
This story was originally published March 10, 2026 at 3:32 PM with the headline "Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley makes bold statement about Big 12 Tournament."