PAC-12 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 9, 2022

Bobby Hurley

Jay Heath

Kimani Lawrence

Arizona State Sun Devils

Postgame Press Conference

Stanford - 71, Arizona State - 70

BOBBY HURLEY: First off, credit to Stanford for a resiliency there late in the game and just not giving in, just -- we had the dunk, and our huddle was really excited, post up 14, and then we just couldn't really get reconnected to the game appropriately in those last three minutes to just finish the game right.

And it was just a series of -- and, again, credit them for making shots and picking up the pressure, but we had some turnovers and missed free throws. And they had possessions where they had three offensive rebounds, they missed two threes and then they made the third.

We were doing things very uncharacteristic of what we've been doing last few weeks, and you pay for it.

But it's tough. It's tough for my kids. They've really been playing well last the few weeks and -- but we controlled the game most of the game and played a winning game and just didn't finish it. And now you gotta pay the price for it, and that's kinda what March is.

And so it's a tough ending to our season.

MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. Coach, obviously you played a great last few weeks. Is it all the more disappointing to lose this game where you've had such a great run to end the season?

BOBBY HURLEY: It is, because you'll always wonder and play the "what if" game and say we really, I thought, played very well. It was our best shooting game of the season from three and did a lot of nice things.

But we've hung our hat on the paint, and we got doubled up, 32 to 16, and just didn't close the game out the way you have to. You can't afford to really play with that kind of effort defensively, and that's not who we've been through these last few weeks.

So it's tough. It feels like it's come full circle from Riverside when they were throwing the 70-footer up on us and then -- that's like in the beginning, and now here we are at the end. So it's tough.

Q. Could you see it in your players' eyes, Bobby, that there was -- we're letting this slip away? We're up 17, what's going on?

BOBBY HURLEY: I just felt like we were gonna win. I just never lost hope in that. We had worked to get the lead that we had and, yes, things were unraveling, and it was hard to point to one area that they were unraveling because there was -- it was turnovers and missed free throws.

We weren't getting stops anymore. We weren't going to the line. We were putting them on the line. We were giving up offensive rebounds. So it was like a complete kind of breakdown. And, again, that's not how we've been guarding and defending, and so it was tough to see that happen, and that cost us.

Q. Bobby, as you're going through that, you did such a good job throughout the whole game contesting at the rim, blocked shots. What are you telling the guys, trying to limit them to one shot in those situations?

BOBBY HURLEY: They got a slip on us for a dunk, and Keefe was -- he was kind of the unsung -- he was the hero at the end, and he deserved it, because dude jumped -- dove on the floor at half court and got a loose ball inside a minute and was able to get a timeout.

And then he had the loose ball again in the paint when it was a 50/50. So we didn't get those things done, and they did. And then sometimes in these games and in March, it comes down to these little details that if you let the other guy outwork you, then you're gonna pay for it.

So I think that was kind of what I was noticing. I think with J.G., he struggled today. He's been so good for a few weeks and the shots just weren't falling for him around the basket.

One thing I might have done is just keep Kimani, keep Zo in there. He had the four fouls and sat for a long time. I think he was worried about picking up his fifth, so maybe his activity around the basket to rebound wasn't the same as it's been in a lot of games.

So that would maybe be one thing. But outside of that, it's hard to really put my finger on it.

Q. It's been a tough couple yours for you guys for about a billion different reasons. Through all of that, as you look ahead, what have you learned about who you need to be and Arizona State needs to be?

BOBBY HURLEY: I hope that, again, that COVID is behind us, because I'm not the coach for COVID, and we've had numerous stoppages throughout both seasons, and it's kind of, I think, stunted our growth this year especially.

But once we did get into a rhythm, you know, in the middle of January and started -- we started playing some good basketball, I think the guys, to their credit, even though our record was not outstanding, they fought and battled, and I think we were 3 and 9 at one point in the conference and managed to get to 10 and 10.

The guys fought, and it was very impressive that the team showed that kind of character to continue to fight. And I think it took this type of game for us to lose. So it makes you wonder what might have been if we could have got this done today.

Q. I want to talk to Kimani. Obviously this is the end of the road on your career, and it's probably a tough one, but can you reflect on what your career at ASU has meant to you?

KIMANI LAWRENCE: I'm going to miss it. Competing with Coach Hurley and my teammates over the last few years were some of the greatest years of my life, and ups and downs I've been through.

And just wish I could have did more today and helped the team out a little more.

Q. The way this game -- you have the lead. Just sum up what you saw, what happened today, and how it got away from you, for both players to talk about.

JAY HEATH: We lost focus after Kimani got that big dunk, and we just never bounced back from that, missing free throws, turning it over, wasn't rebounding, and ended up losing the game.

KIMANI LAWRENCE: We just started playing the score, which has been unusual for us the last couple games. Just a learning lesson for the guys coming back next year. As a senior leader, gotta lead a little better. Help us stay together on court. I didn't do that today, so that's what happens.

Q. Bobby, when you reflect on the journey this team has been through and the way they fought through February and part of March, what will you remember about this team?

BOBBY HURLEY: Initially now it's just the pain and feeling that this has come to an end because I feel a lot different than I did last year sitting here just about how I feel about the team. And I have my own remarks to the guys about just what they've meant to me this year and how they've overcome a lot and have become a very good basketball team late in the season.

So it's -- it's really rewarding as a coach; at the same time, it's -- I told them, it's, you know -- this is life, and it's tough and it's -- you have these heartbreaking moments. And so it's not easy at the moment to really get a feel.

I just -- I wanted to keep coaching these guys because of the heart that they've shown and the commitment to get better and all the winning traits that they've shown over the last four, five weeks.

So it's hard. It's just tough. It's very painful right now.

Q. I was wondering, you guys lost to Stanford earlier, you guys came back, beat them in Tempe. How tough is it to beat a close opponent like that two times in a row? Just talk about the aspect of having to beat a team twice. It's gotta be tough to do that.

BOBBY HURLEY: I always come into the game concerned because does the other team have the edge because we just won and are they gonna play harder? Or our guys gonna think it's going to be easier somehow and -- but I think we were ready to play, and we played very well. And we made shots, and I thought we guarded well for really 37 minutes. We played really good basketball.

We just didn't -- we were a total mess for the last three minutes, and everyone would admit that if you went and asked anybody in our locker room about that. And it was -- so that's why we were sitting here in disappointment, and it's all come to a end.

So it's just the reality of that and -- but got so much respect for the guys and how hard they played and the team they became this year, and it's just -- you'll always, in the back of your mind, think about, like, the "what ifs," what if we would have had one less turnover, got one more stop, got one more rebound, we would have made one more free throw. That's just not going to change anything.

MODERATOR: Any other questions? Okay.

BOBBY HURLEY: Thank you.