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PAC-12 MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 7, 2018

Las Vegas, Nevada

Colorado - 97, Arizona State - 85

BOBBY HURLEY: I thought that -- first of all, I'm proud of my guys. The entire season what they've done here at Arizona State, what they've accomplished has been outstanding. It's been my most enjoyable year.

Now it's time to get back to work when we get back home and get ready for postseason.

So disappointing loss. You want to advance. You want to give yourself opportunity to win a championship, and it just wasn't the case today.

I thought we had too many breakdowns on defense. We allowed the percentages that Colorado shot both in two-point field goals and particularly three-point field goals. Those percentages were excellent. So great for Colorado that they shot that well today from three.

I thought we had decent control of the game in the second half. Had some points, but then we stopped getting stops on defense. We went through a patch where we struggled at the free-throw line.

So, all in all, though, again, excited for the next step for us.

Q. Do you guys believe you've done enough to get in the NCAA Tournament?
BOBBY HURLEY: Yeah, I mean, I felt like we were in the tournament coming into this game regardless of the outcome. Just, again, we were the last undefeated team in college basketball. We went and played high level opponents on the road and on neutrals. We beat two regular season conference champions and most likely No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament. And we did it pretty handily in those games.

Kansas State's another team in the tournament in the top tier of the Big 12, considered one of the best conferences on a neutral court, again. St. John's has had some great wins. They have a high RPI. Don't have a high record overall, they've dealt with a lot of injuries. San Diego State, a team we played and beat by 25, and they have wins over Gonzaga and Boise State and Nevada.

So we have really solid wins in league play. Our record was not exactly what I had hoped for, but we had played so many close games and couldn't get over the hump in some of them, which contributed to our regular season record.

But we did win. We swept LA schools and we won on the road at Utah.

So I think we have like 10 Top 100 wins at the moment in KenPom, so I believe -- yeah, I believe we're in the NCAA Tournament.

Now, there is going to be debate about that and with good reason because we didn't finish the season the way I'd hoped. But, again, we lost some close ones, some games that could have gone either way.

Q. Colorado went on a 14-1 run and an 8-0 run and a 7-0 run. Does it ever feel like there is a cascading effect for your team defensively where if you don't get one stop, then it just keeps going and you can't get another one, and you can't get another one?
BOBBY HURLEY: Yeah, I'm going to have to watch the film and see all the things that went on during those runs. But I think that I did mention that we missed a number of free throws.

Again, uncharacteristic of what we do as a team. When they're shooting that well, they're more dangerous. I don't know the exact percentages that they shoot, but I don't think it's anything like what they shot today.

So that was a real positive for Colorado if they could do that because they have good athletes on the front line and McKinley Wright, the court opens up more for him. But what an impressive performance for him today in this type of game, McKinley Wright, 20 points, 11 assists and 8 rebounds. That's a heck of a stat line for a freshman, so he's obviously got a tremendous future in the league.

Q. You mentioned start of the season the 12-0 non-conference play. When conference play started, obviously it was a bit tougher. What were the biggest differences in your eyes between non-conference and conference play?
BOBBY HURLEY: It's hard to put your finger on it. I know the game in Arizona was high level. It was a high-level game at their place, as was our game at our place, very competitive games with them.

So that's where you start. It's not easy. Not many teams have success going to Tucson. Then we went back on the road. We had five of our first seven on the road. So you've got to play. The games are going to happen as they happen. But certainly that didn't help, and we lost an overtime game in Colorado.

So we felt like we were fighting an uphill battle in league play with some early losses. Then just trying to get back over the hump.

I believe it wasn't till we swept USC and UCLA that we got above .500, and then Arizona comes back. So then you have to deal with Ayton and what they bring to the table.

So, yeah, but that's the best that I could explain it. From there, we lost to Oregon at their place. It's not an easy place to play, and we lost a very close game at Oregon State.

Q. Was Tra ejected there at the end, and do you think that was a sign of frustration at that moment?
BOBBY HURLEY: Yeah, I didn't see -- I mean, I'm going to have to look at the play. Because I was watching Bey dunk the ball. So I didn't see exactly what prompted that. I was told that it was a shove. That there was not any punch thrown or anything. I don't know if Bey had said anything or what exactly happened at that moment.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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PAC-12 MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 7, 2018

Bobby Hurley

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