Big 12 Tournament in KC: Bobby Hurley, out as ASU coach, leaves with no regrets
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- Hurley says he has no regrets amid postseason uncertainty after 11 seasons
- Sun Devils routed 91-42 by Iowa State, a 49-point tournament record.
- Arizona State fell to 17-16 after poor shooting, turnovers and three technicals.
Wednesday spelled coach Bobby Hurley’s final game after 11 seasons at Arizona State, but he was ready to depart with his head held high.
“I haven’t spoken directly about my future, or next year, to this point,” Hurley said shorty before his expected ouster was officially announced. “But I don’t have any regrets.”
After winning their first Big 12 tournament game, beating Baylor on Tuesday at T-Mobile Center, the Sun Devils were crushed by seventh-ranked Iowa State 91-42 in a second-round Big 12 matchup.
Wednesday’s game was about as hideous as it gets. Arizona State missed 19 of 20 three-point attempts, committed 15 of 23 turnovers in the first half and was whistled for three technical fouls — before halftime.
Iowa State’s winning margin of 49 points is a tournament record.
This from an Arizona State team that defeated league powers Kansas and Texas Tech in the final month of the season. The Sun Devils finished the regular season at Iowa State, lost big there, and things got worse in Kansas City.
The outcome dropped the Sun Devils to 17-16, and later Wednesday afternoon ASU announced that Hurley — a feisty point guard on two NCAA championship teams at Duke in the early 1990s — was out.
“I laid it out on the line, the best I could, every night,” Hurley, 57, said.
Cincinnati implodes to exit tourney
Eighteen days after beating Kansas, ranked eighth in the country at the time, the Cincinnati Bearcats blew a second-half lead and lost to UCF in overtime at T-Mobile Center.
The No. 9 Bearcats led by as many as 12 points, but the Knights’ press defense chilled Cincy’s shooting and produced 19 turnovers. An 8-0 run in the last 2 minutes of regulation tied the game at 58 — Cincinnati had the ball last in the second half and OT but fell short on two wide-open 3-point attempts.
The 18-15 Bearcats were hot in February, winning six of their last nine Big 12 games. Coach Wes Miller hopes this previous momentum propels his team into the NCAA Tournament.
“I’m not in the room with the selection committee, so I don’t understand all the guidelines of it,” Miller said. “But if it’s about the best teams at this point, we’re one of the best teams in the country. Like, we’re an NCAA Tournament team.”
Dybantsa drops 27 in BYU win
After a historic 40-point Big 12 tourney debut, AJ Dybantsa followed up with a lighter 27 points and seven rebounds against West Virginia on Wednesday evening.
He didn’t make any of his three 3-point attempts, but the future top-five pick didn’t need them to lead No. 10 seed BYU to a 68-48 win over No. 7 West Virginia.
The Cougars were in the driver’s seat throughout and pulled away in the second half.
On a night when he shot 11-of-24, Dybantsa posted up defenders to hit mid-rangers and drove to the paint with power and finesse to collect and-ones. He had full control of BYU’s offense, instructing teammates and calling his own number many times as the team’s shot leader.
The approach was intentional, he said afterward: He wanted to be an initiator against the Mountaineers.
“Last time we were up in West Virginia I think I was a little passive,” Dybantsa said. “Then they started calling into me sending me into double-teams, and I was kind of getting riled up, (committing) turnovers. So (I was) just trying to stay aggressive and keep them on their toes.”
In the spirit of the tournament, Chiefs coach and noted BYU alum Andy Reid sat courtside next to BYU’s bench. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and former Chiefs Gehrig Dieter and Blake Bell were also courtside for the game.
On Thursday, BYU gets a chance for revenge in a battle of Cougars, facing No. 2 seed Houston in the Big 12 quarterfinals.
“You want to play against the best, and they’ve had a track record we’re trying to get to,” said BYU coach Kevin Young, “where they have been for a long time.
“We played them in this tournament last year, learned a ton from that game that I think helped us even prepare for them in our first matchup. So we’re really looking forward to it.”
This story was originally published March 11, 2026 at 3:36 PM.